Call center relocating to old Montgomery bowling alley, creates new jobs

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - A Montgomery company is breathing new life into an old family fun spot and doubling their staff in the process.

Rick Burley has been driving past the former Brunswick Woodmere Lanes on Carmichael Road in Montgomery for the past five years, wondering what would become of the vacant building.

Two blocks away, his company ASK has gotten cramped in their current office space.

As they eye major growth, Burley decided the old bowling alley would be the perfect spot for a brand new call center.

He worked with the City of Montgomery and the Greater Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce to buy it.

"We are currently a 330 person call center and we're going to be expanding to over 600 people. That expansion is coming in the next few months," Burley said. "We're taking a dead, old bones of a building and turning it into a super useful building again."

ASK has started a $2 million renovation, which includes a new parking lot, new roof and a total overhaul of where the bowling alley fixtures used to be.

"The front doors will stay the same and the rest of the front area that you knew will be turned into our corporate office space," Burley said. "There will be just over 400 cubicles. That will just about double the density that we are today. We have the capacity to grow to another 200 cubicles.  We're doubling our company's size. We doubled our size last year as well."

The company will be adding 300 jobs when they relocate. They handle customer service for internet marketers and last-mile delivery services.

In 2013, ASK stopped outbound calls and telemarketing and switched entirely to inbound customer care.

"For years, a lot of those folks off-shored their customer service and that customer service is now coming back to the U.S. so when you call us, someone is going to pick up and you're going to be able to understand us. And that means a lot," Burley said. "We also manage people's chat sessions and email cues for them. We also have no phone projects where all we do is admin work."

ASK will be hiring for the new positions in May-July, using several different employment agencies, including Job Connections and Express Staffing.

"We will add 20 to 30 employees every other week until we get the call center full," Burley said. "We're going to be hiring for all kinds of positions. Keep an eye out. We'll be advertising."

Burley closed on the building last week. Some work is already underway and he wants renovations to be in full swing by Feb 1.

And he's not totally erasing the building's past.

"We're going to try to keep the theme of the old Brunswick Woodmere Lanes. We're going to put some bowling pins around and make sure people know this was a bowling alley," Burley said. "We all have memories from here, some of the best cheeseburgers Montgomery used to have."

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange congratulated ASK on their success and thanked the company for continuing to invest in the community.

"ASK's expansion not only signifies the creation of more new jobs in Montgomery, but it's indicative of a growing trend bringing business back to the Boulevard area," the mayor said in a statement.

Montgomery has seen an increase in call center jobs in recent years.

In 2015, SYKES Enterprises, based out of Tampa, Florida opened a new multi-million dollar customer support center in East Montgomery on Technacenter Drive, creating more than 500 jobs.

Also in 2015, Expert Global Solutions (EGS), a call center, announced its office expansion in Montgomery, creating 300 new jobs. EGS invested $1 million in facility upgrades and improvements at its Montgomery offices, located in Executive Park Drive.

"It's an industry that is growing. Companies do sometimes need to outsource employees and now they outsource them locally," Burley said.

ASK is happy to revitalize the old bowling alley building as they continue to grow their operations.

"We want to take an eyesore and make it a great new facility. It's been sitting for about five years so folks in the neighborhood are going to be glad that it's getting rebuilt," Burley said. "We wanted to have it become a part of this economy again."

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