Verizon Wireless Celebrates Job Growth at New State Headquarters in Huntsville

October 26, 2007

Verizon Wireless officially dedicated its state-of-the-art call center and state headquarters recently in Huntsville. The $44-million, 152,000 square-foot facility is expected to bring at least 1,300 jobs to the local economy.

Community leaders, company executives and employees, and government officials attended the grand opening event, which included a ceremonial ribbon-cutting to mark the official opening of the new building and the company’s expanded presence in Huntsville. The call center is located at Thornton Research Park and is already staffed with more than 500 employees, with more on the way.

“This new center will help us to deliver on that promise as we continue to achieve rapid customer growth and focus on providing the best possible experience for existing customers and the new ones we plan to add this year nationwide,” said Jeremiah Knight, director of Customer Service for the Huntsville Call Center. The next class of more than 100 new hires will join the company in November. Jobs housed in the facility include: customer service representatives and supervisors, tech support, government customer service teams and corporate sales employees.

Evans Quinlivan, chairman of the Chamber’s executive committee and President, thanked Verizon Wireless for their commitment to the community.

"Our congratulations and heartfelt thanks go out to Verizon Wireless on the opening of their call center in Huntsville,” said Quinlivan. “This world class facility brings 1,300 top flight industry leading telecommunications career opportunities to 1,300 of our friends and neighbors. To have a company like Verizon Wireless make this type of investment is a testament to the quality of our community."

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said that commitment is symbolic of the kinds of economic development growth occurring in Huntsville/Madison County.

“We are experiencing tremendous economic growth all over Alabama – but nowhere is it any greater than in Madison County,” he said. “Anytime a company like Verizon Wireless expands a major part of its operations into yet another corner of your state – with over a thousand new jobs – the impact on the local economy, as well as the community is going to be significant. We’re grateful for Verizon Wireless’ presence here in Alabama and are looking forward to building on that relationship as we welcome this new call center to our great state.”

“Verizon Wireless and Alabama are a great match,” said City of Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer. “Verizon Wireless’ new, state-of-the-art call center and state headquarters will stand as a symbol of excellence and success in the Huntsville area for many years to come.”

Connie Howell, manager, human resources field operations, praised the Chamber and the City, among others, for their support.

“The Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County and the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations’ Huntsville Career Center have been instrumental in helping us grow our Huntsville team,” Howell said. “We believe in recruiting, retaining and training the best employees, providing career opportunities and developing leaders. We appreciate the City of Huntsville’s support to help us continue to spread the word about the positions available at our center.”