Effective Teleservices, Inc. (ETI) opened its Lufkin, Texas customer interaction center on Monday, March 15, 2004 with over 350 employees. On the first day of operation, ETI becomes one of the top 15 employers in Angelina County.

Matt Rocco, Vice President of Operations stated, "ETI has continued to deliver world class results to our expanding customer base. Because of this success, we are being asked to expand our capacity both domestically as well as off shore. Opening in Lufkin, Texas will provide to ETI, and our customers, an expanded pool of talented individuals to deliver consistent, responsive, and cost-effective customer interaction solutions." Rocco added, "The Lufkin facility has initially opened with 215 customer contact workstations but that there is capacity to expand to as many as 600 stations resulting in over 800 jobs for Angelina County.

Appointed to lead the Lufkin facility are John Pennebaker, Director of Operations and Ray Levitzki, Associate Director of Operations. Pennebaker stated "The plans to expand into Lufkin were announced in December of 2003. We could not have hired this number of employees without the partnership and assistance of Angelina College, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Workforce Center. The proactive response from the community has been very encouraging. We could not have move this quickly without everyone's support. We look forward to fostering great relationships with our new community.

ETI employees ready their new center

The Lufkin leadership team includes many seasoned ETI managers as well as new managers hired specifically for the Lufkin center. Levitzki remarks, "Some of us have lived in Lufkin and commuted to Nacogdoches for several years. We are all excited to work now in the community in which we live.

Friday, March 12, members of ETI's Community Action Team conducted a clean-up day in the parking lot of the Lufkin facility. In conjunction with Angelina Beautiful Clean, the group mowed, edged, and cleaned the green spaces surrounding the facility. The Community Action Team, consisting of ETI employees, is responsible for the company's outreach within the community.

Effective Teleservices, Inc. is a leading provider of customer contact and business process outsourcing solutions that help Fortune 500 companies grow revenue and manage costs. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Nacogdoches, TX, ETI employs over 1200 team members occupying 3 state-of-the art customer interaction centers in East Texas and Gujarat, India with corporate facilities in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.