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VXI Calls On Valley
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OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, left, and Tobias Parrish, vice president of U.S. operations for VXI Global Solutions, pose after a ribbon-cutting ceremony. VXI opened its new downtown call center, which handles calls for DirecTV, with 40 employees Thursday.
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NEW HOME: Chris Butcher, senior operations manager at VXI Global Solutions, stands among new operators at the company’s downtown call center. Butcher, a Mahoning Valley native, was working in Los Angeles when he suggested VXI consider Youngstown for a call center.
Hard workers, competitive spirit draw telemarketer to Youngstown
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN — Officials with a call-center company that hopes to create at least 500 jobs downtown first heard about the city from a trusted source — its employees.
Chris Butcher, who started with VXI Global Solutions two years ago in Los Angeles, said he and a few others talked up Youngstown when they heard the company was looking to locate its first call center in the Eastern time zone.
“I said, ‘If you want more people like us, and if you want to get the results we’re getting, come to Youngstown, Ohio,” said Butcher, 35, a Howland native who now lives in Hubbard.
Tobias Parrish, vice president of U.S. operations for the Los Angeles-based company, said executives looked at the area based on employee recommendations and liked what they saw.
VXI began operations Thursday at its call center in the city-owned 20 Federal Place.
Butcher is overseeing the call center as senior operations manager. He had been an operations manager for a VXI call center in Los Angeles.
The local center kicked off its day with 40 workers selling packages for DirecTV, but employment is expected to swell to 250 by the end of the year. A new group of workers is to complete training every three weeks.
Parrish said at least 100 more workers will be added early next year as the call center begins handling calls for a cellular phone company.
VXI intends to fill up the fourth floor of the building with 500 workers and has talked to the city about adding more workers on the fifth floor as business grows.
“If things go well, the sky is the limit,” said Mayor Jay Williams, who participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Butcher said the people of the Mahoning Valley are a good fit for VXI, which operates a high-energy sales floor. Supervisors shout out encouragement to the operators and clap when a sale is made.
“Youngstown has a competitive culture. A lot of people play sports, and with that comes the pressure to perform at a high level,” Butcher said.
Hourly pay for workers starts at between $9 and $10, but Butcher said sales incentives can push annual pay to more than $40,000.
VXI has moved into a space that three other call centers have used. Infocision Management was the most recent tenant, but it relocated its work to call centers in Austintown and Boardman.
VXI is spending $4 million to prepare the 31,000-square-foot space for its operations, including the installation of new cubicles, telecommunications equipment and computers. The city gave VXI a $400,000 grant using federal stimulus money to help with the renovations.
The company is paying $111,000 a year to lease the space.
T. Sharon Woodbury, the city’s development director, said 20 Federal Place will be about 80 percent occupied if VXI expands to cover the entire fourth floor.
VXI has 11 call centers with 7,000 employees. Youngstown is its third one in the U.S.
shilling@vindy.com