RICHMOND - Governor Mark R. Warner today announced that StarTek, Inc., a leading provider of business process outsourcing services, will open a customer care facility in the City of Petersburg. The company will create up to 500 positions providing service primarily to clients in the telecommunications industry. Virginia successfully competed against Texas and Washington for the project. The company is moving into a vacant building that J.Crew occupied more than four years ago, and operations are scheduled to begin in January 2006.
“With this project the company will employ more than 1,500 Virginians in three locations in the Commonwealth,” said Governor Warner. “StarTek saw Petersburg as a great opportunity, offering a ready workforce, an available high-tech facility, and the same pro-business environment that the company has known since the opening of its first facility in Virginia in 2004.”
Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, StarTek, Inc. is a leading provider of business outsourcing services, which consist of business process management and supply chain management services. StarTek provides services from 17 operating facilities, located across Colorado, Virginia, Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming as well as Canada. The company’s primary clients are in the telecommunications industry, and it also serves clients in the computer software and hardware, consumer products, cable TV and entertainment industries.
“We have experienced nothing but positive greetings from the Petersburg community since we began investigating areas for another customer care facility,” said Steve Butler, CEO of StarTek. “The warm reception contributed to our decision to locate here, as did the available workforce and the education levels of the population in the Petersburg area. We are thrilled to be here.”
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the City of Petersburg and Virginia’s Gateway Region to secure the project for Virginia. Governor Warner approved a $225,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist the City of Petersburg with the project. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will support the project with training assistance through its Workforce Services Program.
“We are extremely pleased that StarTek has selected the City of Petersburg,” said Annie M. Mickens, Mayor, City of Petersburg. “Job creation is an important priority of this City Council and StarTek's creation of 500 jobs is the largest such announcement in recent City history. These jobs will greatly benefit the residents of Petersburg and the surrounding region.”
StarTek will host a job fair at John Tyler Community College located at 13101 Jefferson Davis Highway in Chester. The job fair will take place Friday, October 21, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, October 22, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For details on job opportunities at StarTek, please contact the Virginia Employment Commission at 804-786-1485.