Official: ‘Mid-Maine is on the move’

PITTSFIELD – There were dignitaries, cameras, cake and a ribbon-cutting Thursday at the formal grand opening for Global Contact Services, a Virginia-based telemarketing firm that is bringing 200 jobs to Pittsfield.

The selection of Pittsfield by the firm represents a pivotal change in central Maine, John Richardson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, said after the official ceremonies.

“Mid-Maine is on the move,” he said. “We have an emerging IT [information technology] cluster in Maine.” He called the trend “what we need to set the table to bring our children home” from out-of-state jobs.

Because all of the economic players in Maine – from the federal level down to local municipalities – are able to work efficiently and cooperatively with each other, Richardson said Maine is in effect a pilot project, a leader on the national and international scene when it comes to growth of IT businesses.

“Boston holds the dominance in the IT marketplace,” Richardson said. “But the property values are too high, competition is too great. In rural Maine, we have lower property values and the one thing they truly value – workers.”

It was the extraordinary cooperative effort by local, state and federal officials and agencies that caused Global Contact Services to consider Pittsfield, company president Greg Alcorn said Thursday.

“Pittsfield wasn’t even on the radar screen,” he said. The firm didn’t come looking for Pittsfield, he said; rather the state of Maine came looking for the firm. “Twenty minutes after our search for a new location began, the governor of the state of Maine was on the phone to our Virginia office. That meant a lot to us.”

Global Contact Services real estate locator Bob Lynch said he had been looking in 48 other states. “The competition was keen,” he said. But he held up a two-page economic development brochure created to market the town of Pittsfield and said: “Town Manager Kathryn Ruth’s business card was not put into the slot. It’s glued in there.”

When more than 900 people showed up earlier this year for a Global Contact Services job fair, the company was bowled over. Pittsfield became even more attractive because the firm’s location is in a Pine Tree Zone and a $15,000 Department of Economic and Community Development grant was secured to rewire the company’s location.

“Coming to Pittsfield is a long-term decision,” Alcorn said. “We will be here for generations. When we came here, we felt loved and community support feels good.”

Richardson said his office uses asset and work force maps to recruit companies such as Global Contact Services, Barley’s Bank in Wilton, the new Hathaway shirt factory development in Waterville and T-Mobile in Oakland. “Our emphasis right now is on central Maine because of its economy,” he said.

In central Maine, property values are competitive, he said, but Pine Tree Zones and the skilled work force make an unbeatable combination.

“This has leveled the playing field for Maine to compete on a national level,” Richardson said. “There is a branding of Maine people and their work ethic. They are hard-wired to be innovative.”

As towns trim budgets and have fewer resources to put into economic development, working cooperatively with state, county and federal agencies and officials becomes vital, Richardson said. “This – GCS coming to Pittsfield – is a perfect illustration of that cooperative effort,” he said.

Coincidentally, the announcement that the firm was bringing 200 jobs to town came on the heels of the news that San Antonio Shoe was closing and more than 160 jobs would be lost. “I’ve seen the fear in those people’s faces,” Richardson said. “Today it is better. Today I saw joy.”

bdnpittsfield@verizon.net

487-3187