Looking to expand its business reach to the West Coast, student loan consolidator Xanthus is opening an office in Colorado Springs on April 11.

The St. Petersburg, Fla.-based company has named Paul Kendrick manager of the office, initially overseeing a staff of 24 and as many as 100 by year's end.

It will nearly double the number of employees for Xanthus, which counsels students in options to lower their loan debt. In 2004, Xanthus consolidated more than $400 million worth of loans.

"We are extremely confident that this move to Colorado Springs is the right decision," said Jim Zach, president and chief executive of Xanthus. "We need to expand our work force to meet the future growth we see for our company in this industry.

"Colorado Springs is ideally situated and suited to meet those needs."

The 5,000-square-foot office at 4775 Centennial Blvd. is temporary for Xanthus, which hopes to move into a permanent building quickly.

"We are working with the Pikes Peak Workforce Center to locate employees right now," Kendrick said. "We won't be formally interviewing until next week, but I was down in their office today and they will have employees lined up for us."

The availability of talent was one of the main selling points that the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp. used to get Xanthus to come here instead of Phoenix, where the company had planned to settle.

Xanthus, which has grown quickly since it was founded in July 2002, wanted an office in the West so it could tap into the lucrative California market, especially at a time when rates are projected to jump radically.

"What we are hearing is that rates may double when they are reset in July," Kendrick said. "Getting a fixedrate on a loan now is very, very important."