MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Verizon Wireless is adding more than 400 full-time jobs in Alabama, mostly in the Huntsville area.
Verizon officials and public officials from the Huntsville area joined Gov. Robert Bentley in Montgomery on Tuesday to announce that more than 300 customer service positions will be created in Verizon’s state headquarters in Huntsville. The other jobs will be in retail, mostly in north Alabama and in Birmingham and Dothan.
Verizon Wireless currently employs 1,600 people in Alabama, including 1,000 at its state headquarters, and the addition of the jobs throughout 2014 will bring total employment to 2,000, said Michelle Robinson, the company’s vice president for government affairs in the South.
She said the expansion reflects a growing consumer demand for mobile devices and the availability of a qualified labor pool in Alabama. She said the state did not provide any financial incentives for the expansion.
Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong said the Verizon Wireless announcement builds on other recent industrial projects and expansions for the Huntsville area, including 2,000 jobs at Remington, 125 at Toyota Motor Manufacturing and 40 at General Electric.
Robinson did not disclose the starting salaries, but she said the jobs offer competitive salaries, health care coverage that begins on the first day of employment, and participation in the company’s 401(k) plan with a dollar-for-dollar match of up to 6 percent of an employee’s salary contribution.
For Bentley, who was elected in 2010 on a job creation platform, the announcement provided a major media event a month before the Republican primary June 3, when he faces two opponents in his re-election bid.
“It’s a good day for Alabamians who will have an opportunity to apply for these new jobs,” Bentley said.
Online: https://www.Verizon.com/jobs
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