The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), Salt Lake City, and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) are pleased to announce that Essence, a global data and measurement-driven media agency and part of GroupM, will open a regional office in Salt Lake City, Utah. Essence will add up to 125 jobs and an estimated $3.1 million in capital investment.

“Essence is a globally connected company with nationally-known clients,” said Val Hale, executive director of GOED. “Their culture will be a nice addition to our Silicon Slopes community and Salt Lake City. We welcome them in opening their 19th global office in our great state.”

Founded in 2005, Essence provides digital advertising services including experiences, objective media and data science for its clients. Their current service offerings are advertising and business strategy, advertising campaign plan design and setup, advertising campaign activation, campaign analytics and creative services. Founded in London, Essence deploys campaigns in 71 markets via offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East,Africa and in Asia Pacific.

“Salt Lake City and Essence share a similar commitment to culture and innovation; two qualities that are significant to who we are as an agency,” said Steve Williams, CEO, North America, Essence. “We’re excited to offer current and prospective employees the opportunity to contribute to a flourishing tech community while maintaining a positive quality of life.”

Essence will create up to 125 jobs throughout the next five years. Essence may earn up to 10 percent of the new state taxes they will pay over the five-year life of the agreement in the form of a post-performance Economic Development Increment Finance (EDTIF) tax credit rebate.

“Congratulations to Essence! I am thrilled that a company with such an elite global footprint and focus on culture will call Salt Lake City home. Our economic development team has worked with Essence alongside our local partners since this opportunity was first brought to our attention, and I am confident that Essence will continue to see the unparalleled customer service and economic advantage of being in Utah’s capital city,” said Jackie Biskupski, mayor of Salt Lake City.

“Essence Global has grown dramatically over the past few years, and we’re excited the company has added Utah to its impressive list of locations,” said Theresa A. Foxley, president and CEO of EDCUtah. “There’s a lot of innovation going on at the intersection of marketing and tech, and we look forward to seeing Essence’s contributions in that space firsthand.”

Erin Farr, senior business development manager, led Project Evan for EDCUtah.

For more information on this or other projects, contact Colby Cooley, at 801-323-4250, ccooley@edcutah.org. 

Investors: If you were involved in this project and would like to add your organization to this announcement, please email connect@edcutah.org.

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