Customer service firm adds 250 jobs in Charlotte, as city works to boost economy
An Atlanta-based customer service company is adding 250 jobs in Charlotte, and is the first company to receive funding from a new city economic development program.
The announcement is part of an effort by Charlotte officials to aid in the economic recovery from COVID-19.
The firm, Chime Solutions, announced Tuesday it is hiring life and health insurance agents for its campus in University City.
Job candidates can receive an eight-week, free pre-licensing training through Central Piedmont Community College to prepare for the exam needed to become an agent, in an initiative funded by the North Carolina Community College System. The company will also pay for the test.
The pay for licensed agents will start at $16 an hour, with the opportunity for a bonus.
The novel coronavirus pandemic has led to the highest unemployment rate in Mecklenburg County in over a decade.
“Quadrupling the unemployment is not where we want to be,” said Fran West, an assistant economic development director with the city. “As we come out of COVID-19, this allows people who have really been hurt in the hospitality and tourism industries to find new jobs with a set 40-hour work week, and the ability to get an education.”
Mark Wilson, president and CEO of Chime, said the company’s goal is to provide job opportunities at a living wage for people in under-served communities, particularly amid the protests and calls for racial equity.
“We’re trying to do our part as a company by virtue of expansions like this to Charlotte to dispel a lot of the old legacy myths that surround people of color and their talent,” Wilson, who is Black, said in a press conference. “We’re actually disproving that we somehow are less talented.”
Cash incentives
Chime will receive a cash incentive, up to $125,000 total, for each full-time employee hired from a local workforce development organization, such as the Urban League of the Central Carolinas or Goodwill’s Opportunity Campus.
Emily Cantrell, the city’s economic development assistant director for talent development, said the goal is to be more intentional about connecting people with the job opportunities that come to Charlotte.
“It’s not just saying, ‘hey we have job openings in our community, see if you can find one that fits your interest,’ it’s really starting to tailor these opportunities,” she said. “In my opinion that just creates a higher success rate.”
Last year, Chime announced plans to bring 1,000 jobs to Charlotte by the end of this year.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles told reporters that the jobs are part of the city’s focus on upward mobility. Charlotte ranked last out of 50 cities for economic mobility in a 2014 study from researchers at Harvard and UC Berkeley.
“They will come in immediately at a wage ... that allows them to really be residents of our city without struggling for a second or third job,” she said.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 1:07 PM.
