Call Center to Add 300 Jobs by March

Vesta, an electronic payments processor, will open a new call center in Alpharetta next month that is expected to employ 300 people by the end of March, according to the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce.

Tedra Cheatham, vice president of economic development, said clients and workers attracted the Portland, OR, based company to Alpharetta.

"I think that Vesta was very interested in the workforce that was here, since we already have such a technology base.

Also, a couple of their clients were located here, locally," Cheatham said.

AT&T Mobility is one of those clients, and also is one of the largest employers in North Fulton, according to Brandon Beach, president and CEO of the chamber.

The first dozen employees are being hired and will start on Jan. 3. Cheatham said Vesta's staffing agents told her by the end of January they will have hired 40 to 50 employees. The plan is to have 300 employees on board by the end of March.

More employees could be hired after that.

A news release issued by the chamber said Vesta Chief Financial Officer Sanjay Khare said the move had the potential to bring more sales and account executives into the area.

"We certainly intend to expand the facility," Khare said, according to the release.

Vesta is moving into Brookside 800, an office building on Alexander Drive off Old Milton Parkway, Cheatham said. The 36,000-square-foot building currently is occupied by Coyote Logistics. Coyote Logistics will move to new office space at 960 North Point Parkway the second week of January, according to the chamber's news release.

Georgia Power and Deloitte Consulting helped recruit Vesta to North Fulton, but the workforce seemed to be most important.

"They were very impressed with the workforce that we had in the area," Cheatham said.

Vesta is recruiting for 100 new order processing agents on three shifts. High school diplomas or GED plus one year of customer service experience are key requirements for those positions, which pay $9-$10 an hour. Medical benefits, 401(k), referral and retention bonuses are available.

Vesta was aware that Alpharetta had recently approved an economic incentive that could give them a break on building permit fees of up to $25,000 if they occupied a large enough space with at least 100 employees for a number of years.

Cheatham said that decision helped let them know the call center would be welcome in the community even if they decided not to take advantage of the incentives.

North Fulton has 65 call centers, with approximately 35 of them having Alpharetta addresses.