A Long Island-based credit and collections company is relocating to downtown Scranton, where it expects to employ about 200 people.
Oxford Management Systems, Melville, N.Y., started operations Monday at the Oppenheim Building, which eventually will house the company's 50 employees currently working in space leased at Penn Foster's distance learning center on Oak Street, Oxford President and CEO Peter Pinto said.
It will add about 150 more employees over the next year to handle inbound and outbound collections calls, he said.
“We've seen some very nice success in that area, and we're excited about what we can do on a larger scale,” Mr. Pinto said. ”We've found that Scranton has been very good to us.”
Oxford's expansion reflects growth in the collection business nationally, and the city has seen its share because of favorable labor costs and workers with experience at call centers, observers said.
The company agreed to a five-year lease to occupy 8,000 square feet on the eighth floor of the Oppenheim Building, said Jim Walsh, general manager of the Mall at Steamtown. Steamtown Mall Associates owns the Oppenheim and Samter's buildings.
Oxford will take over space that was occupied from 1997 until last spring by DialAmerica Marketing Inc., an outbound call center that closed and put 110 people out of work.
There has been substantial growth in the collections field nationally because of mounting consumer debt, said Michael Conflitti, president of American Credit Collections Inc., 960 N. Main Ave.
“There's more debt than there ever was, especially with credit cards,” said Mr. Conflitti, who previously operated Northeast Credit & Collections before selling it in 2001. “Years ago, we were the only game in town. Now, it's more competitive.”
The region is attractive for call centers because several employers in that field ceased operations in recent years, Mr. Pinto said, so an experienced work force is available.
“There's a lot of customer-service oriented people in this area,” said Terri Stocki, education director for Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Clarks Summit.
The area's relatively low salaries and reasonable labor costs make it appealing for call center work, said Patricia Cobb, executive vice president of Commonwealth Financial Systems Inc., which operates the collection business NCC at 120 N. Keyser Ave.
“I don't think there is anything unique to this area to make it a hub of collections, other than a cheaper labor market,” Ms. Cobb said. Commonwealth's employment has expanded from 20 employees to 140 in the last five years, she said.
Oxford Management Solutions, which was established in 1995, set up a 15-employee operation in Archbald about four years ago before moving to the Penn Foster site in 2004, Mr. Pinto said. It has about 300 total employees and also maintains operations in Melville and West Palm Beach, Fla.
Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com
