TRUMBULL COUNTY Telemarketing center planned

The company expects to hire some workers displaced by the MCI closing.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
WARREN -- A Pittsburgh-based telemarketing company with operations in New Castle, Pa., is making plans to open a second area call center in Warren that may eventually employ 250.
Reese Teleservices looks to hire 125 immediately at a job fair, set for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at the Avalon Inn & amp; Resort in Howland. Training for the first round of new employees is set to start June 9.
Walter Good, business attraction manager for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, said Reese expects eventually to create 250 jobs at its new call center. It will be located at 3709 Youngstown-Warren Road.
MCI's plan to close its Niles call center by the end of June was a major selling point for Reese, Good said, because it means the area has a pool of several hundred trained telemarketers looking for work.
MCI at one time had employed as many as 1,200 at its Niles center, but the work force was about 700 when it announced plans in March to shutter the facility. Stefanie Scott, an MCI spokeswoman in Austin, Texas, said the first round of permanent layoffs was to take effect today, and another round was to take effect June 30.
"It's good news from the standpoint that some folks who are losing their jobs at MCI could have new positions almost immediately," Good said of the Reese opening.
"We've been working with Reese and some other telemarketing companies, trying to lessen the impact of the MCI closure."
He said Reese is a telemarketing contractor, meaning it contracts with other companies and service agencies that have telemarketing jobs to do.
Ryan weighs in
In fact, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, said Reese has a contract with MCI to provide services at the new center, so he feels MCI is maintaining a presence in the Mahoning Valley. Ryan has spoken several times with MCI chief executive Mike Capellas, a Warren native, to try to save the local jobs.
"While I'm disappointed about the loss of any jobs," Ryan said, "I believe that this announcement is still a plus for our community. This action keeps the door open for future projects."
Reese officials could not be reached to comment.
Reese also liked the site, Good said, because it had been occupied by another call center and is equipped with the basic telemarketing infrastructure. Civic Development, the previous occupant, moved out in October.
Terry Gerberry of Trumbull County One Stop said the jobs pay a base hourly rate of $6.50 plus attendance bonuses and sales qualifying bonuses.
Warren Mayor Mike O'Brien was more conservative in estimating the number of new jobs to be created, saying he had been told to expect "a minimum of 45, maybe more."
Reese Teleservices, formerly known as Reese Bros., closed a 180-worker call center in New Castle in July 2002 because it lost a major client. The company reopened the center in February 2003, however.
vinarsky@vindy.com