Now
Fair
64.0°
High
87°
Low
64°
Full Forecast

Coupon

Jobs

Cars

Homes

Rentals

Alerts

Subscribe
Home > Top Story
Bookmark Us   •   Make Us Your Homepage

Can you hire me now?

Comments 44 comment(s)  
E-mail Story E-mail Story
Print Story Print Story
Share  Share
Text Size: 
Tools Sponsor

By DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Dec 01, 2006 - 08:49:08 am CST

City officials are in the final stages of sealing a deal in which Verizon will bring about 800 jobs to Lincoln, according to sources familiar with the project.

A groundbreaking on a call center is planned for Monday.

Press releases are being prepared.

Story Photo

City officials are in the final stages of sealing a deal in which Verizon will bring about 800 jobs to Lincoln, according to sources familiar with the project. (KRT file)

Lincoln’s largest employers

Lincoln’s largest employers are all government agencies. Totals below were provided earlier this year by the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development. They include full- and part-time employees.

    5,000-9,999 employees

  1. University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  2. State of Nebraska
  3. Lincoln Public Schools

    4. 2,500-4,999 employees

  4. BryanLGH Medical Center
  5. BNSF Railway Co.

    6. 1,000 to 2,499 employees

  6. City of Lincoln
  7. U.S. government
  8. State Farm Insurance
  9. Duncan Aviation
  10. Lancaster County
  11. Saint Elizabeth Health Systems
  12. Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital
  13. Ameritas Life Insurance Co.
  14. B&R Stores Inc.
  15. Kawasaki Motors Mfg. Corp. USA
  16. Hy-Vee Food Stores Inc.

    17. 500-999 employees

24 employers

Related Link(s):


University of Nebraska Technology Park

Shovels are being readied.

Dirt is scheduled to be turned in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln technology park in northwest Lincoln, and construction of an $18 million office building is set to begin soon thereafter.

And if everything goes as planned, hundreds could start reporting to work in October 2007 to what are described as “reasonably well-paying” jobs.

Starting pay at other Verizon call centers has been reported at $27,000 to $28,000 annually, plus benefits.

Although the details in this case aren’t yet clear, call center employees typically field service-related questions from customers.

Verizon Communications operates three divisions, Verizon Wireless, Verizon Telecom and Verizon Business. It’s unclear which division is coming to Lincoln.

To offer Verizon incentives to come to Lincoln, the city declared the UNL technology park blighted, making the project eligible for the city’s economic development tool of choice, tax increment financing.

As is standard procedure with other redevelopment projects, the city issued a “request for proposals” — basically a call for bids — inviting developers to build a 100,000-square-foot office building on a 13.5-acre piece of land.

Developers had two weeks to respond — an unusually small window for a major project.

By comparison, the city recently put out a request for proposals for a 5,000- to 11,000-square-foot animal kennel and gave developers more than five weeks to respond.

The deadline for proposals on the Verizon building was noon Thursday.

Despite the short time frame, three companies made proposals: Lincoln construction company Ayars & Ayars Inc.; Lincoln real estate developer Speedway Properties; and Doppco Development Co., an Ohio real estate development company that does retail development for Verizon.

Doppco acquires and develops property that it leases to national retailers such as Starbucks, Panda Express and CiCi’s Pizza.

Doppco Vice President Stuart Berger said his company proposed to build a 112,000-square-foot, single-story office building, which would be leased to Verizon.

If Doppco gets the bid, construction would begin next week and should be complete by August 2007, Berger said.

His brother, Alan Berger, is a former Verizon employee who launched Doppco in 2005.

And while that might make it appear it’s a slam-dunk for Doppco, they’re not the only company that put in a bid.

Normally after bids are received, the mayor appoints a selection committee, which decides which bid it likes best. Then the city and developer negotiate a redevelopment agreement, which is forwarded to the City Council for approval.

It’s not clear whether the city will follow the process this time.

Mike Tavlin, chief financial officer for Speedway Properties, said Speedway submitted a fairly comprehensive bid to construct the building, although he has no clue who the tenant will be.

