A deal to lure U.S.-based computer giant Dell to Edmonton is already paying dividends.

The company celebrated the grand opening of its new Edmonton call centre last week by announcing it will increase staffing levels by 50 per cent.

With 475 of the initial 500 positions now filled, Dell said it will hire another 250 people and hopes to have a total staff of 750 working in its Edmonton customer-contact centre by July.

Dell's entry into Edmonton was first projected to create economic benefits pegged at $600 million over a 20-year period. That figure now rises to $900 million.

Jack Dagley, Business Edge
Dell vice-president Kip Thompson says the company didn't expect the Edmonton call centre to ramp up so quickly.

"The new jobs could mean another $300 million over the 20-year period," said Edmonton Economic Development Corp. (EEDC) president and CEO Allan Scott, who added that these numbers may have to be revised upward once more.

"I think there's a great opportunity for growth and the possibility of significantly more employees."

Even Dell's Kip Thompson, the company's vice-president for global facilities who was in town for the press conference to herald the grand opening, is optimistic.

"We did not expect to ramp up so quickly," said Thompson of the call centre, which came online in November 2004. "We've been surprised by our growth so far and we'd like to see further growth beyond that."

Dell has increased the scope of work at the Edmonton facility, which now includes sales and customer care functions.

The call centre is only Dell's second in Canada - the other is in Toronto - and Edmonton was selected because of its talent base and ability to provide the best customer service experience possible, said Thompson. Other contributing factors, however, were that Dell wanted the facility to be located in North America and EEDC offered an attractive incentive package.

The EEDC inducements included lease incentives valued at $1.1 million - equal to five years of property taxes during the first five years of the 20-year agreement - and assistance in helping Dell to locate a permanent site for its customer-contact centre. Further, land for Dell's permanent Edmonton home will be leased to Dell for 20 years at the rate of $1 per year. Dell will pay all school and business taxes from the beginning of its operations in Edmonton. Over the first five years, those taxes are valued at about $750,000.

In return, Dell agreed to provide and maintain at least 500 full-time positions within its first six months and to begin construction of a permanent facility on the leased land within 18 months.

According to Scott, the incentives were necessary to level the playing field with highly competitive prospects in the U.S. Dell was considering a total of 153 locations, and that also included Calgary.

Currently operating out of leased facilities in the downtown core, Dell occupies the 26th and 27th floors in Telus Plaza, just off Jasper Avenue. Work is already under way on converting the 28th floor to meet Dell's additional needs.

Groundbreaking is expected to take place later this year for Dell's new Edmonton facility, to be located in the southside Edmonton Research Park. The Karl Clark Road site, occupied by the Nor'Westers Rugby Club, will play host to a three-storey, 120,000-sq.-ft. building. The Nor'Westers have been given three months notice, according to their lease conditions.

Meanwhile, landing Dell has also helped EEDC in its efforts to promote Edmonton and attract new business.

"To have a Fortune 30 company here is really important for us and we can point to that to the many other companies we're trying to interest in the Edmonton area. It provides a different image now that a Fortune 30 company has (positively) evaluated the characteristics of Edmonton," said Scott.

Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, who along with Alberta Economic Development Minister Clint Dunford and Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel were also part of the opening ceremony, said to Dell, "Your being here (in Edmonton) provides us with the confidence that we're on the right track to becoming a centre of high-tech excellence."

Dell reported revenue of $47.3 billion for its past four quarters and claims it is Canada's No. 1 provider of desktop and notebook computers.

(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)