Call center project a go

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July 20, 2007

May bring more than 500 jobs to area

By BRAD DICKERSON The Glasgow Daily Times Fri Jul 20, 2007, 11:34 AM CDT

GLASGOW — The call center is no longer a dream but a reality.

An official announcement was made this morning by Gov. Ernie Fletcher that Sitel Operating Corporation will open a facility in Glasgow adjacent to the local branch of Western Kentucky University.

The Nashville-based company will bring between 500 and 550 jobs to the community, according to Glasgow-Barren County Industrial Development Economic Authority executive director Scott Luth.

“We think there’s an opportunity in our community to provide employment to individuals who are looking for something other than traditional manufacturing jobs in our community,” Luth said. “We have a very successful traditional manufacturing base in this community. We have a growing manufacturing base in this community with our existing industry, but what’s lacking are these types of service-oriented, non-manufacturing type jobs.

“We feel like there’s a tremendous need out there for those individuals (who) are looking for something besides traditional manufacturing.”

The company was formed in January 2007 following the merger of ClientLogic and Sitel, according to the corporate Web site.

There are over 145 facilities in 28 different countries, which employ 65,000 workers.

In North America alone, there are 55 centers that handle clients in the automotive, financial, health care, travel and tourism, communications and technology industries.

Service provided for those clients include revenue generation, customer care, technical support, receivables management and back office services like data entry, records retention and customer correspondence.

For the Glasgow center, Luth said Sitel will look to solicit a customer once construction on the 45,000 square foot building begins.

He anticipates a contractor to be named within the next 30 days or less.

“Our understanding is a management team will be hired shortly after construction begins,” Luth said.

The road to landing the call center has been one of peaks and valleys. In last year’s General Assembly and special session, attempts by former state representative Steve Nunn and Sen. Richie Sanders to pass bills that would accommodate the company were unsuccessful.

At the time, Fletcher opposed the legislation because the company’s wages were lower than the county’s average.

A bill introduced in this year’s General Assembly by Rep. Johnny Bell allowed Sitel to pay the lower wages and receive state tax incentives if they located near a regional postsecondary education campus and employed students.

Once the bill was signed by Fletcher, Luth began negotiations anew with the company, all leading up to today’s announcement.

During a recent tour of Sitel’s Nashville facility, one aspect that most impressed Luth was the company’s handling of its employee base.

“They’re strictly a customer service oriented business,” Luth said. “That is their product. They invest and reinvest and spend a lot of money making sure that their employees are trained and educated in how to represent their customers.”

Full coverage of Friday’s announcement and crowd reaction will be in Sunday’s edition.

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