“We worked hard to submit a proposal in good faith,” he said. “We thought it was responsive to what the city was looking for. It was obviously a difficult situation given the relatively short amount of time in which to work but we worked hard at it and are obviously hopeful that it will be favorably received.”

Dave Kleopfer of Ayars & Ayars said he couldn’t comment, referring calls to Mike Ayars, who could not be reached.

If Doppco wins the bid, all construction workers below the superintendent level would come from the local labor pool, Berger said.

“It will be your local labor force that will build this facility,” he said.

It would be a standard Verizon office building, Berger said, with an exercise facility, locker rooms, cafeteria, training rooms and conference rooms.

“I guarantee there’s no city in the country that would turn away this kind of project,” Berger said. “We are not talking minimum wage jobs here.”

And yes, he’s aware of the kind of winter weather to expect during the construction period: In determining what construction materials to use, he looked up the history of temperatures from Dec. 1 to March 1 several years back.

He also has a personal experience: “I have had entire car water lines freeze up somewhere near North Platte,” he said.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.

About Verizon

On the Web: www.verizon.com

Headquarters: New York

Stock: Verizon (VZ), traded on New York Stock Exchange. One of 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average. Merged with MCI Inc. Jan. 6, 2006.

The company: Verizon Communications delivers broadband, wireless and wireline communications to residential, business, government and wholesale customers.

It operates three divisions:

VERIZON WIRELESS

Customers: Nearly 57 million nationwide

States: 49, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico

VERIZON BUSINESS

Operates wholly owned global IP network

Countries: More than 140

Employees: More than 30,000

VERIZON TELECOM

Telephone and broadband service networks

U.S. telephone access lines: 46 million

Wireline broadband connections: 6.6 million

Source: www.verizon.com

Verizon history

Verizon Communications Inc., based in New York and incorporated in Delaware, was formed June 30, 2000, with the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp, two of the biggest telecommunications companies in the world.

The name came from combining veritas, the Latin word of certainty and reliability, and horizon, signifying forward-looking and visionary.

Verizon’s predecessors have operated in parts of Nebraska since the  1980s, according to news archives.

The wireless company upgraded its network and service from Omaha to Lincoln and Fremont earlier this year. It has a store at Westfield Gateway.

What is TIF?

Tax increment financing, or TIF, is an urban investment tool usually used in economically depressed areas.

Here’s how it works: The increased property tax revenue generated by the development is used to make payments on a TIF bond. The money can be used to help make the project happen, from buying buildings to offering land to providing water and sewer service or just sprucing up the surrounding area.

Once the bonds are paid off, usually in about 15 years, the taxes begin flowing into the customary coffers of the city, county and school district.

In this case, the city has suggested it could help acquire the property, relocate gas, water and electric lines, build a storm sewer, extend streets and do landscaping.

 


$1 Sunday Delivery - Subscribe Today!
Top Story > Back to Top of Story

Post Your Comment

Standards and Rules
All posts to JournalStar.com are subject to our Terms and Standards.
Your posted comment will appear after it has been approved.
Frequently asked questions about story commenting.
(optional)
   
