Bloomington vies with Muncie for 1,000-job call center

MUNCIE -- Muncie and Bloomington are both vying for a 1,000-job IBM customer service center that would support a $1.16 \nbillion plan for the company to handle processing of food stamps, Medicaid and \nwelfare cases, officials in those cities said.\nGov. Mitch Daniels announced last week that the changes recommended to him by a team of top aides will outsource some of the functions now performed by the state's Family and Social Services Administration. A team of vendors led by IBM Corp. would process applications for the services that one in six Hoosiers receive, and the team would lend technical support to FSSA over 10 years.\nArmonk, N.Y.-based IBM said it would bring about 850 jobs to the state in about two years, most of them at the service center. Within four years, that would grow to about 1,000 jobs.\nThe governor's office said several sites for the center were being considered. An IBM official said last week that a decision would not be made until next year.\nThe governor could make a final decision on signing a contract with the IBM consortium after a public hearing on Friday.\nDan Allen, president of the Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce, said Sunday there was a potential IBM project in the works locally.\nBloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan confirmed that his city had bid for the service center. IBM is reportedly looking for sites close to universities.\n"We think we got it, but until they sign on the dotted line, we are at the mercy of the state," Allen said. "We have been a bridesmaid \nbefore."\nAllen said east central Indiana, including Muncie, has an educated high-tech workforce.\n"Ball State University is a leader in technology," Allen said about the Muncie area's assets for attracting information technology business. "We are heavily wired and have wireless capability."\nLast February, Muncie landed a new Sallie Mae debt service center that will create 700 new jobs over the next three years. The average pay for Sallie Mae jobs is about $31,000 a year, but the IBM customer service center could average pay between $30,000 to $50,000 yearly.\nState Rep. Dennis Tyler, D-Muncie, said Sunday he would be "tickled to death" if Muncie landed the center.\nHowever, Tyler also said it was important for legislators to examine state contracts that privatized services. He expressed concerns about what would happen to current FSSA offices and employees under the IBM deal.\n"Any time you are doling out that kind of money, you must have oversight," said Tyler, who serves on the House Public Health Committee.\nHouse Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said the House would also conduct public hearings on the contract between the state and IBM consortium through its public health committee.\n"We are a long way from allowing a private firm to come in here and take over the responsibility of providing crucial service for people who are most in need of our help," Bauer said.\nDaniels indicated the state and IBM would continue to maintain welfare offices in all 92 Indiana counties and that FSSA employees who now determine eligibility would have jobs with the state or its contractor.