600 New Jobs for Albuquerque

Lots of new jobs on the way for Albuquerque.

This building on Jefferson NE just south of Osuna was once home to an AOL call center and more recently a Convergys operation. It will soon go through a $15 million renovation and become a Lowe’s customer support center, eventually employing 600 people.

Home improvement giant Lowe’s announced plans Thursday to open a customer support center in Albuquerque, creating about 250 jobs by March and a total of 600 positions by the end of 2013.


The center will move into a building at 6301 Jefferson NE, said Don Easterling, vice president of contact centers for Lowe’s. The 60,000-square-foot complex once housed an America Online and, more recently, Convergys call centers.


“We will be looking for skilled workers, people who’ve got prior experience, plus new people to the workforce,” Easterling said. “The jobs will include from site director all the way down to agents who will be operating on the telephone and working email and social media.”

Gov. Susana Martinez joined Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry and Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins in announcing Lowe’s plans at an investors’ luncheon of Albuquerque Economic Development.


The governor hailed the news as the “most recent example of what happens when the state is open for business.”


“The millions of dollars that will come into our local economy will boost both large and small businesses,” she said, noting the company also plans to invest more than $15 million in infrastructure for the center.


“This is great news for Albuquerque and for New Mexicans who are eager to get back to work,” she said.


Easterling called the center an expansion of its customer support center in North Carolina, where the company is headquartered. Lowe’s has 14 retail stores in New Mexico, including six in Albuquerque, and employs about 1,700 people in the state.


“The selection process was very detailed and very cadenced,” Easterling said. “We started with 900 sites, and we slowly narrowed that down to one, and that one was Albuquerque.”


Asked to name some of the competition, he said, “Let’s just say you beat out some top competitors, but second place wasn’t really close.”


He said the company sought a community with a workforce suited to customer service and noted that Albuquerque’s bilingualism “is a plus.”


He said positions will be full time, spread among four basic services – customer care, repair services, sales and store support. Wages, he said, will be competitive within the industry and “very competitive here in Albuquerque.”


“We will accept a portion of the employees as part time because we’re really looking for students, and we’re looking for people that want part-time work,” he said.


Easterling said a recruiting team will start interviewing for leadership positions Monday. He said people can also apply for position by visiting the website lowes.com/careers.


“Now that the announcement is out, I’m sure we’ll see a lot more activity, but we’ve already seen some résumés and several requests for positions,” he said.


Stebbins said she was proud of Bernalillo County’s role “in making this all happen.” The County Commission will consider an ordinance Tuesday authorizing an industrial revenue bond issue of up to $16 million for Lowe’s.


“They (Lowe’s ) are financing their own bonds, but utilizing the IRB for tax abatement,” said Mayling Armijo, director of the county’s Economic Development Department.


Stebbins said the commission next month will consider adopting a Local Economic Development Agreement committing $150,000 each from the state and the county toward building improvements for the Lowe’s center. It would be the county’s only cash inducement and has clawbacks if Lowe’s doesn’t meet the employment goal, she said.


“I anticipate both will be approved by the commission,” she said.


The city will donate space and parking accommodations up to two months at the Albuquerque Convention Center for Lowe’s to conduct job interviews, hold job fairs and make other operational preparations, according to Breanna Anderson, spokeswoman for the Mayor’s Office.


Lowe’s announcement wasn’t the only good economic news delivered at the AED luncheon.


Tempur-Pedic announced it will add 100 jobs over the next 12 months to the 123 jobs at its Albuquerque plant. The company said it is expanding operations at the Albuquerque plant because of the quality of the workforce and the incentives they receive.


The new jobs will be in management, engineering, administration, warehousing and production.


The company is having a job fair at the plant Saturday to begin filling 51 jobs in January and February. The rest will be added by the end of 2013.

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