Corning Plant to Be Call Center

Sitel Corp., a Nashville, Tenn.-based customer service outsourcing company, will establish a call center at Corning Inc.'s former photonics testing facility at 103 Candada Road in Erwin, N.Y., according to an article in the Elmira Star-Gazette.

Sitel has 145 locations in 28 countries that provides customer support services to more than 450 clients, including Microsoft Corp. It maintains offices in Omaha, Neb., which was its headquarters until its 2007 merger with ClientLogic of Nashville. The Erwin call center is expected to employ 400.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer said in a prepared statement, “The location of Sitel will provide tremendous value to Corning valley and the surrounding areas of Steuben, Chemung and Schuyler counties. We are proud to welcome the new Sitel facility and the hundreds of employment opportunities it represents. We look forward to building upon this relationship in years to come.”

Gov. Spitzer today announced state projects for job development in New York's North County and spoke about efforts to revitalize the upstate economy last week in his State of the State address, including the Restore NY Communities Initiative, under which the Empire State Development will provide funding to 64 projects statewide. Restore New York was designed to revitalize urban areas and stabilize neighborhoods as a means to attract residents and businesses.

The Empire State Development office is funding Sitel's move with a $1.5 million Jobs Now grant to be used toward machinery and equipment expenses, plus $750,000 from the from the Governor’s Office for Small Cities.

Corning, with state and local economic development officials, broke ground for a major expansion at the company’s Sullivan Park Research and Development complex in Erwin in November. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is providing a $1.5 million grant for implementing energy efficiency measures, and the New York State Department of Transportation offered $750,000 in grants and loans through its Industrial Access Program. The company will also receive $6.8 million in Steuben County Industrial County Development Agency sales tax credits on construction materials and $54.7 million in Empire Zone tax credits.

Corning’s $300 million investment will be used to build a new 150,000 square-foot facility and upgrade existing buildings at its Steuben County-based Research and Development complex. The expansion is expected to be completed by 2013. The Sullivan Park facility conducts leading-edge research in display technologies, telecommunications, environmental technologies and life sciences.

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