usiness process outsourcing (BPO) specialist ACS continues to say "no problem, mon" as far as its Jamaica operations are concerned. The Dallas- based firm established a beachhead on the island through an acquired company in 1984 and has grown steadily in Montego Bay. ACS is now building a 65,000- sq.- ft. (6,000- sq.- m.) facility and will add 600 jobs to its current staff of 1,300.
   ACS is the only company in Jamaica currently providing payroll processing for North American companies, says Lyn Langford, site operations manager for ACS Jamaica. About 35 percent of the company's work in Jamaica is call center related, both inbound and outbound. Langford expects the call center side of the business to grow in coming years.
   "We have been able to find good employees," Langford says. "ACS is an employer of choice in Montego Bay and we do pull in people from multiple areas across the island. We plan to offer 600 jobs with the expansion, and we feel we will be at a manageable capacity."
   ACS' global portfolio encompasses 430 locations and about 9.5 million sq. ft. (882,550 sq. m.), says David Jarrett, vice president of real estate and facilities. Recently, ACS has begun opting for a build- to- suit approach, he says.
   "You would like to find a facility to build out, but in most cases you don't find it, so we end up going with a build- to- suit," Jarrett says. "There's not a huge supply of buildings ready for occupancy. Lyn has done an excellent job of pulling business into Jamaica. We don't take our commitment to Jamaica very lightly. We study it and make sure it's the right thing for us."
   Jarrett says a strong, English- speaking labor pool is a big consideration when ACS looks for new BPO locations. Government stability is another consideration, and Jarrett says Jamaica has always had a business climate that promotes private sector growth.
   "There are a few things that help Jamaica," Jarrett says. "It's in an advantageous time zone – it's in the Eastern Time Zone for six months and the Central for six months. Proximity allows clients in North America to visit the facility without making a huge time investment."
   The liberalization of Jamaica's telecommunications sector, with the government granting licenses that ended the former monopoly that Cable & Wireless had, put Jamaica on the call center map, Langford says.
   "We were limited to one provider, which did nothing for being able to be cost competitive. What this has done is put us on the map as being an equal partner. It's one of the best moves the government could have done."
   Liberalization subsequently paved the way for huge infrastructure improvement on the island, which continues today. Langford says having other telecoms operating in Jamaica allows for 100- percent redundancy at a competitive price. That's a key factor considering the island's location in the hurricane belt. Jarrett says ACS also tries to make its Jamaica facilities as hurricane- proof as possible.
   "We try to make sure our roof can stand winds of over 100 miles per hour," Jarrett says. "We have good generator backup and storm- proof windows to withstand heavy rains and high winds. We try to make sure we incorporate these things from the ground up during construction."    Jamaica gained global attention in 2007 as one of the sites of play for the Cricket World Cup. But longer- term economic attention will come the island's way in the form of its growing stature as a near- shore BPO and contact center option for North American firms looking to outsource.
   The Government of Jamaica began the liberalization process in 2000, sparking subsequent investment that totals more than $700 million. The Jamaican government projects that the ICT sector will grow by five to 10 percent during 2007.
   Jamaica's contact center industry employs approximately 14,000 people with about 9,000 seats. Other prominent firms in the sector include West Corp., National Asset Recovery Services, e-Services and Accent.
   Homegrown operation e-Services is headquartered in Montego Bay, with a facility in the Kingston area. The Kingston facility opened in 2005 and serves about 15 clients, nearly all from North America. They range from travel services to insurance to consumer products to XM Radio. The company employs about 750. David Fullwood, e-Services chief information officer, says telecom liberalization and the subsequent infrastructure investment has been a big win for the industry. Network diversity means companies like e-Services can offer better services at reduced prices.
   Fullwood says the Montego Bay labor pool is ideally suited for contact center work since the resort area has produced employees with key hospitality skills that translate well.
   Firms such as Fibralink and Trans Caribbean Cable Company have invested heavily to boost Jamaica's broadband connectivity. Fibralink invested more than $150 million to establish a submarine fiber network linking Jamaica to the Dominican Republic, where it links to the ARCOS network, connecting to the U.S. When that link became operational in March 2006, Jamaica was able to obtain cost- effective bandwidth. Flow, which along with FibraLink is a member of the Columbus Communications group of companies, is developing the broadband network within Jamaica. And it is attracting notice.
   "A lot of companies that saw telecom as a basic requirement are coming back to Jamaica," says Andrew Fazio, Flow's director of commercial sales. "A big business for us is call centers. We're also going to see great growth in e- commerce."
   Fazio says Flow is installing fiber in Jamaica at a rate of about 50 miles (80 km.) per month.    Montego Bay's BPO industry operates largely in the Montego Bay Free Zone, where e- Services' large BPO and contact center operation is among the operations taking advantage of lower tax rates on equipment, which can save companies as much as 38- 45 percent. The MBFZ is a limited liability company, and is owned equally by the Port Authority of Jamaica and the Jamaican government.
   A total of 1,900 people work for e- Services in Montego Bay, including 1,300 contact center agents. Scott Collins, vice president of business development, says the labor force is good, with only a 10 percent attrition rate. Weekly salaries average about $170, high by Jamaican standards.
   Montego Bay is also home to the only privately held free zone in the Caribbean, the Cazoumar Free Zone, a relatively small but active facility with more than 70,000 sq. ft. (6,500 m) of office space. Cazoumar, which opened in 1998, is home to five companies, the largest being National Asset Recovery, which occupies 38,000 sq. ft. (3,500 sq. m.) and employs more than 800.
   "We like to think we offer something more upscale," says Carla Marzouca, managing director. "The point is not to discount the way public zones operate, as we have a good complementary working relationship. We tend to pay attention to valued details to ensure smooth operations and a pleasing high standard for our tenants. We also provide a turn- key facility, and provide assistance expediting work permits and other requisite company registration."
   Marzouca says in addition to the tax incentives, advantages of locating in the Cazoumar Free Zone include relatively inexpensive labor rates, redundant communications options and Jamaica's native "Queen's English."    Puerto Rico's efforts to portray itself as the "Bio Island" are gaining momentum with the opening of two new biotechnology facilities.
   Abbott officially opened its new biologics manufacturing facility, Abbott Biotechnology Limited (ABL), in Barceloneta in April. The facility received U.S. FDA approval in February to commercially produce Abbott's leading biologic agent, Humira, for the U.S. market. ABL is now the main production facility for Humira, which is used for treatment of various types of arthritis.
   Abraxis BioScience announced in May that it has also opened in Barceloneta, putting to work the 172,000- sq.- ft. (16,000- sq.- m.) facility it purchased from Pfizer in 2006. The facility opened with 200 employees, and employment is expected to eventually reach 500. The plant will produce U.S. and EU compliant injectable pharmaceuticals as well as protein- based biologics and metered dosed inhalers.