Springfield-based CST expands Joplin operations

The telemarketing company announced Sept. 13 that it will construct a 20,000-square-foot call center in Joplin’s Crossroads Industrial Park. CST’s existing Joplin operations have outgrown its 3220 Wisconsin St. building, where expansion has taken place three times since 2001.

All 210 Joplin CST employees will move to the new facility when it opens in late January, and there will be room for an additional 90 workers, according to John Weaver, CST’s head of human resources. The $2.1 million building is designed to accommodate expansion, as it will take up only half of the company’s 10-acre site.

The Joplin center will mirror CST’s Springfield call center at 310 S. Ingram Mill Road, which employs about 120 representatives and 20 administrative staff members. Since the company was founded in 1997, the Springfield center has moved twice from smaller locations on North Glenstone to its present space, Weaver said.

CST, owned by Jim J. Morris, also opened a call center in Tempe, Ariz., in 2004.

Sales representatives at the Joplin center will primarily conduct outbound sales calls to existing customers, though CST also offers inbound services for its clients.

The company specializes in business-to-business and business-to-consumer telemarketing of products in the telecommunications, financial services, cable services, technology and real estate industries.

Weaver would not disclose specific clients but said several are Fortune 50 companies.

Volatile market

CST’s growth stands out in Springfield’s roller-coaster call-center industry, where closures and mass layoffs are as common as grand openings and hiring sprees.

Both MCI and McLeod USA announced earlier this year that they were closing their Springfield call centers, together displacing nearly 500 workers.

Officials at the time cited a sagging telemarketing field and the efficiencies of moving jobs overseas.

In May, however, T-Mobile opened a $20 million, 77,000-square-foot call center in Springfield with plans to hire 700, and Vienna, Va.-based SunRocket moved to town in July with a goal of employing as many as 500 by the end of the year.

Weaver said CST is committed to keeping its operations domestic and finds success in educating customers on new products, rather than emphasizing the sale.

“We’re dealing with direct marketing in a new era,” he said. “We’re trying to help people know products.”