Special to The News Reporter

BB&T Corporation said Wednesday that it will add more than 130 jobs in Whiteville over the next 12 to 15 months as it begins to expand its Call Center and establish other divisions and operations in the area.

An outbound marketing sales program was launched recently at the Call Center on Highway 701 North that will result in the creation of more than 80 new jobs. The program is designed to increase BB&T’s marketing efforts in the sales of products and services.

BB&T also plans to open a Whiteville collections department that will bring in an additional 50 positions.

The announcement comes on the heels of BB&T’s decision to implement a long-term strategic program aimed at identifying ways to improve its efficiencies and survivability for the future. BB&T has initiated steps to begin outsourcing some back-office functions throughout the company, including some areas in Whiteville.

“There is no doubt that Whiteville will be undergoing its share of change in the coming months, but I also want to stress that we remain committed to the community and our employees who have been a part of our growth and success through the years,” said Rhone Sasser, BB&T director and former chief executive officer of United Carolina Bancshares, which merged with BB&T in 1997.

“Although there may be some short-term temporary dips in employment in Whiteville, BB&T will ultimately have more employees in Whiteville than it has had at any time,” Sasser said.
BB&T said that 25 positions in email support and other administrative duties in the Call Center will be outsourced to India by the end of the year. The company also will be reviewing its processes in accounts payable and fixed assets, but will not know the full impact until an analysis of each position, function, and activity has been completed.

“At this point, we are unsure how many, if any, positions within these two areas will be affected,” said company spokesperson Bob Denham. “In fact, some of our reviews of other areas within the company have resulted in a decision to either partially outsource or not outsource altogether.

“Our goal is to align new jobs coming to Whiteville with employees whose work is being affected by outsourcing,” he said. “When you go back and look at our history around acquisitions and consolidations, BB&T has been very successful in finding jobs for employees whose work or position was eliminated. In Whiteville, the opportunities are obviously greater. We will actually end up with more positions in Whiteville than we have today.”

Outsourcing is critical, Denham said, to BB&T’s long-term survival and success.
It will drive efficiencies and cost savings that its competitors have been realizing the past several years. BB&T is the last of the large financial institutions to offshore some operations.
“It’s a tough decision, but we have no choice if we want to remain competitive and be in business for the long-term,” Denham said. “Otherwise, we not only put our company at risk, but thousand of BB&T jobs and hundreds of communities that depend on us.”

Jeff Etheridge, president of BB&T’s Whiteville-based Southeast Region headquarters, is optimistic about Whiteville’s future and the bank’s role in the community.

“The foundation of whom and what BB&T is today was ultimately created from the successful mergers and integration of BB&T, UCB and Southern National,” Etheridge said. “Even as we evolve, we continue to recognize the importance of our legacy companies and the communities that nurtured our early beginnings.

“Just as BB&T is committed to Whiteville, we need that same level of commitment from the community as well,” he said. “We want to be a part of the growth of this area. We will continue to need a pool of talented, dedicated people who want to be part of our success.”
Winston-Salem-based BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT) operates more than 1,470 financial centers in the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Indiana and Washington, D.C.

With $121.7 billion in assets, BB&T Corporation is the nation’s 12th largest financial holding company. More information about the company is available at www.BBT.com.