DECATUR - The StarTek corporate call center in Decatur announced Thursday that it was going into warp drive with a 300-job expansion that will more than double the size of the facility.

Most of the new jobs will be for employees who handle customer service calls. But StarTek also said it is looking to hire trainers and supervisors in addition to those 300, opening up even more employment opportunities.

The company, which employs 270 people, said the expansion was triggered by a huge new contract from a U.S. cell phone giant, which it declined to name.

Shauna Hall, StarTek's Decatur site director (the company has some 20 sites throughout the country and overseas) said hiring would begin immediately. The plan is to have the first of the new employees in training later this month and handling calls by September.

"And we hope to have our site full, at capacity, by early 2009," she added.

Hall said the Decatur StarTek location was chosen to host the new work because, since the facility opened in 2003, it's earned a solid reputation for quality.

"We already have a high performance and top vendor status with previous clients here in Decatur," she said. "And we have the ability to do a pretty fast-paced ramp (preparation to handle the new business) here at our site."

Anastasia Lingle, the recruiting manager in Decatur, said the company wanted job applicants who like "problem-solving and enjoy talking on the phone." She added: "We provide so much training, just to make sure our customers are taken care of, it's just huge. We believe the customer is always right, and we want to hire people who love people."

Craig Coil, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County, said the Decatur area had every reason to love StarTek right back. The economic development corporation had enticed the company to come to Decatur with the help of a state incentive package and gained "a valued employer and community member."

Coil said the company did well here because it had found an abundance of a crucial resource: people.

"The company's continued investment in Decatur is a testament to the area's qualified and dedicated work force and the community's commitment to helping local businesses thrive and grow," Coil added.

The only static on the line for Denver-based StarTek has been its recent history of financial results. Figures for the second quarter ended June 30 saw it notch up its third consecutive double-digit quarterly revenue increase (growing 11.5 percent to $65.6 million) but it turned in a loss of 31 cents a share.

StarTek said its results were weighed down by $5.5 million of "impairment and restructuring charges" and blamed the same problems for contributing to a 23 cent per share loss in the second quarter of 2007.

Larry Jones, the company's president and chief executive officer, remained upbeat in a public statement on June 30: "Although we are disappointed in the financial results of this past quarter, good progress was made toward meeting our long-term strategic objectives," he said.

"Our realignment of operations, assessment of nonperforming sites and opening new locations in pursuit of top-line growth are all consistent with the overall plan of growing the business and returning the company to sustained profitability."

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