Dell to expand in Tennessee
Dell Inc. announced Friday it will add up to 1,000 jobs in Tennessee as it expands customer service operations.
Dell already has a technical support call center, sales operations and a distribution center for the eastern U.S. in Nashville and a manufacturing plant making Dimension and OptiPlex desktop computers in the nearby suburb of Lebanon.
The company said it will be adding sales professionals for new corporate and public sector business, technicians and managers. The jobs are to be created by the end of the year, officials said.
Dell CEO Kevin Rollins said the company’s decision to add jobs was based on its growth in the Americas region and the quality of the Nashville area’s work force. Most of the jobs will pay between $30,000-$40,000.
“Today’s announcement reconfirms our commitment to keeping Nashville and Middle Tennessee as one of our primary operations sites in the Americas region,” said Rollins, who along with state and local leaders made the announcement at Dell’s Nashville facility.
Dell also announced that Tennessee Titan quarterback Vince Young, the No. 3 pick overall in the NFL draft, would support an after-school program Dell sponsors to provide underprivileged youth access to technology. Young will be visiting Nashville students and schools beginning this fall.
“It’s an honor to be part of it,” Young said.
The Nashville expansion is part of Round Rock, Texas-based Dell’s strategy to hold on to its position as the world’s largest personal computer maker. Two technology research firms reported in April that Dell’s PC sales were growing more slowly than competitors’.
The Round Rock, Texas-based company has a three-tier strategy of new products, expense savings and a $100 million plan to boost customer service efforts.
Tom Carpenter, an analyst with Hilliard Lyons in Louisville, Ky., said the company plans to hire around 2,000 and retrain nearly 5,000 employees in customer sales and support. The company has also stated that it plans to add or expand 10 call centers.
“The last couple of years, a lot of companies like Dell that ran call centers for sales and customer support tried outsourcing, and they ran into some difficulties and the quality declined,” he said.
“This is all part of a strategic review at Dell looking at how they can present a better image to the customer.”
Cindy Shaw, an analyst with Boston-based Moors & Cabot Capital Markets, said the company has been stating publicly for some time now that it planned to increase employee presence in the Nashville area.
“I consider it old news,” she said, adding that the new jobs and increased emphasis on customer service could be a result of Dell’s customer service ratings decline in recent years.
Dell started its Tennessee operations in August 1999 with about 200 production sales and call center employees, and the work force has grown to 3,500. Since then, the company says it has invested more than $200 million on facilities and infrastructure.
Gov. Phil Bredesen, who was mayor of Nashville when Dell picked the city, said its expansion in Tennessee helped the state attract other major businesses.
Last year Nissan Motor Co. announced it planned to move its North American headquarters in California to the Nashville area. Other companies moving headquarters to the state include Caremark Rx Inc. and International Paper.
“It’s helped put our state on another plateau,” Bredesen said.
Tennessee economic development officials said the state is expected to give Dell up to $4 million the company will use for training new employees.
Dell has operations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Japan, India, China, Australia and New Zealand.
On Wednesday in Los Angeles, the company unveiled new models of its XPS line. Among them was a notebook with a 20-inch high-definition display and eight speakers intended to enhance what Dell calls “portable entertainment.”
Shares of Dell rose 6 cents to $25.86 in Friday trading on the Nasdaq market.