New call centres to create 290 jobs in Albany, Bunbury and Collie

25/6/03
New call centres will open in Albany, Bunbury and Collie later this year, providing up to 290 new jobs, thanks to a $1.8million grant from the State Government.
Announcing the new jobs today, Premier Geoff Gallop said the funding had been made available after weeks of negotiations with local call centre operator Synergy Regional.
"This is great news for the communities of Albany, Bunbury and Collie," Dr Gallop said.
"The State Government is actively encouraging new investment, jobs and opportunities in regional Western Australia.
"Our economy is growing strongly and we are keen to ensure regional communities share the benefits."
The Premier said Synergy would invest more than $4.6million to establish the call centres, which were expected to be operational by the end of the year.
The Collie call centre will be functioning by August, Albany by October and Bunbury in November.
Dr Gallop said Synergy estimated during the next five years it would also provide:

• $32.5million in wages invested in Albany, Bunbury and Collie;
• $960,000 towards recruitment and training; and
• Almost $2million in payroll tax to the State Government.

"Much of the credit in obtaining these jobs can be attributed to the hard work of the three local members - Peter Watson, Tony Dean and Mick Murray," the Premier said.
"They knew the importance of these jobs to their areas and they were determined the project would proceed.
"The new call centres will provide much-needed job opportunities in regional areas and will be first-class, modern facilities.
"They also represent a significant boost to the economies of these towns."
Dr Gallop said the Minister for the South-West, Jim McGinty, had also been a strong supporter of the project.
The South-West Development Commission had earmarked $1million from its South-West On-Line project towards the call centres in Collie and Bunbury.
"This proposal specifically addresses the State Government's commitment to upgrade the telecommunications infrastructure in the South-West, as part of our South-West Online policy," the Premier said.
The Department of Industry and Resources (DoIR) will assist in the establishment of the call centres by administrating the $1.8million grant.
Dr Gallop said the establishment of the call centres in the South-West and Great Southern was an important step in providing a diversified and stable employment path for regional WA.
"It is also consistent with our Regional Purchasing policy that aims to stimulate economic and employment opportunities in regional WA and supports our Protecting Our Old Growth Forests policy by creating new employment initiatives in areas affected by the reduction in old growth logging," he said.
Synergy will initially employ 25 staff in each of the call centres, boosting total numbers to 120 at Albany and Bunbury and 50 at Collie when fully operational.
The company is managed by John Van Der Ende, who has previously established and operated the highly successful Centrelink Call Centre in Bunbury.
The call centres will provide a service for businesses that can range from a simple message service to answer phone calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to tailored solutions to handle customer service, billing or help desk calls.
Premier's office: 9222 9475