Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 8, 1994, Winnipeg, Manitoba Inside Story Winnipeg free press january m i u just Call 1800manitoba local interests hoping to dial into profits a leg up for Manitoba communities Manitoba communities have advantages for attracting telecommunications related according to those in the Field Central time zone allows agents Here More prime time to Deal with phone customers and clients from both labor Force educated and two of the most important factors listed by clients who want employees who Are easy to train and stick language not Only is Manitoba considered language Neutral no but the Pool of bilingual employees is in Winnipeg alone has Spanish speaking a fact that has not gone unnoticed by potential clients in the Wake of the North american free Trade operating costs wages and real estate costs in Manitoba Are among the lowest in the country Rural costs could be even phone service Long distance costs and services in Manitoba Are also competitive with companies across the addition of unite to the Manitoba Market should ensure even More competitive by Randy Turner staff reporter if Keri Rodgers had her own Manitoba would be the 1800 capital of we want to be the Omaha of the she in the unemployment rate is per Why at least of its residents work As taking and making millions of phone Calls each Day for clients across North Omaha is called the 1800 capital of if you make a Tollfree Call to Book a hotel room with a major or respond to an infomercial for a the operator on the other end of the line is Likely in in Des another american City flush with Call the unemployment rate is less than four per it is the future of the ways of doing said Elly project manager for the City of Des Moines economic development it has provided an incredible number of jobs for the people in this a business consultant for the Manitoba Telephone is a member of a team of local representatives currently trying to attract even a fraction of the multimillion Dollar telecommunications business to the which also includes officials from the province and is confident Manitoba will Benefit from at least new telecommunications jobs in the next year these she could include services for everything from sales to the Domino effect of Job creation goes Way beyond what anybody can Rodgers its a Benefit to the goal is a legion of companies like integrated messaging which was founded in Winnipeg about four years dying towns can ring up new jobs by Randy Turner staff reporter Wayne free press Rodgers Centre is trying to attract a piece of the big Money telecommunications Industry Worth a1 in our business we have a staff of close to we Hope in the next year to double Imi owner Merrill Shulman Shulman agreed that Winnipeg should look to imitate Omaha they handle millions of Calls a Day in Omaha and employ tens of thousands of he there is absolutely no technical reason Why we cant get our share of in Manitoba boasts almost every key advantage for attracting telemarketing Shulman those include a Central time an stable and bilingual Quality phone service and relatively Low wage and real estate Shulman believes the Only limits to growth in the telemarketing Industry Are if there is a it is the availability and Price of services he noting that some services provided by Telephone companies Are not currently offered by Chris Ferris of Winnipeg 2000 said potential clients include Large National and multinational companies with vast Ken free press Shulman says Manitoba has Many key customer service As Well As companies that rely on outbound or catalogue but Ferris said attracting a base of clients can be a slow for every dozen bids the Manitoba team makes to potential four actually come to Winnipeg to investigate the fewer decide to its not Ferris critics of telemarketing say the jobs pay most starting at minimum Rodgers said that positions for computer analysts and telecommunications specialists come along with telemarketing these kind of things Arent Mickey mouse she we dont want minimum wage Bob a spokesman for the telecommunications employees association of called such goals Small Manitoba towns Are dying for Industry and dying without but Daymen Quillas has a message for communities desperate to attract hold the a partner in the Russell based firm called Central Canada says Rural Manito bans can create their own jobs by attracting phone marketing Busi its hard to attract manufacturing into Rural no doubt about Quillas this is an Industry that Doest have to be located in a Large and the distance from the customer Doest some 30 local residents will be employed by which begins operation although the firm has Only one Quillas sees unlimited potential to i think its going to be a growth Industry in the Long Quillas Cash is getting and companies want to get far More specific in the marketing and understand their Russell business operators established act after investigating Sim Ilar operations in the Hub of the multimillion Dollar Tele communications they saw first hand How Small towns could compete with North americas largest cities by offer ing clients Low operating costs and a stable the size or location of the town containing the telemarketing firm is he for Manitoba main Competition in attracting telecoms jobs is in new another province where traditional manufacturing industries Are last new Brunswick lured or established telecommunication this is one of the few ways of attracting business in today Situa Gerry Vic president of new Brunswick a privately owned no tax 249 309 379 48ydouble 4q9 639 929 779 1049 799 1069 torrent of appeals May become trickle brass bed sleep Centre 263 Henderson Hwy 6639998 Madison Square 7868922 hours tues wed sat 9 won in 9 309 125 homeowners Fin property Sybil Redekop staff reporter the expected flood of prop erty assessment appeals might end up being Only a appraisers at the cites assessment a steady Stream of homeowners have been showing up Over the last few Days to peruse microfiche that Al lows them to compare their assess ment to that of their but Many questioned at the Branch yesterday said after checking the they discovered their assessments were fair after some homeowners showed up with what seem to be legitimate we cant figure out Why weve been assessed More than our said one vital who explained she has been assessed the same As a neighbouring River property even though her House int on the a fort Richmond who was assessed More than the Price he paid for his Home in complained he spent 26 min utes on hold yesterday trying get through on the cites assessment assessing Market value int a precise cautioned Bob the cites chief Brown has been Busy making the rounds of to and radio talk shows Wendell Al is interviewed by jobs Richard in Nipes free press mall taxes a1 this week explaining the cites assessment homeowners taking the largest hit were in River where Many assessments went up 50 to 60 per and River properties along Wellington where assess ments the Wolseley and Crescent Wood areas also saw big jumps in their As but appraisers generally agree those areas were under assessed in the and Only now is the City catching up to using the new formula that assesses Homes based on Market one problem area May be Charles where larger lots seem to be greatly said an appraiser with Hoffer Wilkinson Rixon said homeowners can often avoid the Appeal process if they take an appraisal of their Home to the As but be prepared to pay about id certainly say were getting a lot of but were not getting much a lot of callers Are simply ignorant of How the assess ments he appraisers will but most wont fight the Appeal for a Home As their fees would eat up any tax savings a person might a a person who handles smaller residential appeals is Les who is trading in on his experience serving seven years on the cites a peal Sytkowski Telephone has been ringing off the Hook from homeowners seeking his ;