From the South Florida Business Journal: https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2018/06/26/local-firm-considers-miami-for-new-call-centers.html

Local firm considers Miami for new call centers with hundreds of jobs

The president of Miami-based Aegis Finserv Corp. said he’s considering his home market for two financial services call
centers he aims to open this year that would employ hundreds of people. But outside markets are strongly in the
running.
Jim Angleton said he’d like to create the jobs locally, but that traffic woes and the Miami-Dade County's high cost of
living could make it more challenging.
Aegis Finserv issues pre-paid and payroll debit cards, has a network of ATMs, and provides consulting for banks and
financial firms, including cyber security. Angleton said the company has issued over 1 million debit cards around the
world. It has 88 employees in the United States and over 1,500 worldwide, although most are contractors, Angleton
said. It has 360 direct employees, he said.
Angleton said he’d like to open one call center for debit card customer service and the other for cyber security
assistance and incident response. The debit card call center would have about 300 employees per shift, and 750 in
total. He needs about 100,000 square feet of space.
The cyber security call center, which would require Microsoft certification, would have 165 employees per shift for a
total of about 410 workers, he said. This would require about 70,000 square feet of space. It would need a satellite
dish on the roof.
AegisFinserv would pay $25 per hour plus benefits, with the cyber security call center workers making more than that
if they meet a higher skill level, Angleton said, and would provide tech training for workers in the cyber security call
center. Both call centers would use a computerized system that translates virtually any language, Angleton said.
Angleton has taken to Twitter with his plans, saying the call centers could open in Miami, Orlando, Oregon, St. Croix,
Texas or Bermuda.
https://t.co/PbZz77IDuh looking where to locate our new 300person Call Center. #Miami, #Orlando, #Oregon,
#St.#Criox, #Texas, #Bermuda@MiamiDadeCounty @MiamiChamber @FrancisSuarez @MayorGimenez
@NickNehamas @downtownMIA
Let’s see who is paying attention? $25.ph,Benfts, Train pic.twitter.com/EykLMUP6co
— J (@AegisFS) June 25, 2018
Angleton said he’s reached out to local officials, including the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, for assistance with
locating the call centers here. He said he doesn’t plan to seek financial incentives. Officials with the Beacon Council
declined to comment for this story.
He looked at office space in northeast Miami-Dade, but traffic would be a challenge because most workers would have
to drive into that area, Angleton said. He also looked at land just north of downtown Miami near the NAP of the
Americas, which also posed traffic concerns.
“We have a young workforce here, but they are not highly mobile,” Angleton said. “Many of them, if it’s not within two
miles of where they live, will not look at the job."
Angleton said officials in the Orlando area have been very responsive to his call center proposal, and Oregon has a
strong workforce for cyber security and relatively affordable real estate. But he’d prefer a facility closer to Miami.
St. Croix presents a good opportunity because its workforce is eager for jobs amid the recovery from Hurricane Maria
in 2017, plus the Caribbean is a target market for the company’s ATM network, he said.
He aims to open the first call center in September, he added.
Brian Bandell
Senior Reporter
South Florida Business Journal