Hide Comments Hide Comments   Newest First Newest First  
Matt Poulsen wrote on December 1, 2006 12:44 am:
" Are you serious?! This is the mystery company that was supposed to bring in great jobs to Lincoln?? I agree that any amount of new jobs is a good thing, but this was trumpeted as something that would provide many skilled high paying positions. This is a call center!!! These jobs are not highly skilled. I was hoping for something a little bit more impressive. I'm also curious as to why the location near UNL-Technology Park was necessary. Again, glad that more jobs are coming but very disappointed with the type of jobs. "
Steve Kiene wrote on December 1, 2006 1:00 am:
" The UNL Tech Park is blighted? Excuse me? This is a joke. Does that mean that if I want to build a building out there I can get TIF too? As far as the salary range, my son works on a Verizon call center in Corpus Christi and he makes $10/hr with minimal benefits. Is the city going to hold Verizon to their word of the salary ranges? I doubt it. We'll end up with another Cabela's: a lower-than-average job for unskilled workers- and tax breaks for the business. Is this the best LPED and the LCC can do? "
WOW wrote on December 1, 2006 2:17 am:
" Well hot dog, and tickle me pink!! just what Lincoln needs, somebody to absorb all the misplaced workers that we will have, once Pfizer and Goodyear finally come clean and announce they are leaving Lincoln!! "
Eric wrote on December 1, 2006 5:24 am:
" Well, $1800/month after taxes isn't so bad, but if you ever want to buy a house, it's going to be tight. That $1000/month you have left over after making a house payment for a very small house doesn't leave much room for error. This is a good job for a young, single person with no children and only for a young, single person with no children. Or maybe an old, retired person who wants to be on the phone all day. Let me know when some jobs come to Lincoln that pay MIDDLE-CLASS wages and aren't just part of the growing trend of filling Nebraska with Call Centers and Walmarts. You can definately see what the rest of the country sees Nebraska as - an uneducated, unskilled workforce for low-paying jobs. Pfft. "
Mike in DC wrote on December 1, 2006 7:07 am:
" For such a slow, careful city about development, why the sudden movement? No complaints about the city trying to lure Verizon to the city, but the location? A call center is not a place for a innovative technology buisness incubation park. These jobs are largly customer service, NOT research and development. And not only that, they take up huge amounts of land with a single-story building? Smart short term; but long term it's just foolish. With the momentum UNL is having in research, the research technology park will eventually reap those benefits, and need more space. If an unrelated building was going to be built there, it's prefereable to have one of the successful companies leaving the tech park to build there and continue momentum. I'm sure many students working their way through college will benefit, but why there? Why not north of 27th and I-80 (for example)? I say this is foolish, but maybe, time will prove that I'm just another person from Lincoln (formerly) complaining before we've had time to see the results. "
Dealing Under The Table wrote on December 1, 2006 9:01 am:
" Short time frame, I guess it had to be done before a new mayor takes office. Thanks for "bringing" 800 jobs, we must have lost them somewhere between the two Wal-Marts. As far as location goes, well the obvious answer is that they are REAL close to the airport & bus terminal, when they decide to close down & leave town. Do you think they could "leave" the 800 jobs? "
Larry wrote on December 1, 2006 9:04 am:
" OK, I see all the benefits to the city, jobs, etc. Tell me when I can expect them to give me a better deal on my internet. "
Sean wrote on December 1, 2006 9:08 am:
" Now only if Verizon can offer local phone and internet service. good bye windstream! Let's hope FIOS comes! "
Highlands Resident wrote on December 1, 2006 9:11 am:
" The Technology Park is considered blighted? Are you kidding me? I don't get it. I am glad that another employer is being placed in our area, now maybe we can get some grocery stores and the like in the Highlands/Fallbrook area. There are lots and lots of employers in the area now, including Ameritas Group, Technology Park and the INS. "
Madi wrote on December 1, 2006 9:12 am:
" Holy crap...$27,000/year. Those call center workers are some productive citizens...not. I guess it is good to see some jobs, but these aren't even middle class jobs. How about some REAL jobs in Lincoln? "
More of the same wrote on December 1, 2006 9:13 am:
" Come to Lincoln, where wages are so low we can prevent call-center jobs from locating in India, and where high-tech industrial park means we're hip to Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone! Yahoo. I'd write more, but I'm so overcome with the anticipation of the announcement of Applebees and Walgreens to be built nearby it's making my hands shake! "
