Dial 'O' for OPPORTUNITY
New call center in downtown Rusk may create 50 jobs, $1 million payroll
BY GLORIA JENNINGS
Rusk Economic Development Corporation (REDCO) directed Charles Hassell, REDCO president, Friday afternoon to continue negotiations with Etech, Inc., a call center company. He was authorized to sign loan notes, security agreements and performance agreement on behalf of REDCO to secure the new business for Rusk.

Charles Hassell, k president of the Rusk Economic Development Corporation left), listens as COO Matt Rocco, explains Etech, Inc.'s ideas for a call center. Greg James (right) brought the two groups together for negotiations.

A $350,000 incentive package will include a grant based upon the number of jobs created in Rusk; and non-interest bearing loans. Recommendations from REDCO were approved unanimously by the Rusk City Council later in the afternoon.

REDCO met at 2 p.m. Friday at Texas Department of Criminal Justice conference room.

Etech, Inc. has call centers in Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Pasadena and Houston. Also, there are two centers in India. These call centers are currently involved in customer service, sales and tech support. With the addition of the Rusk call center, collections will be added to the program. Currently the company employes 1,900 persons, with 1,000 of those living in East Texas.

"We have experienced a tremendous growth," said Matt Rocco, chief operations officer for Etech, Inc. . Mr. Rocco was accompanied to the meeting by Lindsay Sneed, finance director for the company.

Lon Morris College has received a $250,000 work force grant to train employees.

When he found out the firm was looking for another site, Greg James suggested they look at Rusk.

Employees will be trained for a week. A full-time week is 30 hours and company benefits including retirement and insurance will be provided. The starting payroll will be in excess of $1 million.

"This company is expected to create 40-60 new jobs in Rusk immediately. And, this can turn into 600," Greg James said.

The firm employes college students and persons who work other jobs.

Bob Goldsberry said, "We had heard about the economic impact this company could make to an area.

The $350,000 incentive package will include $200,000 in loans and $150,000 in grant funds.

Etech, Inc. is expected to hire 50 persons the first year; 150, the second year; and 200 the third year.

In addition to the payroll, the city will benefit from sales tax collected from the collections.

A building belonging to Jim Perkins at the southeast corner of the square will be used for the call center. Equipment will be purchased for $25,000 from Alliance Data in Jacksonville. Break-room equipment can be purchased for another $30,500. The loan for the equipment will be repaid at a rate of $5,000 per month.

City council approves Etech,

Inc. incentives

Mr. James made the presentation at the 3:30 p.m. city council meeting.

"This new telemarking company came to Nacogdoches nine years ago. I was involved to helping to bring them there. This business was just what we were looking for. It is clean and would not overtax our resources. They employed 40- 60 persons in 1999. The firm was a part of Bell South. In 2003, Etech, Inc. was spun off. The company is active in the United Way and community festivities.

In addition to retirement and insurance, the company provides a tuition re-imbursement program.

Starting pay will range between $20,000 and $24,000. Supervisors make between $40,000 and $65,000.

By locating downtown, local restaurants can feel the impact of the company being in Rusk.

Plans are for the call center to open as early as June. "It will take 60-90 days to get the building started," Mr. James said.
BY TERRIE GONZALEZ
MANAGING EDITOR

A company with austere beginnings and only 40 employees has grown into a multimillion dollar corporation with more than 1,500 employees. Soon, Rusk will be added to its growing list of telephone call centers.

Etech Inc., originally a division of Bell South, opened in Nacogdoches in 1998 in the only space that the Nacogdoches

Economic Development Corporation could find: an abandoned strip shopping center once anchored by Perry's.

"We were a new economic development corporation looking to diversify the local economy, which until that point had been dominated by the university," said Rusk and Nacogdoches businessman Greg James. "We wanted to complement - not compete with - SFA." Members of NEDCO, without the benefit of a dedicated sales tax, began doing their homework and learned that Bell South was considering a call center in either Tyler or Lufkin.

"We asked them to add Nacogdoches to the list of cities to investigate, and we developed a creative incentive package with the help of local business leaders," said Mr. James.

That business package consisted of offering them a facility at a nominal cost, along with free training at SFA, a job fair to recruit employees and a low-cost loan for start-up capital.

"Nacogdoches was not their first choice, because it was perceived as not having a sufficient number of potential employees in the labor force," said Mr. James. "When we explained to them about the student body, they became more receptive."

Bell South moved into the old Perry's building in 1998, and then relocated into a new, 30,000-squarefoot building in an industrial park spear-headed by NEDCO. Mr. James served as chairman of NEDCO until 2000.

In 2003 Bell South spun off Etech as an independent operating company, but remained as the primary customer. And each year the company grew. The current list of accounts includes Fortune 500 giants like AT&T, Capital One Bank, XM Radio and others.

