Company to close center thanks to no-call list

Thursday, January 8, 2004

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Citing the impact of federal and state no-call lists, Americall Group Inc. has decided to close its Columbia call center March 1, putting 175 people out of work. Americall has 16 call centers nationwide -- including two in St. Louis -- but will close only the Columbia center, said Jeffrey Johnson, human resources manager in Columbia. Americall decided to close the site because its lease expires this year, he said. Employees were told of the closing Friday. Naperville, Ill.-based Americall merged with Business Response Inc. in 2002. The company said at the time it would add 550 jobs to the Columbia call center, giving it a total of 750 local workers. State and federal no-call laws, however, have had a major effect on the telemarketing industry in the past two years -- even for companies not directly affected by the regulations, Johnson said.

To continue reading
For more than 115 years, the Southeast Missourian has written the first draft of local history. We have aspired to enrich, entertain, educate and inform. Our core values have remained firm: truth, service, quality, integrity and community. Support our mission.