Sunny skies and warm temperatures greeted eTelecare employees and Minot Area Chamber of Commerce members as they made their way through the parking lot to the back side of the eTelecare building where a ribbon-cutting ceremony was set to take place.
The ceremony was to commemorate the completion of a 7,800-square-foot addition to the North Hill center, located at 609-30th Ave. NW, which enabled the company to consolidate operations to one location, closing down the call center at 1330-20th Ave. SW, located in the Metro Center Mall.
After a few words from site director Bill Thomas, the ribbon was cut, photos were taken and then all of the participants piled into the building to partake in food, refreshments and tours of the expanded eTelecare facility.
Founded in 1999, eTelecare Global Solutions is a business process outsourcing provider that offers customer services, sales, tech support, back office and home-agent services to companies in communication, media, financial services, travel and hospitality, technology and other industries. The company employs more than 13,000 people in 15 centers across three countries and became a publically traded company in 2007, posting $260 million in earnings. Its clientele list includes Fortune 500 companies such as Dell, AT&T, American Express and Sprint Nextel as well as smaller companies like Intuit and Vonage.
The Minot location deals with the big fish.
Primarily, Minot employees handle cell phone sales and warranty or other customer service related issues for AT&T, ranked 10th in the Fortune 500 global standings for 2008 and which raked in more than $11 billion in profits in 2007.
Secondly, employees answer questions, give advice, problem solve and upgrade computer products for Symantec customers nationwide. Founded by computer scientists in 1982, the security, storage and system management solutions business has become a Fortune 500 company, operating in 40 countries with more than 17,000 employees and has acquired dozens of other computer security companies and programs, most notably Norton, a security and virus detection software for individuals and businesses.
Thomas, who helped open the call center in August 2003, said executives at eTelecare chose Minot primarily because of the strong work ethic of the Midwest and secondly because the vacant North Hill building suited their needs at the time. A few months later, the company realized it needed more space for its employees, so a second center was opened on the opposite side of town. The eTelecare staff and managers shuffled between the sites for years until the North Hill building came under new ownership.
Real Estate developers Les and Ania Zador, based in Los Angeles, came to Minot because, "We wanted to invest in a part of the country where things haven't gone haywire, but we also wanted to be comfortable in the environment," Les said. "We are super comfortable in Minot. We have met many excellent people and there are great businesses here."
The wheels of motion for expansion began after the Zadors met with Thomas and learned of the company's desire to consolidate and expand. For the next few months, owner and tenant worked together on building plans and contracts until April, when construction began.
"They told us what they needed ... and because we had the space, the addition was no problem," said Les' wife, Ania. "We had a good team, so everything went nicely."
The expansion took four months to complete and cost $900,000, but in the end, both parties were happy. The success of the addition translated into a five-year lease extension for the Zadors and eTelecare is now able to operate under one roof.
Now at 21,000 square feet, the expansion added workspaces for 70 new customer service positions, bringing the company's employment capacity to 300.
Thomas said new employees have been hard to come by in recent months with the recent oil activity and availability of outdoor jobs, but he anticipates company perks like tuition reimbursement as well as performance and referral bonuses will attract the additional military personnel and oil families coming into the area.
"We have a fun atmosphere and because we pay well above minimum wage, it's a good source for a second income," he said, adding that they will be accepting applications online and will hold open houses occasionally in addition to participating in job fairs.
In a 2007 report of the largest employers in Minot, eTelecare ranked No. 13, but Les Zador said that with over six acres at his disposal, another expansion wouldn't be out of the question if the company was interested.
