Five years after announcing a $15 million investment that would bring 500 jobs to the region, PRA Group yesterday announced it was closing its call center in Danville, Va., in October, and 123 employees at the location will be affected.
The facility is expected to close October 20, with the company consolidating its operations into its remaining call centers. Those employees from the Danville office who are willing to relocate will be considered for open positions elsewhere in the company, PRA Group said in a statement.
“We are grateful for the contributions the entire Danville team has made to our business over the past three years, and we recognize the impact this will have on them and their families,” the company said in its statement. “We are supporting our colleagues in various ways during this transition, including considering team members for open positions in other locations.”
PRA was expected to make an investment of $15 million to establish the call center when it purchased the building from Telvista in 2018. The plan was to have 375 workers in the building by the end of the first year, ramping up to 500 by the end of year three, and the company agreed to maintain 500 employees in the office through 2025 as part of its agreement.
But, by 2019, the company had scaled down its projections, saying its investment would be $11 million, and that it would bring 300 jobs.
“Our projections have changed due to a number of factors impacting our operations, including a heavier reliance on digital communications with our customers, a change in the nature of the types of accounts we have bought in the past year, as well as a strategic shift in our view on the optimal size for our call center operations,” the company said at the time, according to a published report.
The company was due to receive $4 million in grants and incentive payments, but did not meet its performance objectives and none of that money was received by the company, according to the report.
