Dozens of new jobs are coming to downtown Clarksburg, officials from an Ohio-based telemarketing firm said Monday.
Executives from InfoCision Management Corp. officially announced their plans to open a second call center at the Palace Building on 168 West Main St.
Steven Brubaker, senior vice president of telephone marketing operations at InfoCision, said the company's second call center will employ a total of around 150 people.
Brubaker touted the area's workforce, saying it was one of the main reasons for the expansion.
"From the first day we opened our doors last year, the quality of the people here and the work they have done have been phenomenal," he said.
The firm has already hired about 75 people for the new positions, but officials still plan to hire about 50 to 75 more by the end of the month.
The firm opened its first Clarksburg call center on the fourth floor of the Palace Building on June 16, 1999. Brubaker said Monday that it currently employs a staff of around 200 people.
The latest announcement means that a total of around 250 people will work at the two local call centers.
All of which is good news for Clarksburg, Harrison County and the entire state, said Gov. Cecil Underwood.
"Expansion is a powerful message," Underwood said, "because it tells anyone looking to locate in West Virginia that those who are here are happy to be here."
Underwood pointed out that the state currently has around 20,000 people working in the telecommunications industry, bringing $320 million to $350 million in payroll annually.
The governor believes the state must continue to embrace and cultivate jobs in high technology, such as those in telecommunications.
"It's a whole different world," he said. "But the exciting thing about this whole different world is we're able to take advantage of all the opportunities the world will offer us."
Several city and county officials said they were excited about InfoCision's expansion.
"It is good to finally see businesses expanding in this area," said Jeff Mikorski, the city's director of community and economic development. "We hope that trend continues."
Don Molter, president of the Harrison County Development Authority, relished the moment and thanked city and county leaders for making the expansion a reality.
"It is very nice when the vice president of a company stands up and says the two words that any president of a development authority loves to hear: We're hiring," Molter said.
Locally, InfoCision telemarketers make phone calls to recruit volunteers for charitable organizations. The telemarketers at the Clarksburg call center primarily call to recruit and renew memberships in the National Rifle Association, Brubaker said.
