FORT KENT – Just 41/2 months after Synergy Solutions opened its doors in the former MBNA building, the founder said Friday that employment expectations already have been surpassed and more jobs will be added in coming months.

Eighty full-time jobs and a number of part-time jobs have been created by the Phoenix-based outsourced teleservices company.

Corey Conklin, the company’s founder and chief operating officer, said the Fort Kent center will have 100 full-time positions within the next three months.

There were 60 jobs at the site during MBNA’s operation.

The company opened its doors to the community Friday to celebrate. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, food was plentiful and scores of people toured the cubicle-filled facility.

Employees mingled with officials and provided tours to the public. Lunch was served outside, under a large tent while it drizzled.

“Employees here are meeting and exceeding all the performance goals set for them,” said Conklin, sporting a Fort Kent Muskie Tournament cap. The management staff, all former MBNA workers, have been running the operation.

“We are very happy here,” he said. “We have made an economic impact in the community, and we have helped a lot of skilled workers who were under-employed.”

Conklin made a $500 donation to the Muskie Tournament at the ribbon-cutting. He was asked to wear one of the donated hats when he plays golf in Arizona.

Municipal, state and county officials attended the celebration, including people from the Aroostook Partnership for Progress and the Northern Maine Development Commission, the two organizations that spearheaded the effort to bring Synergy Solutions to Fort Kent.

“Our whole team, including local officials at Fort Kent, worked hard to attract this company to Fort Kent,” said Walt Elish, the partnership’s executive director, on Friday. The original contact with Synergy was made through Maine Connections.

“We had a building available, along with a work force,” he said. “Once Corey [Conklin] came here, a number of us, including the state, got involved putting together a financial package to make it economically viable for them to come here.”

Synergy Solutions already had a number of centers in rural areas of the country. Elish said Fort Kent was a good fit for Conklin.

The company operates eight sites in the United States. Along with Fort Kent, it has two locations in Minnesota, two in South Dakota, one in upstate New York and its headquarters in Phoenix.

The announcement of Fort Kent’s operation was made during the town’s CanAm Crown International Sled Dog Race during the first weekend of March. Staff hiring started immediately.

The Fort Kent facility is located off Pleasant Street, adjacent to the University of Maine at Fort Kent.