Steve wrote on December 1, 2006 9:16 am:
" Geez, how does your spouse/live-in/parents live with so many of you negative-nellies? It must be a real joy... This is good news for the city of Lincoln. I'm glad it happened. "
Yeah ..Right ! wrote on December 1, 2006 9:25 am:
" This is just more Blah Blah Blah , try to get a cell phone Verizon if you 'don`t have any or perfect credit' ! I hope they NEVER come to Lincoln ! If people in Lincoln really think there going to make $28,000 a yr. working for a cell phone company they need to think again ! True enough Lincoln needs the 800 jobs but NOT from Verizon . "
Howard wrote on December 1, 2006 9:29 am:
" Come on people not everyone is qualified for high paying jobs. There is always a need and demand for jobs in this pay range. Lincoln has thousands of families that a job of this range is a promotion or rewarding position. It could be a rewarding windfall as for many families for a spouse(either sex) position. Who cares where they build it just be glad they do. If this article was about jobs being taken from Lincoln to a call center in India, Mexico or Scottsbluff your comments would be "why not here." When no one or no organization around you measures up: it is time to check your yardstick. "
NS wrote on December 1, 2006 9:35 am:
" I agree completely with Matt. This was touted in the "leak" to the paper a couple of weeks ago as a big employer with "good, well paying jobs". The announcement of yet another call center here was a little disappointing. People in Lincoln can do more than just talk on the phone. And that wage is great, if you live in a very small town and have low rent and cheap houses. Neither of those things are here in Lincoln. Don't want to complain about 800 jobs, but these are neither skilled positions or good paying. $10 an hour is no longer a good paying job when the cost of everything else keeps going up! "
Tears of Joy wrote on December 1, 2006 9:53 am:
" 800 new jobs with benefits is always good news for Lincoln. Now if Verizon will just build enough cell towers throughout the region to give us a reliable alternative to Alltel's notoriously poor customer service - I'll weep openly in public! Can you TEAR me now? "
Alan wrote on December 1, 2006 10:03 am:
" I worked at the Verizon Call center in Salt Lake City and made great money and had great benefits. I made a little over $13.50 an hour when I started and was making close to $15 when I left to move back home (Lincoln)! It could be the area of the country that makes the pay different I don't know. There were so many opportunities for overtime it was crazy. There will be a lot higher paying jobs there then just your talk on the phone all day jobs that pay A LOT of money. My wife and I had a baby while I was working there and the health insurance was so good all I had to pay out of my pocket was $10. So I think the benefits are way above average. This is going to be great for Lincoln. If other companies like Cabelas want to keep their employees they will be forced to bump up their salaries or people will be jumping ship going to Verizon. "
wireless wrote on December 1, 2006 10:12 am:
" Well I hope if they move to town. my cell service will get better... "
What? wrote on December 1, 2006 10:36 am:
" why would having them here give you a better deal on internet? To get verizon internet, you have to get one of their wireless cards ontop of a calling plan. It's like $60 a month of unlimited access. "
Guh?? wrote on December 1, 2006 10:47 am:
" Blight the Tech Park....Nice. "
what a bunch of whiners wrote on December 1, 2006 10:52 am:
" Wow...what a bunch of naysayers. Sure, these aren't $100,000 per year jobs for every employee, but they certainly pay better than Walmart. Given the present economic climate in this city, we should be THRILLED that we are getting some job growth. Sure they aren't the headquarters of Gallup (oops!), but they're a lot better than nothing... "
bill wrote on December 1, 2006 11:04 am:
" Its a sad day and an even worse city when the best we can do is get a call center for a phone company. Any bets on how long it will take before that 800 jobs and 28000 dollar paycheck is reduced to 200 and 7 bucks an hour? "
whatever wrote on December 1, 2006 11:27 am:
" The type of call center jobs Verizon will bring take higher skills than most call center jobs, they also pay better. You can bet out of those 800 jobs there will be plenty of 30K or higher jobs. There are other "call centers" in and around Lincoln and the number of folks qualified to do this type of work is limited. You can be sure that wages at these other call centers will increase. "
HEY! wrote on December 1, 2006 11:35 am:
" if you want their cell service to get better, you should take that up with the city. Verizon has been trying to put a new tower near a baseball diamond all year. They are paying for everything, giving the place new bleachers and storage and a light, but the city is taking their sweet time to approve it. "
