ON-LINE SUPPORT ANNOUNCES EXPANSION TO THUNDER BAY
by Scott A. Sumner
www.thunderbaybusiness.ca
On-Line Support (OLS) proudly announced that they will expand their inbound contact center operations to Thunder Bay during the summer of 2010. The new site will create several hundred jobs, which include both entry level and management positions. “The City of Thunder Bay is pleased to have been selected as the successful site for OLS’s expansion,” said Mayor Lynn Peterson. “An initial creation of over 200 jobs, and the potential for up to 400 within the year, is a big win.” The groundwork for the expansion to Thunder Bay began back in March
when OLS held a career fair to gauge the interest of the local community. “The response of people in the area was overwhelming,” said Ross Beattie, President & CEO – On-Line Support. “We were also very impressed with the quality of the people who showed interest in a
career with OLS. This was one of the main factors in our decision to come here.”
Expansion is nothing new for OLS, who opened a site in Timmins, ON a year ago and a few more sites in Pembroke, ON & Antigonish, NS over the past three years. In total, OLS now operates nine contact centers, located in Ontario, Nova Scotia and PEI.
“The Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) is very excited to welcome OLS, one of Canada’s premier customer contact centres, to our community along with the creation of several hundred jobs,” said Steve Demmings, CEO – CEDC. “This is a big investment and we express our gratitude for investing in Thunder Bay.”
While the site will officially open in June, hiring is expected to begin immediately. For more information on positions or to apply to OLS, visit www.JoinOLS.com.
As a demonstration of OLS’s commitment to their new community, the company made a surprise $5,000 donation to Thunder Bay’s Shelter House. “OLS recognizes that our operations and the people we employ are a part of the community,” said Ross Beattie. “As a corporation, we think it is important to support the community both as an employer and
as a community partner.”
“We went around the country and there were a number of locations available to us at this time. What it all came down to was the quality of the labour market and the leadership within of the community because not all communities were providing us support. We were looking for a
leadership that was willing to work with us for a long term stakehold in the community and good quality applicants. We also went around the community in the grocery stores and the malls to see the local people and feel the spirit of the community. This was not only a financial
decision to come but a decision that we believe we could build a very strong part of our organization in Thunder Bay for the long term.” said Ross Beattie.
“We feel the workforce can fulfill our needs and were overwhelmed with the response. The job fairs we held showed us the labour force was excellent. There is also a current call centre industry in Thunder Bay and so the foundation was already here. We choose Thunder Bay over at least ten other communities.” said Beattie.
On line Support is a privately held company and Canadian owned with all of their operations in Canada. They also support clients in the US and their head office is in Charlottetown, PEI. “When we make a decision to go to a community it is a big decision because we are an employer of a lot of people and playing with people lives. We have never shut down an operation in our history. We are here for the long term and take it very seriously. The clientele we have are long term household, brand name, marquis clients that provide stability for our company and the communities in which we reside,” said Beattie. “We expect to be at 200
people by the fall of this year and then with phase two we hope to grow to 400 people. Thunder Bay is like the Maritimes to us versus other urban communities."
“There is no outbound component to our business; it is what we call technical support. The first training classes will happen in June and by July we will be in production. The management leadership and associates are currently being hired. We had the turn key office set up here but there are a number of these available across Canada. At the end of the day it was a benefit to us to come to the market more quickly. The technology here is robust and the facility has the
capacity to allow us to expand.”
