600 jobs coming to former Phoenix Village Mall

Tampa, Fla.-based Sykes will add 600 jobs to the Fort Smith regional economy with an inbound call service center it plans to locate at the former Phoenix Village Mall.

Sykes, a global business process outsourcing company that employs more than 50,000, is expected to begin hiring in March.

FSM Redevelopment Partners, which purchased the more than 35-acre mall property in January 2009, announced the deal Wednesday (Jan. 19). Lance Beaty, a partner in FSM Redevelopment, said he is investing about $2 million in interior improvement costs to the 40,000 square feet that once housed Home World.

Beaty said Sykes will also make a substantial investment in the location.

“It’s quite an exotic electrical infrastructure they will build out, with an elaborate phone system and backup systems — more so than what you’d find in a typical building,” Beaty explained.

Sykes Enterprises Inc. is publicly traded and listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol (SYKE). The company was founded in 1977. The company acquired ICT Group in the second quarter of 2010 and this expanded Sykes global presence to 24 countries. The company released third quarter results on Nov. 1, with quarterly revenues of $307 million and no debt. For the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2010, the company anticipates revenues in the range of $1.188 billion to $1.191 billion.

Full employment in Fort Smith will result in an annual payroll of between $10 million and $12 million, Beaty said.

“The $10 million payroll and all of the activity associated with 600 new jobs will enhance our efforts to revitalize this section of Fort Smith and encourage restaurants, service business and retailers of every kind to take a hard look at what we have to offer here at Phoenix Center,” Beaty noted in a statement.

Beaty said excitement from area businesses has been difficult to contain.

“We’ve worked hard to keep a lid on our discussions, but as word has leaked out and work has started on the remodel our phone has started ringing off the wall with restaurants, retailers and service providers wanting to lease space to service all of the folks that will be coming to work here at our center in the next few months,” Beaty said. “All of those people need to eat lunch and stop by the dry cleaners. We’re very pleased with the increased demand for space the project is creating.”

No federal, state or local incentives were used to recruit Sykes to Fort Smith, said Beaty, who would not disclose communications with officials related to incentives.

“I’d really like to remain positive about this,” Beaty said.

Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders said he was “elated” when Beaty called to tell him about Sykes. Sanders also praised what FSM Redevelopment Partners have accomplished with the former mall property.

“Obviously, it’s very good news for the whole region for a company to bring 600 jobs to the area,” Sanders said, adding that FSM Redevelopment is “an example of the type of entrepreneurship we want to foster and support. When you have a group of investors do this, it’s an example of how things can come together.”

Sanders also said the city will work with Beaty to ensure the Sykes work is expedited or stays on track.

Since its acquisition of the property in 2009, FSM Redevelopment Partners has spent about $8.5 million to improve the site by demolishing several buildings and completely remodeling several others including the strip center on Towson Avenue and the 115,000-square-foot Phoenix Expo Center.

The jobs may help improve a metro jobless rate that has remained near 8% for most of 2010. The Fort Smith metro area jobless rate reached 7.9% in November, unchanged from an October unemployment rate that was revised up to 7.9% after initially posted as 7.8%. The number of unemployed in the Fort Smith metro area was 10,415 in November, virtually unchanged from October 2010 and down 2.3% compared to November 2009. January 2009 marked the beginning of a high number of unemployed in the Fort Smith metro area that peaked with 11,937 in January 2010.