Joliette, July 9, 2009 – Videotron is spending approximately $34 million over three years to establish its new Joliette Client Contact Centre. Under agreements with its financial partners, Videotron will receive more than $1.4 million in financial assistance from the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity, the City of Joliette, and the Centre local de développement (CLD) de Joliette.
We are creating permanent, quality jobs in order to enhance our customer service and share some of the benefits of our corporate growth with the residents of Joliette, said Robert Dépatie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Videotron. We are very proud of having reached an agreement with our partners which will directly contribute to the economic development of the Lanaudière region.
Payroll for the Centre's 271 employees for the next three years accounts for approximately $26 million of Videotron's $34 million planned investment. Fit-up costs for the building located at Les Galeries Joliette, 1075 Firestone Blvd., total approximately $3.3 million.
Training skilled workers
The Québec Government, through Emploi-Québec, is the main partner in the project. It is providing $1,032,656 in financial assistance, or 50% of the total cost of training customer service advisors and technical support advisors. Videotron is covering the other 50%.
At this time of economic crisis in Canada, the Ministry is well aware of the need to provide financial assistance for regional economic development, said Sam Hamad, Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity. For the Ministry, it is a matter of supporting the training of skilled workers for Québec businesses. I salute decisions such as Videotron's that take advantage of our economic situation to train the workforce so we all are able to be better positioned when the economic slowdown ends.
The Centre local d'emploi in Joliette contributed $100,000 to help cover employee recruitment costs.
City of Joliette provides direct support
The City of Joliette is providing Videotron with financial assistance of $25,000 per year for five years to help cover office rental costs. The City is also granting a discount on electricity costs of up to $25,000 per year for five years.
René Laurin, Mayor of Joliette, is pleased that Videotron has chosen Joliette as the site of its new Centre: Videotron is a fast-growing company. Convincing them to set up a Client Contact Centre in our town is one of our major achievements of the year. It's quite something to think that these 271 new advisors will be helping to answer calls from nearly 1.8 million Quebecers.
Supporting regional economic vitality
Our $50,000 contribution signals our support for the arrival of one of the flagships of Québec's telecom industry in our region, a move that will certainly help enhance local economic and social vitality, said Pierre Delangis, President of the CLD de Joliette.
It is thanks to our people, who know how to listen to consumers and understand their needs, that we have become an economic driver in Québec, said Robert Dépatie. And of course, it is thanks in particular to our customer service advisors and technical support advisors. Soon, there will be 271 more of them diligently answering the thousands of calls we receive every day.
Videotron Ltd. (www.videotron.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated communications company engaged in cable television, interactive multimedia development, Internet access services, cable telephony and wireless telephone service. Videotron is a leader in new technologies with its illico interactive television system and its broadband network, which supports high-speed cable Internet access, analog and digital cable television, and other services. As of March 31, 2009, Videotron was serving 1,729,168 cable television customers in Québec, including 963,153 illico Digital TV subscribers. Videotron is the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 1,089,251 subscribers to its cable modem service as of March 31, 2009. As of the same date, Videotron had activated 68,015 lines on its wireless telephone service and was providing cable telephone service to approximately 890,918 Québec households and organizations. For the fourth consecutive year, Videotron has been named Québec's most respected telecommunications company by Commerce magazine, based on a Léger Marketing poll.
