B of A to add R.I. call center, up to 900 jobs

The new “contact center,” as Lewis called it, will add substantially to the bank’s Rhode Island employment, which stood at about 4,000 before the merger was completed in April, including another call center in Lincoln, an operations center in Johnston, offices in Providence, and 48 branches across the state.

Lewis said the new facility will provide support to Bank of America consumer customers, working in tandem with call centers in more than 30 other locations. The Lincoln call center now serves Fleet and Quick & Reilly brokerage customers.

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Hiring will begin immediately, Lewis said, with training to be conducted in phases beginning late this year, with the goal of full completion by mid-year, when the East Providence center is to open.

Lewis unveiled his plans at a State House meeting with Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, legislative leaders and Rhode Island’s congressional delegation.

“This is not the last time I’ll be here and more importantly this is not the last time we’ll be talking about more jobs for Rhode Island,” Lewis said. “We continue to value our strong, positive collaboration with Rhode Island’s public leaders and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. This collaboration is a model for how we can work together to create jobs and economic growth across the region.”

Lewis had warned when the Fleet merger was first announced that it would cost about 12,500 jobs, but he had said customer-facing jobs would be spared, resulting in public outrage when about 1,000 branch jobs were suddenly cut this summer.

Several top officials in Massachusetts and Connecticut responded with harsh criticism of the North Carolina-based bank and even threatened retribution. Carcieri and Rhode Island economic development officials, meanwhile, chose a subdued, conciliatory approach, and stuck to it even after last month, Bank of America announced it would cut another 4,500 jobs across its footprint, including about 50 in Rhode Island.

“Our approach from day one was to show Bank of America that we wanted to work with them in helping them meet their business goals and objectives,” Carcieri said on Thursday. “We are pleased to be working together with Bank of America to create new jobs and investment in Rhode Island. The size of our state is a competitive advantage, and we can use our size to help companies get their ideas and projects off the ground in a more efficient manner.”

Along with a friendlier attitude, Rhode Island has offered Bank of America plenty of support from economic development officials in finding opportunities to expand here. The General Assembly also amended a key law this summer, the Jobs Development Act, at Carcieri’s urging to allow the bank to keep certain tax benefits even if its employment levels fluctuated during the Fleet conversion.

The approach elicited some rarely heard compliments Thursday. Anne Finucane, Northeast market president for Bank of America, praised the state’s “forward-thinking business environment” and workers’ skill levels, saying the bank has been “extremely impressed with the qualified work force in Rhode Island and across New England.”

It was a year last week since Bank of America and Fleet announced that they would merge to create the nation’s largest retail bank, with branches in 29 states, some 33 million consumer relationships, and a worldwide financial reach.

The conversion of Rhode Island’s Fleet branches and other facilities to the Bank of America brand is slated to occur in a few weeks. The bank’s market share as of June 30 was about 23 percent (excluding the MetLife Bank’s local processing center), a distant second to Citizens Bank, which had 43.7 percent.

Lewis’ next visit to Rhode Island is scheduled for Nov. 22, when he is to
be the keynote speaker at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce annual
dinner.