Corporate Express CallCenter Services is locating
in Pennsylvania as a direct result of the extraordinary assistance provided by all
parties involved with this economic project," said Douglas Comfort, president
and CEO of Corporate Express.
Corporate Express, one of many businesses expanding in Pennsylvania's booming
call center industry, has announced one of the largest job creation projects of its
kind in the nation. Locating to a new 80,000 square foot, state-of-the-art customer
service center in downtown Wilkes-Barre, which should be operational in the fall
of 1998, Corporate Express will provide 1,000 jobs.
Growth projections estimate that the facility could provide as many as 2,000 jobs
within five years. The Corporate Express subsidiary, CallCenter Services, will be
the primary operation
at the Wilkes-Barre facility.
The company manages consumer-oriented customer service applications for inbound
and outbound telemarketing services. Current clients include Lord & Taylor, Saks
Fifth Avenue, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bell Atlantic and NationsBank.
The state has committed $7 million in financial assistance to the project, which
will be used
for customized job training, demolition of an existing structure, infrastructure
improvements, site acquisition and environmental remediation.
Earlier this year, Hilton Reservations Worldwide (HRW) opened a regional reservation
call center at the Humboldt Industrial Park in Hazleton. The center, which employs
150 people and is HRW's first expansion beyond its home base in Texas, provides services
for more than 140,000 hotel rooms in 50 countries for 400 Hilton, Conrad International
and Vista hotels worldwide. The state has committed funds to the project that include
$125,000 in Customized Job Training and $50,000 in Opportunity Grant funding.
The western side of the state also has attracted a major call center investment.
In Oil City, Reese Brothers recently opened a new telecommunications call center,
bringing 300 new jobs to the community.
Reese Brothers, which offers telephone marketing for non-profit and commercial
clients, also operates call centers in Altoona, Charleroi, Greensburg, Johnstown,
Monroeville, New Castle, Pittsburgh and West Mifflin.
Finally, AT&T opened its Information Service Center in downtown Scranton,
a 240-work station project that will create between 300 and 500 jobs. The area's
labor availability, low crime rate and telecommunications and transportation systems
were among the key factors that attracted AT&T.
Downtown Scranton is undergoing a rebirth, explained James Cummings, administrator
for The Scranton Plan, a public/private partnership that was instrumental in attracting
AT&T.
"Scranton is the home of a new $101 million downtown shopping mall, a $24
million baseball stadium, ski resorts, golf courses, technology parks, and new corporate
offices," he said. This year a $31.8 million conference center and hotel are
also scheduled to be built.
Seeing Pennsylvania's future
High tech is where Cummings sees Scranton's future. FiNet Technologies, a joint
venture of Lucent Technologies and Opto Inc., recently decided to relocate to Scranton,
thereby creating 125 jobs. The company will package optoelectronics components, such
as laser diodes and photodetectors, for telecommunications customers worldwide.
"Scranton is close to our product developers and piece-part suppliers,"
said John Nadaskay, chief financial officer of FiNet. The new company chose Scranton
based on the city's accessibility to the North American markets it serves.
"It also offers us the flexibility we require for high-volume manufacturing
as well as a quality work force nearby," he said.
Back in western Pennsylvania, AT&T has announced another expansion, with plans
to locate a new National Telecommunications Relay Center in New Castle. Its new facility,
which will employ 150 initially and 300 within three years, is scheduled to open
in July. It will provide telephone service to individuals who are deaf, hard-of-hearing
and speech-disabled.
"Pennsylvania is a significant and increasingly important market for AT&T,
and is great from a business standpoint because of the strong work ethic and large,
available labor pool," said Susan Hobart, general manager for AT&T's Accessible
Communications Services.
Choices and incentives
Lehigh Valley, known as a major distribution hub for East Coast commerce, recently
attracted Millard Refrigerated Services Inc. to its vicinity. This distribution company
is expected to add 122 jobs to the area within three years.
Headquartered in Omaha, Neb., Millard Refrigerated Services provides refrigerated
warehousing and specialized processing services such as boxing, exporting, distribution,
and transportation. The state provided over $3 million in funding to support the
project, including $2 million from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority
and more than $1 million from the Infrastructure Development Program through the
Department of Community and Economic Development.
Additional infrastructure funds also will improve an intersection that will benefit
other employers in the area, including Nestle, Coca-Cola USA, Perrier, Kraft, Stroh's,
Americold, Filmtech Corp., Cott Beverages USA, and DSC Logistics.
Powering growth
Utilities also play an important role in attracting businesses to Pennsylvania.
GPU Energy is providing a grant of $67,500 to the Bradford Economic Development Corp.
to help purchase an industrial park that will become the site for a new 50,000 square
foot Keystone Powdered Metals plant. Keystone was initially offered lower rates on
the price of electricity in Ohio from West Penn Power, which services its St. Mary's
plant.
GPU Energy worked with officials from both Keystone Powdered Metals and Governor
Ridge's office to restructure its rates and offer a competitive solution.
Whereas once Pennsylvania was regarded as a difficult state in which to do business,
today it is more economically vital than ever before. In fact, by the end of 1997,
the cost of doing business in Pennsylvania will have been cut by $3 billion since
1995.
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