Attend our Career Fair!
Where: New Jamestown office
3010 East 2nd Street, Suite 205
Jamestown, NY 14701
When: Tuesday, August 27th
10 am to 4 pm
A historic post office is at the heart of the economic turnaround in Jamestown, NY, and The Connection® is the proud cornerstone in that redevelopment effort. Lynn Development recently renovated the historic post office at 301 East 3rd Street – just a block away from City Hall – bringing a new look and new energy to Downtown Jamestown.
The renovation not only transformed the historic building, but it also transformed The Connection® business operations in Jamestown. Their new contact center, on the 2nd floor of the historic building is staffed by more than 165 full-time employees, with a commitment to grow even more in the future.
"The building is beautiful, new, and well-occupied and people like to work here," says The Connection® VP of Human Relations, Cyndi McDurmott. "We have been in the Jamestown area for over 12 years, but this is totally different as well as a big step forward." With big, modern offices, affordable on-site restaurant, and a long-term commitment to the community, The Connection® shifted its local focus from seasonal positions of the past to 100% full-time positions with opportunity for advancement for all staff.
"Jamestown used to support our ‘ramp’ clients," Cyndi explains, "Those clients might have needed 300 agents for a three month period, but when that was over, we needed to say good-bye to those employees. Now, we are focused on incremental growth of full-time, permanent positions in Jamestown."
The focus on full-time jobs is exactly what city leaders hoped for when they backed the redevelopment of the historic post office building. "They really worked hard to get us into that building," Cyndi says. "They wanted us to be the anchor." Other tenants in the building range from professional services to performing arts organizations, but the city needed a commitment from a large employer like The Connection® to leverage state-backed funding by Empire State Development.
The results are the kinds of full-time jobs city leaders envisioned. "We are actively recruiting and hiring right now," McDurmott says. "We are open 24/7 in our Jamestown location and have a variety of schedules available to help employees manage their work-life balance. We have shifts available for those that need to work nights, weekends or days."
Better yet, she points out that The Connection® has a long history of internal promotions across the contact centers, so the commitment to the community creates additional opportunities for Jamestown employees. "If you want to stay in this wonderful town you can have a growing and rewarding career at The Connection®. For many employees, as they are promoted up through the company, this can be their last job," she says.
All those full-time jobs come with full-time benefits. The Connection offers medical, dental, company-paid life insurance (equal to base wages) and supplemental life, as well. In addition, The Connection® also offers a generous PTO accrual plan, so employees can earn up to six weeks paid time off per year. Often, there are additional incentive programs depending on client needs, attendance, etc.
The Connection® works to support employees including free backpacks with school supplies for all the kids and grandkids of employees, and providing free turkeys or hams to all employees at holiday time, just to mention a couple.
Still, one of the most popular benefits is actually available to non-employees as well. Due East Cafe which is located on-site at The Connection® facility is also open to the public, but the owners picked their menu and price points to appeal to employees of The Connection®. "They wanted to cater their menu and price point to our team," Cyndi reports. "Due East goes out of their way to coordinate their hours with our Team’s hours, and the price points are so low that they almost look subsidized! It has been a great perk for employees not to have to leave the building to get a hearty breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or just a quick snack. Many employees also order takeout for dinner at home!"
The restaurant is open from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. "The food is tasty and affordable," Cyndi says, mentioning the breakfast sandwich for $2.50, and lunch specials for $5.00 that often include a soft drink.
The Connection® is a business process outsourcer (BPO), offering a multitude of operational and consulting services for contact center services.
They have made a name for themselves in the call center industry providing premier level customer service & call center outsourcing for Fortune 500 companies looking for a scalable resource that can help grow their teams without breaking the budget.
They are hiring for corporate and contact center positions with advancement opportunity for talented individuals. Check out available positions and apply online.