LAURINBURG — A new call center is working it’s way to Scotland County with a Laurinburg native pushing to make it happen.
An AT&T call center run by third-party cooperation Synergy Communication has already begun the interview process in hopes of bringing the call center to Laurinburg — and 500-plus jobs could be coming with it. According to Jarvis Samuel, the president of operations for the company, he’s looking to bring jobs into his hometown.
“This will be our first call center,” Samuel said. “Laurinburg is home for me, I’m a Scotland High School graduate and I wanted to be able to bring jobs here.”
On Thursday the company held its first job fair, asking those to bring in a printed resume for the open interview. Samuel added that for the job, the person has to be 18 and eager to work. There will be more opportunities to apply for jobs at the center in the future.
The company is looking at running the operation out of the Abbot Building, but there have been some hiccups so far in the process.
“The biggest issue right now is inside the building — we’ve got a major cleanup to do,” Samuel said. “There’s mold and the building has to be tested in and out, so we’re hoping once a clean-up crew comes in and it passes we’ll be able to get started setting up.”
If the building falls through, Samuel still plans to keep the call center in Scotland County and has already been looking at other sites.
“I’ve been talking with Mark Ward about other buildings and even Mayor (Matthew) Block has been helping with the process,” Samuel said. “I can honestly say we’ve had a lot of support from local officials, Rep. (Garland) Pierce and Curtis Leak both stopped by yesterday during interviews. Everyone is really trying to help.”
Samuel added that the Abbott building is still the best option for the company so he’s hoping to continue to push forward with it.
“We’re trying to tell people to pray that it happens because it isn’t set in stone,” Samuel said. “But I’m pushing for Laurinburg and so is my team because a lot of them are from Laurinburg and we want to make it happen.”
Reach Katelin Gandee at 910-506-3171 or at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com