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CONCORD Cabarrus County leaders praised a telecommunications direct-sales company for bringing several hundred jobs to the region at its grand opening celebration Thursday.
Concord Mayor Scott Padgett and ACN Inc. representatives said they view the company as a “silver lining” amid the tough economic conditions, though both the company and the incentives used to bring it to Charlotte have opposition.
Founded in 1993, ACN moved its headquarters from Michigan to Concord in December. It sells landline phones with video screens, wireless phones, local and long-distance phone services, Internet services, home security systems and satellite television.
People pay fees to become field representatives. They earn money based on how many items they sell and how many other people they sign up with the company.
ACN says it's a way for people to make money on their own when many businesses are laying off employees. Critics have questioned some of ACN's business tactics. Michigan's attorney general investigated complaints against the company in the early 1990s. ACN President Greg Provenzano said the company's lawyers ensure that its operations are legal.
About 25,000 field representatives are expected to visit Charlotte this weekend for training seminars. Donald Trump, a New York developer and host of television's “The Apprentice,” is scheduled to speak to the group Sunday morning.
Many of the representatives were taken on a tour of the headquarters at the grand opening, which featured a 21-gun salute by a Disabled American Veterans honor guard and a performance by the Jesse C. Carson High School marching band.
Padgett said he researched the company and found it to be reputable. He also said he was encouraged by the company's desire to become a part of the community. ACN donated $14,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Cabarrus County, which will pay for its basketball program.
But most important to Padgett are the jobs.
The company says it has 486 employees in Concord, with 300 of those jobs created since May 2008. The world headquarters and call center has staff in financial services, sales, marketing and telephone support.
The total investment in equipment is estimated at $5 million, and it occupies about 140,000 square feet of office space in the old Concord Telephone Company building.
“These 500 jobs trickle out into my city and into the region so these employees can provide for their families,” Padgett said.
ACN received nearly $600,000 in tax incentives to locate in Concord. Half of the money came from the state and the rest was split between the city and Cabarrus County.
Commissioner Coy Privette cast the dissenting vote at a January 2008 meeting where the board voted 4-1 to approve the incentives. He remains against the company moving to Concord.
“It's primarily a telemarketing company,” he said. “Those companies don't have a good track record anyway.”
