Statement Of Congressman Rick Boucher (Results Global Services Jobs Expansion)

Statement of Congressman Rick Boucher
Results Global Services Jobs Expansion
Monday, September 18, 9:30 AM
Stuart, Virginia

I am pleased to return to Stuart today to announce the creation of 60 additional well paying jobs for the economy of Patrick County.

Last month I joined with officials of the Results Company at the Rich Creek Corporate Park in Stuart in announcing the plans of The Results Companies of Dania Beach, Florida to open a customer service center in the Rich Creek Shell Building with an initial workforce of 65 employees .

As a part of my Showcasing Southwest Virginia program, my office introduced Results to the Ninth District and for the past 2 years has been showing officials of the company a variety of sites throughout the region, including the Rich Creek Industrial Park, where new call centers could be located. This summer the company chose Stuart as the location for it's newest center.

Results is a nationwide provider of customer support services for Fortune 500 clients in the telecommunications, insurance and financial sectors. companies. Results has previously opened centers at my urging in Pennington Gap in Lee County and Duffield in Scott County, and our efforts on behalf of Patrick County were rewarded when we announced the creation of these new jobs at the Rich Creek Corporate Park in August.

As of today Results has now hired nearly 40 local employees , approximately 60% of whom are Patrick County residents, who are being trained as Licenced Insurance Agents in order to provide customer support services for a major healthcare insurance company. As Licensed Insurance Agents, they will handle existing customer inquiries as well as new customer enrollment calls coming in from around the nation.

The building at the Rich Creek Corporate Park is nearly complete, and officials at Results advise that the project is moving along more rapidly than originally anticipated. In fact, Patrick County has proved to be such an excellent environment for Results that the Company is announcing plans to hire up to a total of 125 rather than the 65 originally announced.

The additional 60 jobs being announced today represent an excellent professional employment opportunity for citizens throughout the region. Up to 80 of the 125 total employees will be trained as Licenced Insurance Agents in order to provide customer support services for a major healthcare insurance company dedicated to government-sponsored health plans such as Medicare, Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Programs and others. The company has recently signed a contract with Results to help support its network of more than 25,000 physicians and nearly 50,000 pharmacies, serving three quarters of a million individual beneficiaries in seven states.

In order to assist the employees in preparing for and passing the certification test required to become Licensed Insurance Agents, Results will provide 4 weeks of paid training. Results will also pay the cost for each qualified employee to take the certification test, as well as the cost of the state licensing fees for those who pass the test, for a total payment by Results of as much as $5,000 per employee. The company is prepared to make this very significant investment in its employees, who will derive the professional benefit of becoming Licensed Insurance Agents at no cost to themselves.

Results is seeking individuals with strong computer skills and an associates or high school degree. For those employees who pass the test, the position of Licensed Insurance Agent will pay in excess of ten dollars per hour .

In addition, Results will hire 30 customer service representatives at $8.25 an hour , as well as 15 management positions, for a total of 125 employees. Results expects that the first 110 positions will be filled by the end of this year.

All jobs will offer a competitive wage, greater than the industry norm for call centers, and medical and dental insurance after 180 days of employment.

Clearly this is a unique and compelling employment opportunity. Hiring for the 65 new positions will commence immediately, with a job fair for agent and management positions to be held on Wednesday, September 20 from 10 AM to 2 PM and Thursday, September 21 from 3 PM to 7 PM at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville.

I strongly urge job seekers in Patrick and Henry Counties and the surrounding region who are interested in applying for these positions to attend the job fair or to contact the Martinsville VEC office at 276 632-3023.

This announcement marks another significant success for our Showcasing Southwsest Virginia Program in our efforts to attract top-tier companies to the region and create new employment opportunities for area residents. Of greater significance, it demonstrates the ability of our region to create a favorable environment for such companies. As of today we have announced the creation of a total of nearly 500 jobs in Lee, Scott and Patrick Counties through our work with the Results Companies. I look forward to our continued long term partnership as we site additional call centers in the Results Network in Southwest Virginia.

I want to recognize and thank several key individuals whose dedication has made this announcement possible. Mike Burnette and the Patrick County Economic Development Authority have done an outstanding job of overseeing with the preparation of the facility at Rich Creek Corporate Park for Results, and I want to thank them for their tireless efforts and dedication to economic development in Patrick County. And I want to express my appreciation to Alec Brecker, President of Results Global Services, and Matt Charles, Vice President of Operations, for their commitment to Patrick County and for their confidence in our region. We appreciate their bringing these new jobs to Patrick County and to Southwest Virginia, and we pledge our full and ongoing support to assuring their success in our region.

http://www.boucher.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=850&Itemid=77