400 jobs expected at Edinburg's new call center: Munch Munch, Eat our lunch!

Tell me mayor, Why is Edingburg eating our lunch so bad?

From the McAllen Monitor

EDINBURG — Tony Pecina of McAllen had to drive every day to Harlingen to her call center job there. When she heard that MAXIMUS customer contact center was coming to Edinburg, she immediately looked into applying.

Pecina will bring her experience as a trainer to the company opened  its doors Monday to 120 employees who are begining their training. MAXIMUS plans to hire up to 400 people by next year.

The center, located in the Renaissance Industrial Park, will begin operations Sept. 6, assisting residents seeking Texas Health and Human Services Commission aid, such as Medicaid, SNAP food benefits and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

The leased building had to be adapted in record time to house MAXIMUS employees. We ran out of space in our other facilities but there is an increasing demand for service,” said Leslie Wolfe, MAXIMUS’s health services president. “In fact, without the demand we wouldn’t be meeting demands and serving the needy families of Texas.”

Edinburg was chosen in part because of the number of bilingual locals who could work the phones, Wolfe said. “They are barely bilingual in Austin and you cannot go to Reynosa because they do not speak English there,” said state Rep. Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, who was recognized as making these new jobs possible.