Officials break ground for Monster facility

FLORENCE — Officials from Monster, an online job recruitment and careers resource, and local dignitaries gathered Tuesday to break ground for the company’s new customer service center at Pee Dee Electric Cooperative’s Touchstone Energy Commerce City.

The 75,000-square-foot facility just off S.C. 327 at Interstate 95 in Florence, which is being developed by Red Rock Developments of Columbia, is expected to bring 350 jobs to the Pee Dee initially.

Monster announced in late June it plans to invest $28 million and create 750 jobs over five years through the center.

Monster Worldwide South Carolina Inc. opened in September at a temporary location within the City Center, at 324 W. Evans St. Monster already has employed more than 200 agents there.

Monster officials said work on the customer service center is three months ahead of schedule, and should be complete by next fall.

Maynard, Mass.-based Monster.com lets users post resumes and offers a database of jobs as well as career, money and education advice. The Web site’s database contains about 80 million resumes globally, Monster spokesman Steve Sylven said in a previous interview.

“We are very excited to be breaking ground on the Florence facility,” Art O’Donnell, executive vice president of global customer services for Monster, said at the groundbreaking. “Florence is a prosperous region that we’re confident will provide us with the smart, customer-oriented talent needed to fill a variety of positions to bring best-in-class service to our customers.”

Company representatives were joined by representatives from the Florence County Economic Development Partnership, the S.C. Department of Commerce, Red Rock Developments and government officials for Tuesday’s event, which brought some much-needed good economic news to the region.

In October, every county in the Pee Dee had unemployment rates higher than the state average, according to a report released Nov. 21 by the S.C. Employment Security Commission. Florence County unemployment rates saw a sharp rise, going from 7.5 percent during September to 8.2 percent in October.

O’Donnell said he hopes the new facility will not only ease the area’s economic burden, but also trickle down to employees and those looking for work in the region.

“The people who work here will not be just answering phones and responding to e-mails, they will be helping people find jobs and by finding jobs, helping them build better lives,” he said.

“Monster’s decision to locate in South Carolina is another positive sign that our efforts to enhance the state’s business soil conditions are paying real dividends when it comes to attracting world-class companies and new job opportunities,” Gov. Mark Sanford said in a press release. “Today’s groundbreaking brings with it a significant number of new jobs that will positively impact the community in the years ahead.”

The announcement that Monster was coming to Florence County came less than a month after H.J. Heinz Co. revealed it would open a Florence County plant, also in Pee Dee Electric Cooperative’s Touchstone Energy Commerce City, creating 350 jobs.

The process of bringing Monster to South Carolina lasted nearly a year but developed into “somewhat of a whirlwind” late in the spring, Florence County Council chairman Rusty Smith said in a previous interview.

“Florence County Council has made economic development its No. 1 priority,” he said at the groundbreaking. “We’re just delighted to see this coming together — the delegation, the cities, the municipalities, the co-ops ... everybody working together to be successful.”

Florence County was one of 3,600 initial sites considered and, when the search narrowed, remained in the top three along with Aiken, Smith said.

Monster’s North American customer service was previously outsourced to overseas third-party companies, but the Florence facility is being built in an effort to bring that customer service in-house, Sylven said.

Three existing North American customer service centers will remain open with the same number of employees, Sylven said. Those centers are in Indianapolis and Maynard, Mass., as well as Canada.

— Morning News Staff Writers Charles Tomlinson and Jamie Durant contributed to this report.

ABOUT MONSTER

Monster Worldwide Inc., the parent company of Monster, provides online employment solutions primarily in North America, Europe and Asia. It engages in careers, and Internet advertising and fees businesses. The Careers business includes the provision of online recruiting services and solutions, which consist of searchable job postings, a resume database, and other career related content, as well as include premium career services at a fee to job seekers, such as resume writing and priority resume listing.

—Yahoo! Finance