Barbados Official Talks Up Int?l Investment at NCO Expansion Ceremony

by Patrick Lunsford, CollectionIndustry.com

The island nation of Barbados is rapidly expanding access to foreign investment and the need to train native workers in more specialized discipline still exists, according to the country?s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs.

Using a press conference announcing the expansion of an NCO shared services data processing center as a backdrop, Mia Mottley said that while the nation has been very successful in attracting international investment dollars, there is more that can be done.

Minister Mottley said that more people will need to be brought on board to manage the training of locals in highly specialized disciplines such as data processing.

NCO has had a presence in Barbados since January of 2005, when it opened a call center with 180 people. The U.S.-based collection and BPO giant now employs more than 800 in the country. NCO VP Brian Callahan said that the new data processing unit should be up and running within the next six months and would initially employ 70 people.

In order to facilitate the additional training, the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation has hired former Barbados Community College Principal, Norma Holder, as a training coordinator.