Telemarketer closes shop- 64 lose jobs in Butte

A telemarketing company in Butte abruptly closed its doors Tuesday morning, leaving 64 people without their $9-per-hour jobs.

Talk America, a Reston, Va.-based company located in the building at 3725 Harrison Ave. that once housed Smith’s grocery and Teleperformance, called the sales representatives for a meeting at 11 a.m. and announced it was shutting down, according to an employee who was there.

By Carmen Winslow of The Montana Standard

http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2004/09/01/newsbutte_top/hjjfjajijchbjg.txt

People left the building after that.

Employee Mary Jo Smith, 22, a single mom with a 2-year-old son, said the news left the workers "stunned." She said a manager who made the announcement had tears in his eyes, and he said the decision came from corporate headquarters.

The Standard was unable to reach Talk America officials late Tuesday.

However, Evan Barrett, director of the Butte Local Development Corp., said he talked with company administrators Tuesday.

"The company indicated this was part of an overall layoff of 150 people across their whole system — it wasn’t just Butte — because they had more callers than they had business for callers," Barrett said.

Talk America sales people sold telephone service, with most of their calls placed to the East Coast, according to Smith, who was a sales representative.

"Telephones were a major mode of reaching the customer base," Barrett said, "now they’re doing Internet and direct sales … other kinds of marketing.

"I’m surmising … that because of the no-call list, a significant percentage of prospective customers they cannot call … because of that they laid off 150 people systemwide."

The Butte operation, which just opened earlier this summer, was selected for closure because of its size — one of the smallest in the company, Barrett believes. Closing the entire operation eliminated salary costs as well as all fixed costs, like rent and utilities.

"It didn’t have anything to do with the work force," Barrett said, based on his conversation with company spokesman Bill McGrath. "They were happy with the work force; it just made economic sense to them (to close)."

Barrett’s development agency worked with Talk America to bring it to town. He said he’s disappointed in the closure.

"The message is this … that you can’t build a job plan around telemarketing jobs. They come down the pike, but they’re usually low investment in the community. As such, they kind of come and go depending on the ebb and flow of the business.

"While we’ll continue to seek some jobs in that field, it’s a small part of what we need to do to develop a proper job base for the community."

Talk America’s predecessor in Butte, Teleperformance USA, closed its doors in October 2003, laying off 100 people. It blamed the national "do-not-call" list for its declining business.

Nonetheless, Talk America’s departure left 64 people unemployed, according to the Butte Job Service, Barrett said.

Smith said it’s her understanding that they’ll be paid for what they’ve worked.

Still, it was a good job, she said, one that she desperately needs. She underwent a week of intensive training for the job. She made $9 an hour, and depending on the commissions from her sales, her compensation could rise to $13 per hour. The company also dangled sales incentives — gifts of stereos, DVDs and money — to encourage more sales.

"It is an awesome company," she said.

Talk America was founded in 1989, according to its Web site at http://www.talkamerica.com. It also has its own nationwide long distance network, which it completed in 1997. The company’s vision "is to build a large, profitable consumer franchise, delivering value and superior service to our customers in a simple package," according to its site.

Carmen Winslow is The Standard’s associate editor. She may be reached via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at 496-5510.

Session Friday for employees

The Butte Job Service, 2201 White Blvd., plans a session at 10 a.m. Friday for employees who lost their jobs with Talk America. It’s intended to help them deal with the loss and prepare them for seeking new employment.