Renovations are expected to start soon on Terasen's new customer care centre in Prince George which will employ 100 people when it is opens in Jan. 2012.
Terasen looked at a number of cities in British Columbia, but chose Prince George because the downtown site is easily accessible and the city has a good base of knowledge workers, Terasen senior official Jan Marston said Thursday.
Senior Terasen officials were on hand in Prince George Thursday to announce their plans for the Second Avenue building that included substantial upgrades.
The renovations are expected to be complete in the summer of 2011 when the company will begin recruiting.
The upgrades include the building's mechanical system and exterior. Mock-ups of the plans include a second-floor patio and the use of Douglas fir and pine-beetle-killed wood - harvested within an 100-kilometre distance from Prince George - to highlight the community's forest industry history.
The reception area will include a spring forest theme.
"It specifies what we want to achieve here, today and in the future," said Marston, Terasen's vice-president of customer care. "We are here for a long time," she added.
Terasen is opening two call centres, another in the Lower Mainland, as part of a $115.5 million plan to bring much of its customer services business back within the company. The company revealed it had purchased the former ACS call-centre building on Second Avenue from Initiatives Prince George just before last Christmas. Terasen paid $2.35 million for the building.
The Terasen $115.5-million program, dubbed the customer care enhancement project, also includes a new information technology system meant to provide more online services for customers.
City councillor Murry Krause, who attended the Terasen announcement, said Terasen's choice of Prince George for its customer service centre was important for the city. "It will enhance the heart of our downtown," he said.
Initiatives Prince George CEO Tim McEwan said Terasen's choice of Prince George shows that Prince George can attract this type of business. He pointed to a recent KPMG business cost-competitiveness location study which shows Prince George leading the pack in western Canada and the U.S.
The study showed the city was most competitive in the call centre, information technology and research and development sectors.
Terasen Gas delivers natural gas and piped propane to 900,000 customers in British Columbia - 95 per cent of the province's gas customers. Recently Fortis, a Canadian-based power company bought Terasen from U.S.-based Kinder Morgan.
ghoekstra@pgcitizen.ca
