LAKELAND, Fla., May 31, 2012 -- Sykes Enterprises employs more than 400 people at a customer service call center just off of Lake Parker Rd. in Lakeland. But today, the company announced substantial plans for growth.

"We are opening up a new facility in Lakeland, and we expect to have around 200 jobs there by the end of this year. And hope to increase that in subsequent years," said Sykes' spokesperson Andrea Thomas.

Sykes hopes that number reaches 600 new jobs in the next three years.

The new facility is located on Griffin Rd. near I-4 and was last used by FedEx. More than 90,000 square feet of space, spread out over several buildings, is being transformed into a call center.

Although the jobs aren't high-paying positions, they're pivotal to both the company and the community.

"The jobs that'll go into this call center are actually meeting where you see a big gap in where our unemployment is today," explained Thomas.

And that's good news for Lakeland's economy.

Claudia Tritton, the Business Development Director for the Lakeland Economic Development Council explained why. "These are great entry level jobs for people and will help them develop skills that will translate to other areas in our city."

The new location nearly doubles the existing work space currently utilized by Sykes. Company officials say it's too early to say if they'll keep two separate locations or consolidate into one.

Regardless, they're committed to the Lakeland area. "We found it's just a great place to do business. It has a very well educated and hard working workforce," said Thomas.

"For them to come in and take a stake in our community and add to that, and be confident in what they've got here and that they're able to identify the right people and that this is a good place for them, we love to build upon that."

Sykes plans to have the new call center completed and operational sometime this fall.

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.abcactionnews.com