Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Shoals prepared with pitch for Nextel

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 05 Jan 2003 14:59:38 -0500

Shoals prepared with pitch for Nextel

By Mike Goens
Senior Editor
January 05. 2003 12:00AM

MUSCLE SHOALS – The incentive package has been approved, and economic development
officials are ready to make their pitch.

All they're waiting on is Nextel.

The communications company based in Reston, Va., has plans to build an inbound call center
and has narrowed its choices to the Shoals and Shreveport, La.

Nextel representatives have said the company will likely begin the extended process of
selecting a site late this week at the earliest. The company told both communities in
mid-December that it had interest in operating there and asked both to provide an
incentive proposal.

The six largest governments in the Shoals have agreed to provide a financial incentive of
about $2 million. There are other incentives being considered, including road improvements
and tax abatements.

"The Shoals area is prepared to move expeditiously once the company decides it's ready to
move," said Forrest Wright, executive director of the Shoals Economic Development
Authority. "The community has proved to us that they want the project, and I think it has
proved that to the company's consultant.

"Our job has been to be ready to move, and we've done that. We are prepared. It's now just
a matter of when the company will move forward and begin the hard site selection process."

Efforts to contact Nextel officials were unsuccessful Friday.

The company plans to have 500 workers at the call center. The average starting salary will
be $9.25 an hour, with the 100-plus supervisory positions expected to pay more than
$25,000 annually.

The $2 million incentive package offered by the Shoals includes $1 million from Muscle
Shoals, where the call center would be housed, $250,000 from Lauderdale and Colbert
commissions and Florence, and $125,000 from Tuscumbia and Sheffield.

All of the governments have either passed resolutions committing their support of the
project or have made verbal commitments that will be made official at their next public
meeting.

Nextel has interest in the old Wal-Mart building at Southgate Mall in Muscle Shoals.
Convergys renovated the building more than a year ago before deciding not to operate a
call center there because of a struggling national economy.

Shreveport is also putting together an incentive package to offer Nextel. Arlena Acree,
director of the city's economic development department, declined to release details of the
city's package. She said the proposal had not been submitted.

Shreveport has a population of about 200,000 and has an unemployment rate of 6.6 percent.
The Shoals' unemployment rate was at 9 percent in November.

One of the buildings Nextel has looked at in Shreveport is the former home of Precision
Response Corp., a 250-employee call center that went out of business in February.

Muscle Shoals Mayor David Bradford said the governments' financial commitment to the
project "tells Nextel that we would welcome them with open arms."

He said the Shoals did not "step up the plate" when it had a chance to lure a SouthTrust
Bank call center. The project ended up in Tennessee. He said the communitywide commitment
to the project is encouraging.

"This would be good for them and would obviously be good for us," Bradford said. "We're
committed to doing what we can to persuade them to come here."

Bradford said the old Wal-Mart building is a good match for what Nextel says it wants. He
said the building already has the needed fiber optics in place and only needs to be
equipped. He said there is also room to expand.

"It is specifically designed for their needs," he said.

Money offered as incentives would likely be used to equip the facility.

Muscle Shoals has also received a commitment from the state to widen Avalon Avenue in
front of the old Wal-Mart building in order to handle increased traffic should the
business land there.

Bradford said the Shoals has many intangibles to offer, including one of the country's
lowest crime rates, a stable and skilled work force, high quality of life, low cost of
living and cheap power rates.

Wright said the project appears to fit well into the Shoals' business landscape.

"Our governments have put us in a position to make a very aggressive proposal," Wright
said. "Up-front cash is important, but the best thing we can offer is a willing and able
work force. We can certainly do that.

"We're trying to stay in contact with their people, but basically all we can do right now
is wait on the company to get in a position to take their next step."

Mike Goens can be reached at 740-5740 or [email-masked].

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