la Frontera In the News
Round Rock Leader
February 1, 2005
Convergys selects Round Rock for new call center
by Mistie Householter, Leader Staff
A Cincinnati-based customer care outsourcing company will open an inbound call center in Round Rock in May.
Convergys – named a Fortune magazine Most Admired Company – will base their 62nd customer contact center in 26,000 square feet of space at 810 Hester's Crossing in The Summit at La Frontera office building.
Convergys spokesman Brian Clifford said the company is in the process of hiring locals but hasn't determined a final number of employees. The company employs 63,000 employees – 5,500 in Texas – in 20 countries to service over 100 clients including Office Depot, United States Postal Service and Yahoo!.
The Round Rock location will be used to service the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Convergys in October was awarded an $85 million, five-year contract to provide human resources and payroll services to the state agency's 46,000 employees.
The state agency expects to save $45 million over the next five years by contracting their human resources and payroll services. They already spend over $20 billion each year to administer 200 programs and operate from 100 Texas locations.
The passage of House Bill 2292 in the 2003 Texas Legislative session spurred a movement towards a more efficient department. Twelve agencies were consolidated into four departments and executives began discussing streamlining business operations. Outsourcing two vital functions to the private sector was deemed a valid solution, said spokeswoman Jennifer Harris.
The city's Vice President of Economic Development Scott Martinez said Convergys will be an asset to the community and will attract vital property and sales tax-paying employees.
"They're a well-established company with a history of being a good corporate citizen," he said, adding that quality, not quantity of employees is the determination of success.
"I look at it as quality of the jobs being created. Are they going to be sustainable, provide good benefits to their employees? I think they will be," said Martinez. "If they're creating 500 to 1,000 jobs that pay minimum wage that won't be a great success. It won't come with benefits and wages able to buy homes that support the community."
Martinez said Dell Inc.'s 1994 arrival in town changed the city's corporate landscape.
"I don't think you'll see a lot of lower scale jobs coming into Round Rock. The land costs are some of highest in state of Texas and that changes companies that look at city to do business. They create a higher value of goods and services and are more sustainable."
Contact Mistie Householter at 255-5827 or by e-mail at city@rrleader.com .
