State grant will help TeleTech add 80 jobs
By NANCY KIMBALL/Daily Inter Lake
TeleTech will add another 80 jobs at its Kalispell center, thanks in part to a $400,000 state grant.
The Montana Department of Commerce announced last week that it awarded more than $1 million in primary sector Workforce Training Grants.
"The $400,000 is a significant boost," TeleTech Service Delivery Director Arthur Nowak said Friday.
"We anticipate over the course of the year this training is going to cost us $1.5 million, so offsetting that by $400,000 is a pretty significant chunk of this bill."
Nowak worked with the grant application process from January 2007 until May, when he transferred to TeleTech's Morgantown, W. Va., location.
Susan Frye has taken over duties as the service delivery director for Kalispell.
The 80 new jobs will bring the local TeleTech work force up to 460. About 40 of the current 380 workers are in management; the rest are at the associate level.
Nowak said new employees' wages will start at $9.75 an hour, or $13.65 an hour when benefits and bonuses are included.
The company currently is taking applications.
Apply online at www.hirepoint.com or stop by the TeleTech office in Gateway West Mall between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Applicants will need a high school diploma or equivalent, a familiarity with computers, and proficiency in typing and navigating computer systems. A work history in a customer service environment is preferred.
TeleTech opened its Kalispell service delivery center in fall 2004.
It handles customer service inquiries for a Fortune 500 financial institution, fielding phone calls about checking, savings and other banking accounts.
TeleTech has 88 centers in 15 countries.
The Kalispell center won the Department of Commerce grant through a competitive process.
Nowak said initially the company worked with the Flathead County commissioners and the Kalispell City Council toward a Community Development Block Grant. But that money was earmarked for a different purpose from what TeleTech had hoped to apply it to, so the company was referred to the commerce department's Workforce Training Grant program.
Along with TeleTech's $400,000 grant, Watkins Shepard Trucking, Inc., of Missoula will receive $315,000 and Chinook Wireless in Great Falls will receive $295,000.
At Gov. Brian Schweitzer's request, the 2007 Legislature increased funding for the Workforce Training Grant program from $1.4 million to nearly $4 million annually.
The grant program helps new businesses and those looking to expand.
Grant money still is available for fiscal year 2008. Contact program manager Nancy Guccione at nguccione@mt.gov or 406-841-2744.
Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com