Chief Operating Officer Matt Rocco said that Etech soon saturated the workforce in Nacogdoches with more than 700 employees. He set his sights on Lufkin for a second base of operation to complement the Nacogdoches location.

"Those 40 jobs they promised multiplied into 700," recalled Mr. James. "Their success greatly exceeded all our expectations."

Fast forward

With an 11-year track record and exponential growth, Etech sees an opportunity to expand again - this time in Cherokee County.

When Alliance Data announced that it was closing its Jacksonville call center on U.S. Highway 79 east and pink-slipping 290 employees, Mr. James began making some phone calls.

As a member of the Lon Morris board of trustees, he said his immediate reaction was to try and offer retraining assistance through the college to get the unemployed workers back in the work force.

Then he contacted Mr. Rocco to see if Etech might consider a Cherokee County location.

"The availability of some of Alliance Data's office furniture and equipment was a big incentive," said Mr. James. "Etech attended a job fair, and hired several of the Alliance Data employees."

With more phone calls and meetings involving the Rusk Economic Development Corporation and Etech, Mr. James helped negotiate a $350,000 incentive package which could bring Etech to downtown Rusk.

The package includes a loan up to $50,000 from REDCO for purchase of office equipment, a $150,000 interim, interest-free loan and a $150,000 grant that does not have to be repaid if performance and employee goals are met.

The tentative location is "the train building," a 7,000-8,000 square-foot facility on the southwest corner of the square and named for its exterior wall mural. The last tenant was ETMC Olympic Center.

Jim Perkins, CEO of Citizens 1st Bank, agreed to lease the train building to Etech for $1 per month.

REDCO members have worked fast behind the scenes to assemble the pieces of the incentive package. Complicating the negotiations was the change in REDCO's status from a 4A to a 4B charter.

While that transition caused minor time delays, the negotiations remain on track.

"It will be a big boost to this area if we can get them here," said Charles Hassell, who serves as president of REDCO.

Lewie Byers, president of Texas National Bank in Rusk, also serves on the REDCO board and he agrees.

Mr. Byers said, "I am really pleased with their plans to come to Rusk and be our good neighbor. Many of the people who worked at the call center in Jacksonville lived in Rusk and will benefit from this addition. And, too this will be a tremendous boost to Lon Morris College with the addition of a work force grant of $250,000."

Robert Gonzalez, general manager of KWRW 97.7 FM, participated in early meetings, and he praised the speed and agility of community leaders.

"This was an opportunity with a window that was about to close," he said. "Charles Hassell, Lewie Byers and Greg James demonstrated the community's desire to have a call center, and to create an innovative economic incentive package.

"Mr. Rocco called us 'Team Rusk' because he could see the collective desire to roll out a welcome mat. This would not have been possible without the support of Mayor Angela Raiborn, City Manager Mike Murray and of course Greg for bringing Rusk leaders and Etech, Inc. together."

Symbiotic relationships

"In connecting the dots, I see many similarities between Rusk and Nacogdoches," said Mr. James. While NEDCO relied on SFA to train employees at the call center, Cherokee County has Lon Morris College. Leaders hope to work through the Texas Workforce Commission to obtain state funding to underwrite training costs at LMC.

"SFA proved to be an asset in Nacogdoches because students applied for part-time and full-time work with Etech," he said. "Rusk has Rusk State Hospital and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. This could be a second job close to home."

The focus of Etech's operation in Rusk is going to differ slightly from the mission statement of Nacogdoches, Lufkin, Pasadena and India.

Nacogdoches and Lufkin have historically handled in-bound calls by customers activating credit card or cell phone accounts.

All Etech employees at the Pasadena location are fluent in Spanish and English, and they specialize in contracts requiring bilingual speaking, reading and writing skills.

The Rusk mission statement will focus on collections, and the city's proximity to Nacogdoches is a bonus.

During a preliminary meeting April 29 with community leaders, Mr. Rocco cited the downturn in the nation's economy as the reason why many consumers are falling behind on debt payments.

And while the economy hiccups before the next rebound, Mr. Rocco sees an opportunity to expand.

Mr. Rocco said that the call center will likely be open for two shifts of workers, beginning at approximately 7 a.m. until midnight.

Salaries for employees working in the call centers will likely start at $20,000-$24,000. Benefits include health insurance, retirement and tuition reimbursement.

Mr. Rocco predicted a boon to downtown eateries, which will have an opportunity to serve lunch and cater evening meals to Etech employees.

Long-term plans

Outgrowing the space at the train building is a possibility that Etech is already considering. Mr. Rocco said that the next logical progression would be to open a second location in Rusk dedicated to training and incubation.

Rusk leaders are also looking into the future and imagining a new business park anchored by Etech.

How to apply

Persons interested in applying for the Rusk call center should go to www.etechinc.com and fill out the application online for the Nacogdoches location.