CLEARWIRE CORP (CLWR)

[expat7]

Another article on Clearwire's new Technical Support Center
outside Pensacola FL:
Pensacola News Journal
Published - April, 4, 2007

Washington state-based Clearwire Corporation is bringing 400 higher-than-average-paying jobs to East Milton.

The new technology service center will take incoming calls from customers with technical questions about Clearwire's wireless high-speed Internet service.

Clearwire will begin training its employees on April 16, according to company spokeswoman Helen Chung.

"This is the best project that we've brought into Santa Rosa County," said Cindy Anderson, who has led the TEAM Santa Rosa Economic Development Council since 2002. "People always say, 'We want a lot of high-paying jobs.' Well, by golly, we've got it."

The company has pledged that the average wage it will pay will be 115 percent of the average wage in Santa Rosa County. That would mean Clearwire's wages would average at least $15.78 or more per hour. That's a requirement to be eligible for the state's qualified target industry tax refund program.

"This is the best news we've received in Santa Rosa County in many, many years," said Santa Rosa County Commissioner Don Salter, who heads the commission's economic development efforts. "It's the most new jobs coming to our county in a long, long time."

Patrick Wendoleck drove from Pensacola to East Milton for a Clearwire job fair Tuesday. He'd be willing to make the commute every day.

"The job I am coming for is as a technical support representative. I did something similar at Baptist (Health Care)," Wendoleck said. "I was laid off at Baptist."

Clearwire will move into a 40,000-square-foot building at the Santa Rosa County Industrial Park in East Milton previously used as a call center for CitiFinancial.

Salter said the building was a big draw for Clearwire, but there are now no unoccupied buildings ready for tenants in the county's industrial park.

"Hopefully, we can find a way to have a speculative building in the future," he said.

Headquartered in Kirkland, Wash., Clearwire launched its first market in August 2004, and now offers service in 36 metropolitan markets covering more than 350 municipalities in 12 states including Florida, as well as Ireland, Belgium and Denmark.

"The state of Florida holds a special distinction for Clearwire since we launched our very first market in Jacksonville almost three years ago," Perry Satterlee, Clearwire president and chief operating officer, said in a news release. "The opening of our second technical support center is part of our long-term business strategy to meet the growing customer demand for our simple, fast, portable, reliable and affordable wireless Internet service."
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070404/BUSINESS/704040327