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Less than two months after the closure of one call center in Ray that cost 40 area workers their jobs, a local teleservices company announced Friday the expansion of a new call center in Ray.
Mohall-based Midwest Teleservices International, an outbound call service and solutions company, will occupy the space at the Ray Mall vacated by stationary and medical practice-related products supplier Medical Arts Press, which closed its call center in Ray at the end of January.
"We are very happy to have the opportunity to expand into the community of Ray," said Kathy Hett, CEO of MTI. "The exceptional work ethic possessed by the people of this area meshes very well with the business model that MTI has been built on."
This is not the first time MTI has swooped in to help a community in need.
Last year, the company opened up a call center in Linton a community of 1,200 after the town was devastated by springtime flooding and the closure of American Express, which had employed 50 people from the area.
When the Ray call center opens this spring, it will become the 13th community in North Dakota to host a MTI call center.
But the road to recover employment opportunities in Ray was anything but easy.
Since Medical Arts Press announced the closure of its call center in Ray last November, state and local agencies have been scrambling to replace the more than 40 jobs lost in the small community of 550 people. Gov. John Hoeven, along with several state and local economic development officials, traveled to the town in late November to put together a business and community profile package to entice national employers, and over the next four months, the state commerce department courted several potential employers in the teleservices sector and other industries in face-to-face meetings.
"It's important to have a variety of employment opportunities for Ray and the communities in northwest North Dakota and MTI coming in provides that," said Hoeven. "This is not only good for the community but it's also important business for the mall with the space they will occupy but also having 40 people working there will help other businesses at the mall."
The new MTI call center in Ray, scheduled to begin operations within the next six weeks, will employ up to 45 people who will assist with the business and residential sales and customer service of MTI's clients. In a statement, MTI said they will begin interviewing and hiring employees within the next two weeks.
Registered: Mar 2008
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