Jason wrote on December 1, 2006 11:38 am:
" The problem is that these call center jobs are all that's available for an educated, skilled workforce that wants more than sitting on the phone after they get out of that University we're hanging so much on. You want to know why the city has a Brain Drain? Well, when this is the best they come up with... $27-28000 year is a pittance in today's world and Lincoln's inflated housing market. We're training these students to LEAVE! "
Soon 2 be UNL Grad wrote on December 1, 2006 11:57 am:
" Wow a call center for $28,000 a year. You really convinced me to stay in Lincoln after graduating from UNL. Keep up the good work!!!!!!! Yeah I also checked online job postings for Lincoln, NE. My computer went into overload with all of the opportunities. "
Lindsay wrote on December 1, 2006 12:13 pm:
" It would be nice to see a higher salary paying job, but heck it's a lot better than Wal-Mart! I hope Verizon in Lincoln will be like Alan's description. I worked at Cabela's, and well Verizon doesn't have to wrok too hard to beat out the deals the employees got there! "
Alan wrote on December 1, 2006 1:06 pm:
" Lindsay don't worry it will be just like my description and the training is top notch. I worked at Cabalas as well. They are light years away from Verizon. This is not your average call center. Like I said there will be other higher paying jobs as well that will pay into the 50k range even way more. You will see I have seen it first hand. The new building they will build will be First Class and it won't be one story tall. It will probably be two or three. "
Billy Joe Ray Bob wrote on December 1, 2006 1:44 pm:
" Yeah, I went to college to work in a call center. Boy, my enthusiasm can't be overstated. "
James wrote on December 1, 2006 1:45 pm:
" Even 800 minimum wage jobs would be a benefit to Lincoln at this point. These aren't minimum-wage jobs, however. The sad thing is I'm a second-level "skilled" employee working for the State, and the starting salary of $27,000 they're offering isn't much lower than what I make after five years working here. I'm seriously considering leaving this job for a nice, cushy phone job with Verison. "
Spoon Fed wrote on December 1, 2006 1:51 pm:
" Listen, six figure jobs, or even 30,000+ jobs aren't just handed out. When I got out of college (two years ago), my peers and I were eager to accept our jobs (most of us were taking jobs earning about 30k). Even the almighty State Farm could only offer jobs at about 25K and it took knowing someone on the inside to land those jobs. Now, two years later b/c of our degrees and our hard work, most of us are into the 40k area and/or have moved on to better jobs. No, these jobs aren't going to help people who feel they deserve 50k+ b/c of their education and experience, but they're not the ones who need the jobs, but then, it doesn't take a degree to figure that one out. "
Jon wrote on December 1, 2006 2:05 pm:
" I agree that it's nice to be able to complain about jobs COMING INTO the city, but $27-$28K/yr. jobs are not what I had in mind when I enrolled at UNL. As a life-long Nebraskan, I believe that like most of my fellow UNL graduates, I would prefer to stay in Nebraska if possible. However, if jobs under $30K are the best that Lincoln can do, I'm outta here folks! "
J wrote on December 1, 2006 2:17 pm:
" 28k a year is pretty good for unskilled labor. With all the complaining maybe we should ask Verizon to outsource the call center to India rather then employee those people in our community that do not have a college degree. I am sure that the people of India or China would embrace the chance to have a job for 5k a year. Stop the complaining and let the City work on bringing in better paying jobs for all skill levels and professions. "
Marc wrote on December 1, 2006 2:19 pm:
" Doesn't the city/mayor have to get approval from the City Council to declare an area blighted? My City Council representative didn't know anything about this deal until today. I'm confused about the process. "
Jed wrote on December 1, 2006 2:27 pm:
" I guess anything is better than none. One sad point is, college grads. right out of school expect top money for any job. What ever happened to working and proving yourself first. I've spent too many years teaching CPA's right out of school how to figure accrued interest, and all accounting & financial things you would have thought they should have known to graduate. These were people in the big accounting firms drawing big wages. The treasurer & I use to just shake our heads in disbelief. And in the computer age it got worse, because they couldn't do anything without the computer doing it for them. Basically they never learned to think and push the pencil. There is a big turnover of college grads. with big money that can't hack it. "
yoshiki wrote on December 1, 2006 2:33 pm:
