LENEXA, Kan. — Business icon Warren Buffett plans to open a new Geico Insurance service center that will bring 500 jobs to Lenexa.

The Kansas City Area Development Council said in a news release Monday that the center will begin hiring customer service and sales employees immediately. It will open in August and add 500 jobs over five years.

Buffett is scheduled to be in Lenexa Tuesday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the center.

Geico is owned by Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway. The commerce department says Geico invested almost $10 million in a Lenexa office building for the center.

Tim Cowden, president and CEO of the development council, told The Kansas City Star that the Geico center is the largest job creation announcement in the Kansas City are in at least a year.

—