United Collection Bureau, Inc., a privately-owned accounts receivable management and debt collection company, recently announced plans to open a 46,000 square foot center in Tucson, AZ. Picor Commercial Real Estate is the broker, and the hiring process will be announced and begin in November 2006.

UCB’s Tucson operations facility will accommodate 450 employees, with an initial hire of approximately 100 representatives.

“Tucson was the best fit for our company to expand into the western United States for many reasons. The abundance of good labor, low cost of living and doing business, and the availability of desirable workspace in Tucson is ideal for call center operations,” said Jeff Horner, senior vice president of business development.

The company will offer an appealing compensation package ($10-$13/hour base pay plus bonus and benefits) to compete with the local labor market for representatives, supervisors, and managers. UCB plans to invest as much as $3.5 million into its Tucson facility in the first two years.

UCB will also be locating a Technology Center at the facility for information system redundancy and expansion. The hot site will serve as a back up to UCB’s host I.T. site at its headquarters in Toledo.

“We found Tucson to be the best location for our technology infrastructure as well as an operations center. The stable climate, dependable energy services, and the technology resources available in Tucson caused us to include our I.T. services into the site,” said Sam Rickard, president & CEO. “The location offered so much that we chose to invest in what will be our largest facility”.

The IT site will accommodate 10-15 technical employees.

UCB, one of the top 5 privately-owned debt collection agencies in the U.S., is headquartered in Toledo, OH with annual revenue of approximately $60 million. The company was founded in 1959 and currently employs nearly 1,000 people in ten offices located in Ohio, Michigan, and Florida.

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