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WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (AP) -- Verizon Wireless has announced it will add 600 new jobs over the next year, bringing its Utah work force to about 1,500.
The company plans to expand its West Valley City customer service center by more than 50 percent to accommodate the new workers.
"Strong customer growth and availability of skilled talent pool in Utah are the main drivers (for the expansion)," Verizon spokeswoman Georgia Taylor said Monday.
The call center, which now employs 800 of Verizon's 900 Utah workers, will grow to a multi-building complex of nearly 200,000 square feet by early 2005, Taylor said.
West Valley City officials welcomed the news as a boost for their growing Lakepoint Development Area.
"We love it," assistant city manager Paul Isaac said. "This kind of news validates that we have some great areas for businesses to thrive and the work force available to staff them."
Richard Nelson, president of the Utah Information Technology Association, sees the announcement as an indicator of "more optimism in the tech sector.
"Any announcement of jobs with great benefits like these is good for Utah," he added. "Most important, these are valuable jobs that put Utahns back to work."
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