" You can't just blame Lincoln. Corporations in general throughout the nation are paying less and less for the few jobs that are out there because they have more and more marketplace dominance with all of the mergers, the pushing out of business of the little guys, out sourcing, business buyouts, etc. that have taken place in recent years. Blame you local federal government for turning a blind eye. Doesn't anyone remember Standard Oil and Dupont anymore nowadays??? Today it isn’t only monopolyism in the retail market, but monopolyism in the job market, too. Go figure~ "
time for some thanksgiving wrote on December 1, 2006 3:04 pm:
" Lincoln should be grateful for these new jobs. People should be happy about this and stop complaining about illegal immigrants taking all of our jobs and corporations outsourcing to Asia, because that's exactly what Verizon could do. Instead, they are giving folks a chance to make a better wage than flipping burgers or pouring drinks. Newsflash, college graduates are a dime a dozen, so stop thinking your so damn special and deserve over 50k a year. Plus, around 30k a year can afford you a decent life in Lincoln, Nebraska, unless you need that brand new mcmansion and suv, or your blowing your wad on O street every night of the week. "
YaRight wrote on December 1, 2006 4:53 pm:
" If there are other so called 'middle-class' jobs here in Lincoln I would sure like to know where they are? I don't know of any company that will accept a college grad in this town for anything much over 30K. My husband that is over 30, has 10 years in the work force and is a college grad is only able to get a job at 'cabelas'. The high paying jobs in this town are few and far between even if you have graduated and have experience. I saw bring the jobs Verizon, Lincoln doesn't have much better. "
Easy on the Greed wrote on December 1, 2006 6:52 pm:
" These are reasonably well paying jobs. Lincoln should be grateful for them and continue to create a business and cultural environment that will entice companies to bring creative jobs to the area. There is such momentum of highly-skilled graduates leaving the state after college, that to stop the drain will take serious time and effort to reverse. If you owned a large corporation would you consider setting up shop in a town lacking of 'big city' cultural venues, seering summers, freezing winters and a skilled workforce known to head out-of-state as soon as they turn their tassle? "
Ken wrote on December 1, 2006 7:45 pm:
" I'd like to know about these middle-class jobs, too. I, too, have 10 years of good MIS/IT experience at good companies, and I left a job in Omaha because I was tired of driving there everyday from Lincoln. Lincoln has produced zilch for me. I guess my next step is just to move to Omaha. "
In the Know: wrote on December 1, 2006 7:55 pm:
" It's a call center for Verizon wireless. "
Whoopty Doo! wrote on December 1, 2006 9:52 pm:
" Instead of creating jobs for "bright, young minds" to stay in Nebraska, wouldn't it be great if we could find a company to offer 800 or so jobs to pacify the minds of Nebraska youth so that they are no longer bright but phone answering drones. I bet those young minds are chomping at the bit to fill out those applications. "
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth wrote on December 2, 2006 2:13 am:
" While Lincoln could use more higher paying jobs, I think that we should be thankful that we are getting any new jobs. With the possibility of losing Goodyear and Pfizer jobs I would think anything that pays more than Wal-Mart and McDonalds would be welcome. While this is not a highly technical job to keep college grads here, it is a well known company. This may help to attract other companies with jobs that require a greater amount of technical skill and could help to retain our college grads. While $27,000 may not be a lot per year for a salary for someone with a family, you can live off of it. Just look at what the state pays its school teachers, in 2004 the average starting pay was $28,527. If you don't want to work for "only" $27,000 a year fine, I am pretty sure that there are plenty of people working for Wal-Mart and McDonalds that would not mind the increase from minimum wage to about $10 an hour. "
Blah, Blah, Blah wrote on December 4, 2006 10:38 am:
" If you can provide better opportunities for the City of Lincoln then stop playing video games & run for city office or maybe even develope a company & provide better jobs. I'm sure the local construction trades are very pleased with this announcement! Become part of the solution or part of the problem! How many of these same folks complaining about Cabela's & Walmart continue to purchase from these providors because of price & quality! How many of the complaining folks on this forum provide jobs, buy American goods, and support the City of Lincoln? If you want change then be the catalyst for this change & DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE! "

Ads by Yahoo!