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New call center to create 300 jobs(Montgomery Advertiser (AL) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Feb. 23--The first 20 employees of a new Montgomery call center will begin training in the middle of next month. They will be the first of an anticipated 300 people hired by ER Solutions Inc. (ERS), which will operate a call center out of the Crescent Center in Executive Park. The company will hold an open house Tuesday for potential employees, who will serve as customer service representatives, said Wally Sherer, vice president of sales for the company's consumer division. The employees will take calls from customers of various regional utility companies, as well as a national telecommunications company. Sherer said ERS looked at a number of satellite cities for its newest call center, including Chattanooga, Tenn., and Greenville, S.C. He said the company chose Montgomery because of the job market in the Capital City, as well as its proximity to Atlanta, where the company's headquarters is located. ERS also operates call centers in Atlanta, Phoenix, Houston, and Seattle, Sherer said. "We feel confident that Montgomery will give us the people to put in our call center," Sherer said. City Council President Charles Jinright expressed similar sentiment. "It's always nice to see a new business come to Montgomery," Jinright told Sherer. "I don't think our people will disappoint you in any way." Sherer said ERS hopes to hire its first batch of employees through the open house. Another 20 employees will start training April 2. The goal is to have 300 employees by the end of the year. And Sherer said there is room for expansion beyond that number, depending on the call center's success. The new center comes as other call center employees are losing their jobs. Regions Financial in downtown Montgomery announced in January that about 250 workers would lose their jobs as a result of a massive merger between Regions and AmSouth Banks. Montgomery County Commissioner Todd Strange, who once ran a call center when he moved to Montgomery, said he believes ERS will be successful. "To hear the quality of companies doing business with them is encouraging," Strange said. Strange added that the benefits offered by ERS -- full medical, dental and vision, as well as a 401K plan and tuition reimbursement -- will help the company get quality employees. "It's important to have good employees," Strange said. "When people call Montgomery, Alabama, to this call center, it will be the voice of our community." ERS is a subsidiary of Convergent Resources Inc., one of the 10 largest accounts receivable management companies in the U.S. To see more of the Montgomery Advertiser, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com. Copyright (c) 2007, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |