Citibank contract nets 250 seasonal jobs in Lewiston

LEWISTON – The nonprofit business component of the social advocacy group Faithworks has landed a contract with Citibank that is allowing it to hire 250 new workers.

Outsourceworks has already filled 140 of the jobs, which involve the assembly and packaging of holiday promotional gifts for the New York-based banking giant.

The Citibank contract will expand the Outsourceworks payroll by $550,000 to $600,000 for work that will run through the end of November.

Paul Rubin, executive director of Outsourceworks, says that if the contract goes well, he expects his company to receive additional work from Citibank, which does similar promotional mailings five times a year.

Gov. John Baldacci toured the Outsourceworks facility at the Hill Mill on Friday to meet the workers and view the operation.

“I have always been very impressed with the whole program, and with Paul,” said Baldacci, who met Rubin while the director was a student at L-A College. “Every time I come here, I’m more and more amazed.”

Many of the Outsourceworks employees have had difficulty holding jobs elsewhere. The company helps by providing them with an array of services, ranging from education to transportation support.

Workers are paid on a piecework basis, with the typical earner receiving $11 to $13 an hour. The minimum is $8.50.

Outsourceworks has made a name for itself by providing quality, hand-finished work on time. The schedule for the Citibank project means the company has been open 15 hours a day Monday through Thursday, 12 hours on Friday and nine hours on the weekends.

Rubin said the flexibility of the work force allows Outsourceworks to meet its production deadline efficiently, which helped land the Citibank contract.

“This was supposed to be done by a company in Mexico, but they couldn’t meet the deadline,” said Rubin.

Outsourceworks, which projects sales of $2.2 million this year, is looking to move to the new Lewiston industrial park once logistics can be arranged.