Agero job fair turnout high in Florence

A Massachusetts company pondering whether to locate a new call center in Florence put the region’s job market to the test Monday with an exploratory job fair at Florence-Darlington Tech.

At first glance, it looks like Florence passed.

More than 1,200 job seekers descended on the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing Technology buildling at FDTC Monday for the first day of a two-day job fair put on by Agero, which operates customer service call centers for the automoative and insurance industries. The job fair will be useful to Agero if it does decide to locate the 529-job center here – Agero officials will have a big pile of resumes it can sift through — but Monday’s event was more about guaging the depth of the local job market than locating actual hires. Agero is still weighing the charms of Florence against those of Clarksville, Tenn., a city some 133,000 in northern Tennessee between Nashville and Fort Campbell, Ky.  Agero will hold a similiar fair in two weeks in Clarksville. The results of the two fairs will weigh on the company’s decision, which is imminent. Agero officials said Monday they wanted to be picking up phones in a new call center by June.

With more than 1,000 applications by noon on Monday, Agero Human Resources Vice President Sandy J. Savage said Florence was showing promise.

“We have a lot of people here in Florence that have the customer service skills as well as some of the other positions we’re looking to fill,” Savage said.

Florence County Economic Development Partnership Executive Director Joe King has been working with Agero for several months and he said the company’s chief concern with regards to Florence was whether it could provide 500 qualified employees.

“As you can see by the turnout here today, there’s nothing to be concerned about,” King said, pointing to the 800-seat SiMT auditorium, which was quickly filled almost to capacity.

Potential hirees were lined up outside the SiMT well before 9 a.m. Monday.

Deborah Smith of Florence was among the first in line at the job fair. She’s been looking for a job for more than a year. She said she was hopeful and she felt qualified for the call center job with her good personality and ability to communicate.

“I need a shot, that’s all I’m asking for is a shot,” Smith said. “Florence needs this, economy-wise, and they need to step it up a little bit. Agero needs to come here.”

Mallie Williams came out Monday afternoon to apply for an information technology job with Agero and said, “I read a little bit about the company and it seems pretty interesting, and I knew there were some opportunities for me so I thought I'd just come out and give it a try."

Another applicant, Tony Payne of Jefferson, in Chesterfield County, recently lost his job after a work injury.

"There's a whole lot of people out of work ... there are still a lot of jobs that just aren't out there any more and they used to be out there,” said Payne. “So, you're best bet is to come to a job fair like this. If you don't have the schooling, get the schooling you need and then come to a job fair."

Agero, a Massachusetts-based company the provides customer service for automotive manufacturers’ roadside assistance programs and similar products, is going to decide to locate a new call center either in Clarksville, Tenn., or Florence by the end of the month after narrowing its choices to two from an initial field of 60 sites nationwide.

Once the decision is made, Agero will hire 50 call center agents in May, accept the first inbound calls in June and hire 200 by the end of the year with the remainder being hired in the beginning of 2013.

The job fair will continue Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Agero officials say applicants should bring and updated resume with them to the event. Interested parties who can’t attend the job fair can email resumes to Florenceresume@agero.com.

Agero has headquarters in Medford, Mass and has operations across the United States and Canada with more than 2,300 associates serving more than 100 corporate clients and millions of their customers each year.  Agero’s client list includes automotive manufacturers Ford, GM, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Infiniti, Volvo, Bentley and others; and insurance giants like Progressive, Liberty Mutual and Farmers.

Agero was founded in 1972, and is a member of The Cross Country Group, one of the largest privately-held providers of customer service programs in the United States.

Agero said it offers a competitive compensation package; a comprehensive benefit package including medical, dental, vision, life and supplemental insurance, short and long term disability, and 401(k); free membership to the Motor Club; paid vacation plus 10 paid holidays; extensive paid training and growth opportunities for career-minded individuals. Agero officials did not offer a salary or hourly pay range for the jobs involved. It is seeking both part- and full-time employees.