TeleTech Opens In Jonesboro, Adds Another 150 Jobs

The people who attended the grand opening of TeleTech in Jonesboro Tuesday morning learned that the call service center is already planning to double its workforce.

TeleTech announced in July that it would hire 150 workers when it opened its Jonesboro facility. At its grand opening on Tuesday, officials said the call to hire another 150 had already been made.

Todd Baxter, senior vice president for the company, made the announcement in front of about 100 people who attended the grand opening at the building on Caraway Road.

“We worked furiously in the past few months to make it possible,” Baxter said of the work among company officials, city leaders and state officials.

The building was once a grocery store and home to another call center company that announced earlier this year it was closing.

At least 100 people have been hired so far, with plans to add the additional 200 employees by Jan. 1, Baxter told the crowd.

Due to recent growth, the company plans to have as many as 600 employees at the Jonesboro facility eventually, he said.

“We have seen tremendous growth in the past two years,” Baxter said. “There have been 3,100 jobs created (with the company).”

At least 1,200 people work at two locations in Kentucky, 600 people work at a facility in Florida, while 250 people work at the company’s location in Sherwood, Baxter said.

Arkansas Economic Development Commission director Grant Tennille said the work done by city and county officials over the past 30 years helped to lay the ground work for Tuesday’s announcement.

“This is a community that taught us how to do our jobs well,” Tennille said.

Tennille said officials have worked to diversify their economy, with food processing, retail and healthcare a huge part of the Jonesboro regional economy.

The jobs created so far by TeleTech and jobs in the future will have a benefit to employees, Tennille said.

“Your training has value. With the training and licensure, you will have value to TeleTech and to the job market,” Tennille said, noting many of the jobs will answer calls for the healthcare field. “The world is changing. There are great careers available. It will put skilled, trained people in place to help people with real-life problems.”

Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin said the opening of the business and the announcement of more jobs is exactly what the community needed.

“It is a great day in Jonesboro. The company has 45,000 employees. I can’t remember when Jonesboro’s population was 45,000,” Perrin said. “They are a very close-knit company and it speaks highly of their company.”

The company is also hosting a job fair Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the facility in Jonesboro.