T-Mobile to build new call center

T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced plans on Thursday to build its newest customer service center in Brownsville.

The company is expected to offer more than 750 jobs and $15 million in annual salary.

“We want to be differentiated in the community, so we don’t want to go just where everybody else goes,” said Scott Tweedy, vice president of customer service for T-Mobile USA. “We do a lot of research to figure out where the best place to be is. We feel like the Valley is somewhat undiscovered, and we want to maximize our relationship here.”

Local political and business leaders and company representatives attended Thursday’s groundbreaking announcement.

They pushed symbolic shovels into the ground while tractors pulled dirt in the distance, where T-Mobile will invest $17.5 million in a 78,000-square-foot facility.

The service center, to be built at Paredes Line Road and Heritage Boulevard, is expected to begin taking calls in January 2008.

By the end of the first year the company will fill 250 jobs. There will be 500 jobs in the second year, and at least 700 by the third year.

Wages for representatives will range from $9 to $12 per hour, according to T-Mobile.

The facility will also feature an on-site workout facility, cafeteria, television lounge, mother’s room, cyber café, outdoor patio and access to a hike and bike trail.

“This is a great day for Brownsville,” declared Jason Hilts, president and CEO of the Brownsville Economic Development Coun-cil. “We welcome T-Mobile to our community.”

Brownsville competed with a number of cities nationwide for the customer service center, including Jackson, Mississippi, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ultimately the BEDC, Greater Brownsville Incentives Corp. and the city of Brownsville lured the company.

GBIC will grant T-Mobile a $3.5 million in job creation incentives, an investment of 4A sales tax dollars to support job creation, which will be paid out over five years.

Receipt of the GBIC grant is based on construction of facility and creation of jobs.

If the company fails to meet agreed upon measures, including construction of the facility and creation of jobs, it would have to pay back part or all of the grant money it has received with interest.

T-Mobile is based in Bellevue, Wash., and boasts of 110 million wireless voice and messaging customers worldwide.

The company also has more than 32,000 U.S. employees.

John Reed, BEDC chairman, attributed the company’s decision to locate in Brownsville to the city’s quality of life, and young and energetic workforce.

“It’s not a coincidence that Brownsville is suddenly getting noticed,” Reed said. “And this (announcement) is a testament to Brownsville’s place as one of the best cities to do business in the U.S.”