Former ServiCom Employees Have First Meeting With Iowa Business Man Anthony Marlowe

by Dec 21, 2018Business, News

‘We’re all happy to get back to work’

SYDNEY, N.S. — Chris Feltrin works part of the time out west as an electrician but when he comes home to Cape Breton, he relied on the former ServiCom call centre in Sydney to make a living.
“Every time the economy is bad, I come back to Nova Scotia and I always take this job,” said the Sydney resident, who has worked on and off at ServiCom since 2003. “This is the first job I had out of high school. IWe always been good at it and they always welcome me.”

It was a devastating blow when Feltrin and over 500 former ServiCom employees were left without work when the call centre closed its doors on Dec. 6. Thursday night at the Ashby branch of the Royal Canadian Legion in Sydney, about 300 of those employees came out to have their first meeting with Anthony Marlowe. The Iowa businessman bought ServiCom and will re-open the facility as The Sydney Call Centre Inc., a subsidiary of Marlowe’s new company, MCI Canada.

“It seems like with his success, he’s not afraid to spend money in order to make money,” Feltrin said when asked about Marlowe. “There’s going to be a lot of changes from the old company, which seemed to want to give less. This guy seems to want to give that extra step to make this more beneficial for everybody.” One woman thanked Marlowe during the meeting and presented him with a Santa hat, saying that all she wanted for Christmas was a job. She’ll get her wish, as employees are expected to fill out paper work next week and be back on the floor early in the new year. After Marlowe and former ServiCom site director Todd Riley addressed the standing-room only crowd, employees posed questions about benefits and pay. Rose Marie Woods of Coxheath, formerly of Boston, chats with Iowa businessman Anthony Marlowe Thursday night at the Ashby branch of the Royal Canadian legion in Sydney.

“For me and the people around me, it was above and beyond what our expectations are so soon after the closure,” said Betty Bartlett of Sydney, who worked at ServiCom for close to eight years. “We’re all one family and we feel like we have a lot of good hope and this seems like an extraordinarily strong company that we can build and grow with in Cape Breton.”

Rose Marie Woods of Coxheath, originally of Boston, has worked at ServiCom off and on since 2005. She shared a brief chat with Marlowe prior to Thursday’s meeting, connecting over their shared American roots.

She was happy to hear their starting pay would be comparable to when they left ServiCom.

“We’re all happy to get back to work,” she said. “I’m 62 years old, I’ve been working since I was 11. I’m kind of like a workaholic and I’m bored to tears sitting home”

The crowd was vocal and had plenty of praise and applause for Marlowe during the meeting.

“You have the biggest heart in the room,” one woman said.

“You’re a Christmas miracle,” said another.

FASTEST GROWING COMPANY

Announced again as the Fastest Growing Company in 2019, MCI currently operates contact centers located in the United States and Canada. Marlowe Companies, Inc. (MCI) is headquartered in Iowa City, IA.