Published: Thu, March 4, 2010
By DAVID SKOLNICK skolnick@vindy.com
                YOUNGSTOWN- A call-center company that opened five months ago in the city-owned 20 Federal Place will add 200 jobs by May.
                VXI Global Solutions, a Los Angeles-based company, already employs 450 at the downtown building, said Deidre Watson, the company’s lead recruiter for its Youngstown office. “We’ve had great success in the Youngstown area,” she said Wednesday. “Our employees here have great customer skills and produce great results. That’s why we’re expanding here.”
                The starting pay for the jobs is $9 an hour. Top employees at VXI earn $800 to $1,000 a week, Watson said. The company is seeking candidates with excellent sales skills, some computer skills and outstanding customer-service skills.
                In addition to open interviews Friday and March 12, the company accepts job applications Mondays through Fridays. But those who apply that way don’t get on-the-spot interviews, Watson said.
                The company currently occupies the fourth floor of 20 Federal Place, the former Phar-Mor corporate office downtown. The company expects to expand to the building’s vacant fifth floor sometime between July and September, Watson said.
                Also, VXI is considering hiring more workers for its Youngstown operation in the near future, she said. “We’re in the Valley to stay,” Watson said.
                City administrators have worked with VXI on the expansion and are pleased with Wednesday’s announcement by the company, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams said. “I’m glad they’ve decided to expand here,” he said. “We hope there are other announcements by VXI in terms of expansion. The city works hard to facilitate the success of companies once they locate here.”
VXI’s Youngstown facility handles inbound sales calls and inbound customer-care calls that include providing information about products and billing for various companies.
                VXI has invested about $4 million in the Youngstown operation. This is the third announcement in the last month about jobs coming to Youngstown. On Feb. 15, V&M Star Steel officials announced the company would invest $650 million in an expansion plant and employ 350 workers near its current facility on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
                The next day, Revere Data said it was relocating a research center’s operations from New Delhi, India, to the recently renovated Semple Building on West Federal Street. Revere Data initially will hire 10 and could increase that to 100 in two years, said Kevin E. O’Brien, its chief executive officer.