[February 02, 2012] EDITORIAL: Tempered excitement for call-center jobs is prudent Tweet Feb 02, 2012 (The Herald Bulletin - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Immediately after city officials announced the location of a new call center in Anderson on Jan. 25, the "Yeah, buts ..." started. --Yeah, but it's only 180 jobs ... --Yeah, but these are low-skill jobs that earn low wages (starting at $10 an hour) ... --Yeah, but the city had to pledge up to $130,000 in incentives ... -- Yeah, but these call centers are unstable ... The bad thing about "Yeah, buts ..." is that they often raise valid reasons to temper enthusiasm. And in this case, the caveats are real. These aren't the sort of high-paying automotive industry jobs that Anderson became so accustomed to scoring in an earlier era. But they are a start, and they're better than no jobs at all. With an unemployment rate of 10.2 percent in December -- 1.5 and 1.9 percentage points above the state and national averages, respectively -- Madison County needs jobs. At his State of the City address Tuesday, Anderson Mayor Kevin Smith noted that Anderson's extensive fiber optic network is a key to recruiting communications companies; ostensibly, that's one of the reasons TeleServices Direct chose the city for its new call center. The center is based at the Flagship Enterprise Center's park and handles wireless communications calls and Internet connectivity for its U.S. customers. The jobs won't come all at once, but over a period of three years. And everyone knows that three-year promises, in the world of business site selection, can be empty. But the center has already opened with 30 new hires and 45 more expected over the next few months. Those are all good signs. Credit for attracting the call center, at least partially, should go to the previous administration of then-Mayor Kris Ockomon. Much of the leg work for this would have been done before Smith reclaimed office in January. Now, Smith and the city's economic development director, Greg Winkler, must go to work in earnest to attract a variety of new employers to the city. Yes, we need entry-level work for those who lack specialized skills, advanced education or training. But more than that, Anderson needs good, stable jobs that pay decent wages. And we need a diverse economic mix so that the community isn't so susceptible to the decline of a particular industry. Until Anderson reaches that point, it will always be susceptible to those tiresome "Yeah, buts ..." ___ (c)2012 The Herald Bulletin (Anderson, Ind.) Visit The Herald Bulletin (Anderson, Ind.) at www.theheraldbulletin.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]