Call center discussing Lawrence expansion

An official with Bloomington, Minn.-based NCS Pearson confirmed Tuesday the company is considering expanding its operations in Lawrence.

David Hakensen, vice president of public relations with NCS Pearson, said company officials hope to have a decision by fall.

“We have been looking at where we could expand in Lawrence because we have a number of contracts that we’re bidding on that would require more space,” Hakensen said.

He said the company was looking at several vacant office space locations in Lawrence and considering expanding the company’s 150,000-square-foot office complex at East Hills Business Park.

Hakensen said no decision had been made on how much space the company may need. That will depend on which contracts it is awarded. Company officials expect to know about the contracts by fall.

Hakensen said it also was too early to say how many new jobs could be added, but said most of the positions would be call center customer service representatives and call center managers.

“In our business, a new contract almost always means you are adding new employees, so it would definitely mean new jobs for the community,” Hakensen said.

He declined to speculate on what the new jobs would pay. The company has hired call center customer service employees at a starting wage of from $8 to $10 an hour, plus benefits.

Lawrence is being considered for the expansion, Hakensen said, because the company has had success recruiting employees in the city.

He declined to identify which contracts the company is pursuing, but said most involved providing customer service for government programs. Earlier this summer, the Lawrence center added 120 employees as part of a $140 million contract to handle customer service calls for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

NCS Pearson employs 617 people in Lawrence, Hakensen said. The company has operations in Minnesota, Arizona, Iowa, Kansas and Virginia.