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Albuquerque, NM, USA, Dec 5, 2019 -- A new-to-market call center is set to bring hundreds of jobs to Albuquerque.

The city of Albuquerque economic development office and state economic development department announced Thursday that Virginia-based Faneuil Inc. is expanding to the Duke City. Fanueil plans to initially hire 500 employees and another 200 over the next few years. Faneuil provides services like customer care and technical support and employs more than 6,600 nationwide.

The firm will occupy Sitel Group's former call center space at 4420 The 25 Way NE, where Faneuil intends to sign a 10-year lease and begin operations in January, according to a joint city and state news release. Sitel had over 700 employees at the time of its closure announcement in March. Faneuil chose Albuquerque for its trained and skilled workforce, low cost of living and available real estate, the release said.

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"Faneuil is excited to locate an important customer service center in Albuquerque, contingent on incentive approvals, that will eventually hire approximately 700 full-time team members. New Mexico has been very supportive in our analysis of potential options," said Anna Van Buren, president and CEO of Faneuil, in a statement.

The average annual salary for the new positions is expected to be between $30,000 and $35,000 plus benefits. The company expects to have a $21.6 million payroll in Albuquerque within three years, the release said.

The state has committed up to $400,000 in Local Economic Development Act funding while the city of Albuquerque has pledged another $100,000 for the project. The LEDA money will not be doled out until employment benchmarks are met.

Business First reported in June the state was reducing LEDA funding to call centers with a maximum of $1,000 per job, down from $6,000 in recent grants. After a run of call center layoffs this year, city of Albuquerque Economic Development Director Synthia Jaramillo called it an "opportunity for real estate and an opportunity for other employers" with a trained workforce ready to get back to work.

"Faneuil saw the potential Albuquerque offers when considering locations for expanding its operations and acted quickly to select Albuquerque," Jaramillo said in a statement. " ... The state has provided an estimated economic impact of $491 million over 10 years in direct and indirect payroll, purchases of local goods and services, and worker spending."

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Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: https://www.bizjournals.com