NARS keeps employees happy with benefits, opportunities

Employers can boast about how much they do for their workers, touting amenities and benefits they say keep employees happy.

But to know whether the words have substance or are just a snow job, the best people to ask are the workers themselves. And at Cape Girardeau's newest big employer, it seems there's substance to the sales pitch.

As Jessica Vaughn, 24, waited for her ride home from work at National Asset Recovery Services on William Street, she was happy to talk about her job. The health insurance benefits, advancement opportunities and on-site day-care center that will soon open make NARS, as the company is known, the best job she's had.

"I've got about 15 friends to come and work here," Vaughn said. "It is a good opportunity -- you can move up."

The NARS call center in the former Sears building on William Street employs about 400 people at $8.50 an hour, plus benefits and potential bonuses. The day-care center is under construction, the employee deli is about ready, and the employee fitness center -- complete with three wall-mounted flat-screen televisions -- is ready for use.

A year ago at this time, whether Cape Girardeau would even land the jobs was an open question. Last week, the effort to land the call center won recognition as the Governor's Community Project of the Year at the annual Governor's Economic Development Conference in Springfield.

As a celebration, NARS will be taking invited guests on tours of the facility Friday. And the entire community is invited to view fireworks on the Mississippi River that evening, a $15,000 display that will match the annual Independence Day display.

NARS founder and president Chris Buehrle, a Cape Gir­ar­deau native, said he wouldn't have chosen his hometown if the move didn't make business sense. The company employs 200 people at its St. Louis headquarters and about 2,000 at call centers in Jamaica and Panama.

The eagerness of the community to land the jobs helped cement the decision to set up shop in Cape Girardeau, Buehrle said.

"My heart is in Cape Gir­ar­deau," Buehrle said. "But when you have 2,500 employees, and you are responsible for not only their employment but their families' well being, well, I have never opened up and subsequently closed a call center. When I make a decision to open a call center, I don't take that lightly."

The renovated Sears building has 417 work stations on the main call-center floor, said Barb Cagle, the facility manager. Smaller side suites bring the total number of employees who can be on the job at any one time to 644, she said.

The company operates 10 shifts, beginning at 6 a.m. with groups of workers arriving every hour until 3 p.m. Employees work eight hours, with an hour off for lunch.

"I love it," Cagle said. "I love a challenge. It is hopping every day."

The workforce, which stood at about 400 on Friday, is a mix of full-time and part-time employees, Cagle said. The company is constantly taking applications, and a new training class begins every two weeks.

Landing the NARS call center took weeks of intense work, all outlined in the nomination form for the economic development award. Begun in July, the Cape Girardeau Area Magnet lined up support from city leaders, the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, education institutions including the Career and Technology Center, Mineral Area College and Southeast Missouri State University, as well as state and area workforce development agencies.

After making the first cut, the next crucial step was proving that there were enough people willing to work at the offered wage of $8.50 an hour to staff the call center. The company needed 350 workers to start; at a job fair sponsored by the Southeast Missourian in October, more than 900 applied.

Television news reports and the job fair "created an overwelming response by area job seekers for NARS as well as the many other fine companies taking part in the job fair," Magnet director Mitch Robinson said in a prepared statement.

The successful launch in Cape Girardeau will likely become a blueprint for further expansion, Buehrle said. "Our footprint is going to be in towns like Cape that have a strong work ethic, plenty of people and a strong business community, and preferably also have a college," he said.

Cape Girardeau was a natural place to test whether NARS could open a profitable call center in a smaller community, Buehrle said. "It was a NARS family effort, and we put forth that this was the place to be," Buehrle said. "You put all those together and we hit a home run."

The doors are open for new employees, Cagle said. In the nomination for the award, Magnet said the company plans to have 510 employees on staff by the end of the year.

The employees, speaking outside of hearing range of their bosses, exhibit real enthusiasm for their jobs. For Justin Moore, 26, the exercise room is a big plus. "They might as well put some creatine in there, because I am going to get buff."

Moore said he was hired in January and loves his job, working a 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. shift. He's also a student, so Moore said he's likely to stay on a while at NARS. "Why wouldn't you want to stay at a place that is giving you everything?"

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126