AMHERST – The home of Amherst newest call centre is beginning to take shape.

Work has begun to convert the former Vogue Optical location in Centennial Plaza into the site of Advantage Communications’ newest addition and training is expected to begin next week with a new workforce for the P.E.I.-based company.

“Preparations are going good. Our training starts next week and we have selected a home,” company president and CEO Kent MacPhee said.

MacPhee hopes the new centre to go live in early September. The company has 32 employees hired and is still accepting resumes at careers@advantagecall.com.

Based in Charlottetown, Advantaged Communications announced in mid-July plans to open an Amherst facility, building on centres in Charlottetown, Summerside and Souris, P.E.I. and Dieppe, N.B.

“We’re really excited about Amherst and this opportunity,” said MacPhee. “We’ve been exploring this opportunity for quite some time.”

The company provides technical support and customer care services to companies across North America in multiple sectors. It’s believed the Amherst customer support centre will work with EastLink.

AMHERST – A Moncton-based call centre is in the final stages of setting up an operation in Amherst.

Virtual Agent Service Canada has been renovating the former Amherst Co-Op store on Lawrence Street and training approximately 40 employees in preparation to begin accepting calls as early as next week.

“I would suspect we could be in a position to begin taking calls maybe next week,” the company’s director of IT and strategic development Neri Basque said.

The company hopes to employ 40-45 employees out of the former Co-Op facility that became vacant earlier this year when Amherst Home Furnishings closed its doors. It has been several years since Co-Op Atlantic closed the store.

Basque said additional details will be announced when the customer support centre opens, adding the facility will be handling calls for an unnamed customer that its New Brunswick locations are already serving.

Applications are still being accepted at employment@vagent.com.

The news comes a couple of weeks after P.E.I.-based Advantage Communications confirmed it is bringing up to 50 jobs to Amherst. That company already has offices in Charlottetown, Summerside and Souris, P.E.I. as well as in Dieppe.

dcole@amherstdaily.com

AMHERST, NS — Several months after coming to Amherst, the Third Quarter Project is working to change attitudes toward older workers.

Launched last fall in conjunction with the Atlantic Canada Chambers of Commerce, Amherst is one of 16 communities in the Atlantic region, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia participating in the project that is a response to growing demographic trends showing an aging population and out-migration of youth as a major challenge to business. Research has shown that people over 50 are needed if the Canadian economy is to grow.

Local program coordinator Valerie Roy said there are now 38 firms and 87 workers listed with the Third Quarter Project in Amherst. While it hasn’t resulted in any direct employment yet, it is raising awareness among firms of the value of hiring workers over age 50.

“At this point in Amherst we have matched employers with workers and there have been interviews,” she said. “The economy was a big factor and a lot of employers were holding off making decisions on hiring while the call centre closing hurt as well. When the economy starts to improve and people start hiring again it’s going to help us.”

Roy is still meeting with prospective workers on a regular basis so when she meets with firms she can provide information on them. While the project has yet to see any third quarter workers hired, Roy said the success is in changing mindsets among employers toward older workers.

People and firms can still register at www.thirdquarter.ca.