THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996 TAG: 9609260308
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 82 lines
The country's 10th largest travel management company announced Wednesday that it will open a national reservation center in downtown Elizabeth City.
VTS Travel Enterprises Inc., said it initially plans to hire 30 to 65 employees, many of whom will be trained through a special program being created this fall at the College of The Albemarle.
That could be just the beginning.
``They could be employing 500 people down the road and moving into another facility, which they will build,'' said Randy Harrell, director of the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank County Industrial Development Commission.
For now, VTS Travel will lease 2,400 square feet of office space inside the Midland Centre complex on Main Street.
The Elizabeth City operation is expected to open for business by Jan. 1.
A salary range had not been determined, but one company official said wages would be higher than the current per capita income of $14,885.
``Certainly, this is a grand occasion,'' said A.C. Robinson, an Elizabeth City councilman, and chairman of the local Industrial Development Commission's board of directors.
Others also lauded the new industry, which one economic developer said could have ``far-reaching effects on this entire region.''
The announcement was made at the Wachovia Bank board room, where about 30 public and private community leaders and employees gathered.
Vince Vitti, the president and chief executive officer of VTS Travel, was there with sons Edward and Will, who help run the company.
``This is going to provide good jobs for our citizens,'' Harrell said. ``It's the type of company we've been looking for in Elizabeth City for years.''
Those jobs will be mainly in corporate travel management, which comprises 90 percent of VTS Travel's business. Arranging groups, meetings and leisure travel make up the remainder.
The employee-owned company, with $325 million in gross annual volume last year, provides 24-hour services to clients throughout the country. Offices also have been set up in London, Frankfurt and Hong Kong.
The company averages 800 calls daily for hotel reservations, said Edward Vitti, the company's director of consumer services.
Edward Vitti will manage the Elizabeth City operation. A branch manager will be hired to run Elizabeth City operations when he is out of town.
VTS employs about 440 people throughout 206 locations. It is headquartered in New York City and Mahwah, N.J.
``We fully expect to be adding 100 jobs in the next year - and most of them will be here,'' Vince Vitti said.
Vitti selected Elizabeth City for an expansion partly because of a former neighbor, Herman Hockmeyer, who runs Hockmeyer Equipment Corp. at an industrial park off Weeksville Road.
Hockmeyer continually talked up the temperate weather and ample work force to Vitti.
Vince Vitti said last year's blizzard posed numerous problems when employees in northern offices could not get to work to handle calls. ``We need to have a backup source that doesn't have that problem,'' he said.
The northeast also has a shortage of travel agents, he said. And Elizabeth City is a much shorter commute than other sites that were considered in Florida, Wyoming and Alabama.
``I can be door-to-door in three hours,'' Edward Vitti said of the New Jersey-to-Elizabeth City airplane commute.
He also singled out Harrell, who's been bringing industry into the area for the past decade.
``Randy Harrell was a major reason for choosing here,'' he said.
Harrell, in turn, repeatedly played up the help he received from others in the community.
Among the many Harrell thanked were members of the state's community college system and College of The Albemarle, which will offer a two-month travel management program beginning Nov. 1.
Enrollees will be trained to take airline reservations, and will study geography, business math and telephone and sales skills.
VTS formed in 1935 as the travel department of Citibank in New York. Citibank was ordered by the U.S. government to divest the department in 1980, and VTS Travel was founded by senior employees of the bank.
Vince Vitti eventually became sole owner and began buying up other nearby local agencies. It is the second-largest travel agency in New York City.
In 1990, VTS Travel became the first major travel company to offer an employee stock-option plan. Today, employees have more than $2 million invested in the company.
Tenure at VTS Travel averages more than eight years, compared to the industry average of less than three years, officials said. by CNB