FairPoint Communications has plans to take over Verizon’s landline operations in rural New England and, if the acquisition is approved, it will hire close to 675 new workers in the area.
FairPoint says it has hired four recruiters to hire and train approximately 125 of the 675 employees it intends to hire if the proposed merger between FairPoint and Verizon in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont is approved.
FairPoint, a communications services provider in rural and small urban communities in 18 states, calls this move the catalyst to “significant job creation” that will “have a significant impact on the Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine economies.”
The company’s new vice president of business and wholesale services, Brian Lippold, will be supported by three assistant vice-presidents: Jeffrey W. Allen, Michelle Hymson, and Jeff McCarthy.
The three managers will help to identify and hire candidates for new positions that will be required following the completion of the proposed transaction, the company says.
“By filling these key senior management positions, FairPoint is taking yet another step forward in a process that is expected to result in the creation of hundreds of new, well-paying positions with benefits for the region,” said Walter E. Leach, Jr., FairPoint’s executive vice president.
“These individuals will be the leaders of three distinct functional areas for FairPoint and they will be instrumental in finding the key people we will need for these northern New England positions,” Leach said.
In each state, the company has specific hiring plans and goals, including:
- Vermont. The company will create approximately 145 positions, with the majority located in Burlington. Jobs span technical services, business and wholesale sales, circuit provisioning, collections, order and billing management for wholesale services, regulatory, marketing, and IT desktop support.
- New Hampshire. The company will create approximately 250 positions, with about 190 located in Manchester, 50 located in Littleton, and 10 others located throughout the state. Positions range from business and wholesale sales, accounting, marketing, technical services, engineering, risk management, and staff support.
- Maine. The company expects to create approximately 280 new positions in the areas of business and wholesale sales, accounting, human resources, legal, risk management, technical services, billing analysis and bill production, supply chain and staff support, outbound telemarketing, accounts payable, payroll, billing support and field marketing. About 125 jobs will be in Portland, 125 will be in Bangor, and 30 will be located in various locations.
FairPoint announced in January 2007 it would buy Verizon’s landline operations in Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire in a proposed $2.7 billion deal.
If approved, the consolidated business would become the country’s eighth-largest telephone company.
However, the Concord Monitor reports that Verizon “does not have a business plan for New Hampshire” if the plan falls through, despite Verizon “shifting hundreds of employees to new positions in anticipation of the sale’s approval.”