Senture is officially opening facility in Williamsburg

Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison’s efforts over recent weeks to get local residents to fill out pre-screening applications so a perspective business will open up shop in Williamsburg have apparently been successful.

Harrison said that he was informed last week that Senture has started hiring about 40-50 people for initial positions at a Williamsburg facility.

The facility will be located in the old CSC or Datatrak building that is located adjacent to the Cumberland Regional Mall. The building also formally housed the old Wal-Mart.

“They are coming!!” an excited Harrison said late Friday afternoon. “I found out in a round about way. I got a phone call from someone, who had filled out the survey. They called and said they had gotten an e-mail thanking them for filling out the survey and informing them they could start the application process.”

Harrison said that he then got on the phone with Senture officials and confirmed that the company has decided to open a facility in Williamsburg.

“I am just floating on cloud nine right now. If we do get to the 400 – 500 employee range that would be huge for this area,” he added.

Senture is a full-service, 24/7 contact center headquartered in London, Kentucky, according to its website.

The company provides inbound and outbound premium customer care call support and related services, such as customer service, help desk, database design and management, and order processing. The company supports federal and state government, as well as commercial accounts.

The company’s website also notes about the Williamsburg center that applicants will “have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of veterans and their families each day as they make important decisions about their healthcare while at the same time remembering there is a real person on the other end of the phone who is looking for help, guidance and support. “

Senture is encouraging U.S. military veterans and their family members to apply. The Williamsburg facilities hours of operation will be from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.

April opening

The company hopes to open up shop in Williamsburg sometime in April and then slowly expand as it gets work on the physical facility completed, and new employees hired and through an eight-week training process, Harrison said.

He said that after the first group of employees is trained, the company would hire and train more groups of employees.

Harrison said that he doesn’t know if the company will hire the full 500 people that it said it might need.

He thinks the number hired will depend on the number of qualified applicants that the company will be able to hire, who can pass the background check and a drug screening.

Harrison said he delivered about 618 pre-screening surveys to the company on Jan. 20 that city officials obtained via local advertising and social media in addition to a pair of job fairs held at the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center.

“We have steadily been collecting more,” he added estimating the city collected about 700 surveys total. “A lot of people told me we wouldn’t get 500. I was bound and determined.”

Harrison said that he isn’t sure whether other officials or agencies also collected pre-screening surveys and, if so, how many they obtained.

“We had a lot of really good people come by and complete that survey. I was tickled to death about it,” he added. “There were a lot of people that were early retirees that don’t want to just not do anything. There were people at different jobs and wanting to make a little bit more money. We had all kinds of people. I was really pleased with the people and type of people that came to do that survey. I want to thank everyone for filling out the survey.”

Harrison noted that all the applicants weren’t just from Williamsburg or Whitley County with several people coming from Tennessee, McCreary County and other surrounding counties.

Harrison said that interested applicants, whether they filled out the pre-screening survey or not, can go to the company’s website at www.senture.com and start the application process.

“There is a tab that says ‘Williamsburg’ and you follow the directions there,” Harrison said.

Interested applicants can also log onto the Facebook page for the Williamsburg Main Street program, which has a flier posted with the necessary steps to apply.

Harrison noted that Senture was recently voted as one of the best employers in the state.

The jobs are expected to range from $10.50 to $14 or $15 per hour depending on a number of factors.