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Carbonite: 75 new hires and counting on Astini News

Published on Friday, Sep 9, 2011 at 12:12 am | Last updated on Thursday, Sep 8, 2011 at 10:10 pm

LEWISTON — The space is low-lit, the walls a company-colored purple and gray, and the number of new employees 75 and counting.

"We affectionately call this Carbonite North," Vice President of Services Rich Surace said Thursday.

He's logged 4,350 miles driving back and forth from the Boston headquarters since June to set up Carbonite's new tech call center in the business park on Mollison Way. The space is a former TD Bank processing center outfitted now with 110 work stations and new windows.

Four months ago Carbonite announced it was closing a call center in India and bringing those jobs to Lewiston. It's received on average 500 job applications a month and is on track to employ 150 workers full-time by the end of the year, Surace said.

Members of the fourth, and latest, class of new trainees hit the floor this week. Eventually they'll answer calls and emails for the secure, online data backup company with more than 1 million customers worldwide.

CEO David Friend has already visited several times.

"It's very positive being up here," Surace said. "This is an initiative that goes all the way up to the CEO, choosing the right location, choosing the right area, was important to us."

Carbonite has call centers in Lewiston and Boston. Hard-to-answer tech questions can transfer from here to there seamlessly for customers, he said. Lewiston is operating from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with hours set to expand to midnight as more hires come on.

Salary and benefits start at $35,000 with additional performance incentives, not for the speed of the calls but the happiness of customers, Surace said. Lower satisfaction scores had prompted the company to look outside India.

"The results have been phenomenal," he said.

Carbonite has an option on an additional 15,000 square feet in the space above Spare Time Recreation if it's needed to grow. The floor is soundproof — there's no noise from the bowling lanes below — but there has been the occasional after-work game. It's also provided a casual space for meetings, Surace said.

Garret Getch of Bowdoin said he had been unemployed since losing his job at the hotel at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.

"I was one of the last people to walk off the base," Getch said. "Most people from the base just moved away. I was fortunate to find Carbonite."

He took the job in June anticipating that he would stay for a few months, but that goal changed when he enjoyed the work. Getch, who's taking night classes toward a computer science degree, was recently promoted to a quality assurance lead.

"The product is something actually helping people," Getch, 23, said. "I don't intend on leaving; I hope they don't leave Maine."

Surace said the company is talking to the local community college about potential internship opportunities. It's hosting an on-site job fair Sept. 24 and has booths at upcoming fairs in Lewiston, Augusta and Waterville.

kskelton@sunjournal.com

This story was updated at 9:44 a.m.

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