FORT KENT- A Northern Maine Finance Corporation (NMFC) owned building in Fort Kent, which has sat empty for more than two years, is once again a place of business now that Ameridial has signed a three-year lease to operate a call center at the facility.
Ameridial offers "teleservices," or voice and data support, for their clients. The Fort Kent branch, which may employ up to 90, will be the ninth office for the company, with seven in Ohio and one in North Carolina.
NMFC vice president Duane Walton said they would much rather sell the building outright, but the lease does bring jobs to the region and is a good start.
According to a Fiddlehead Focus article, Ameridial headquarters became aware of the employment possibilities in Fort Kent when Mike McCarthy, formerly with Universal American, became vice president of health care services with Ameridial.
That started the ball rolling and cooperation between former Synergy employee Karen Deprey; Fort Kent town officials; the building's creditor, NorState Federal Credit Union; and NMFC worked to address any potential roadblocks.
"NorState was very accommodating," said Walton. "NMFC also had other incentives, such as funding a fiber optic line to the facility and picking up half the cost of a generator for the building."
Walton said staff from Northern Maine Development
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NMDC Business Finance Director Duane Walton, right, helps a Loring Job Corps student replace ceiling tile at the Ameridial building in Fort Kent.
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Commission, with considerable assistance from Loring Job Corps students, spruced up the building.
"The students put up new ceiling tiles, painted, performed some masonry work on the front entrance and fixed some fencing," he added.
The call center opening in Fort Kent will be a dedicated healthcare center supporting open enrollment insurance plans in other states. Company officials said the busy season for open enrollment plans is from October to December, which is what the company is hiring to cover. However, after the enrollment period is over, calls continue as people have questions about co-pay and benefits changes.
Northern Maine Finance Corporation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improvement of the economy and the creation of jobs. It was formed in 2002 with the help of USDA Rural development organizational grant and the matching funds and hands on assistance of Northern Maine Development Commission.
