Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 2, 1995 TAG: 9503020042
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CLIFTON FORGE LENGTH: Medium
Jeanette Rose says landing a job at CFW Information Services Inc., meant more to her than just getting employment.
"CFW has been a lifesaver to me," she said.
Officials in Clifton Forge hope that CFW, which will provide about 135 jobs, will signal a renewed vigor in an economy left sagging by the demise of the city's once-dominant railroad industry.
"CFW represents an entirely new direction in the economic development of Clifton Forge," said Tom Dean, chairman of the Alleghany Highlands Economic Development Authority. "It is a credit to an entire community focused on economic development."
The company will serve as the hub of an interstate communications network that will provide directory assistance to AT&T telephone customers worldwide. Workers sit in front of computer screens dispensing telephone numbers for about 9 million phones in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
The Clifton Forge center, which had its ceremonial opening Wednesday evening, is housed in a $2 million building off Chestnut Street.
It is half of the operation. An identical center has been built in Waynesboro. The two centers share a common computer database and calls go to where there's an available operator.
The two centers are the result of CFW Communications Corp.'s outbidding Bell Atlantic Corp. for AT&T's directory-assistance business. When the centers were announced last June, Bell Atlantic said the move would cause the loss of 280 jobs among its 2,300 operators in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Bell Atlantic operates seven directory-assistance centers in Virginia, in Roanoke, Norton, Pulaski, Hampton, Norfolk, Leesburg and Richmond.
Workers at the new CFW centers will start at $4.50 a hour with incentive pay for the number of calls they handle.
The company is training 20 to 30 employees a week, building toward a full complement of 265 full-time and 30 part-time employees.
Some had several part-time jobs and are happy for full-time employment. Many are former waitresses happy to have health insurance, vacation time and holidays as part of their benefits package.
Most are just happy to have a job in a region where the unemployment rate historically has been around 10 percent of the work force, while the statewide average is just over 4 percent.
"It is a godsend to this area," said Rose, who lost her job as a convenience-store manager in October, just five months after her husband died of heart failure. "It is giving people another chance."
Donna Pershing, a former AT&T division manager who now manages the CFW operation, said the employees are the strength of the company, which began accepting requests for AT&T customers Tuesday morning.
"Our competitive advantage here is the people," said Pershing, who will split time between Waynesboro and Clifton Forge as the volume of directory assistance requests increase. "The employees have been positive in their approach. They are flexible and willing to do what it takes to do the job."
David L. Gibson, the company's vice president and general manager, said the center's role may grow over time. He hopes that one day that CFW will provide a similar service for MCI and Sprint, two of AT&T's primary competitors.
He said the fiber-optics setup also would allow CFW operators to branch out into other forms of telemarketing, such as retail sales. The company has enough land to double its building space.
J. Glynn Loope, executive director of the Alleghany Highlands Economic Development Authority, said growth of jobs was the primary goal of state and local officials who plunked down about $500,000 in incentives to attract the company.
"This is the highway of the future," Loope said. "It gives us a growth industry heading into the 21st Century."
by CNB