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United Touches Down
In West Virginia
When a company announces a second call center in a community before its first one is even officially open for business, it's pretty obvious the firm is happy with the local business environment. And that's what happened a few months ago in West Virginia.

United Airlines' wholly owned subsidiary, Mileage Plus (MPI), announced in July plans to break ground for construction of a second customer service call center just outside of Huntington. MPI's first complex -- which didn't officially open until August -- is housed in existing office space outside Charleston.

When fully staffed, the two offices will operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year. The facilities will handle a staggering 7 million calls per year.

"We are pleased to bring a second Mileage Plus facility to West Virginia. It is an ideal location for United because of the quality of the local work force," said James Goodwin, United's chairman and chief executive officer, at the facility announcement. "We want to thank Gov. Cecil H. Underwood, Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Congressman Nick Rahall for their support of our new call centers."

West Virginia is "the best possible location for companies with a commitment to quality and customer service as strong as those of United Airlines and Mileage Plus," Underwood said. "Our quality-driven work force will help Mileage Plus continue its growth and expand its services to benefit the loyal customers of United Airlines. I am pleased to stand united with the leaders of this community as we welcome this global business leader to West Virginia."

Rockefeller, ranking member of the Senate commerce subcommittee on aviation, said, "United Airlines is a welcome addition to our state, and I am certain that we will have a long and beneficial relationship with the company. I have been proud to work with West Virginia native and United CEO James Goodwin to bring his company to our state. With today's announcement, United has made it clear that they understand that our workers are some of the best in the country, and that West Virginia is a great place for Mileage Plus to succeed."

Added Congressman Rahall: "Just as loyalty, appreciation and service are the hallmarks of United Airlines' Mileage Plus Program, they are the heart and soul of West Virginia's workers. West Virginia needs United, and United will be well served by West Virginians. I want to commend United's Chairman and CEO James Goodwin for making not only a right decision, but a right fit for his company here in Barboursville."

Other recent call center moves in West Virginia include TicketMaster, which chose the North Gate Business Park in Charleston for a 23,000-sq.-ft. (2,136-sq.-m.), 700-employee facility, and New Jersey-based Civic Development Group, which selected Bluefield for its seventh West Virginia call center. The firm's latest facility will employ 150.

Capital One Chooses Virginia
Fredericksburg, Va.'s call center community, which already includes such high-profile firms as GEICO and Intuit, continues to grow.

In September, Capital One, which already had an office in Fredericksburg, chose the city for a $30 million customer service center that will employ as many as 1,200. Virginia beat out competing sites in Florida, Texas and Washington.

"Capital One has been embraced by the Fredericksburg community over the past five years," says Judy Pahren, the firm's Fredericksburg site director. "Our success and continued growth is made possible by the extraordinary talents of the associates here. Capital One has been able to attract high-caliber, energized and committed associates over the years to support our growing national franchise." The firm employed some 1,000 in the Fredericksburg area prior to the big call center announcement.

In other recent Fredericksburg moves, Princeton Survey Research Associates (PSRA), a nationally recognized survey research firm, has opened a new telephone interviewing operation that initially will create about 200 jobs.

"Fredericksburg offered the right combination of an educated, motivated work force and an excellent business climate for this top-quality interviewing facility," PSRA President G. Evans Witt says.