S&P call centre closures a rare case, says Opportunities New Brunswick CEO

The head of the Crown corporation trying to attract new business to the province says the closure of two S&P Data call centres is an anomaly.

The company's call centres in Saint John and Edmundston closed last week after they lost their only client.

The closures left 245 people without jobs.

Stephen Lund, the CEO of Opportunities New Brunswick, said that 90 per cent of the companies the corporation has attracted to the province in the past decade are still around.

Opportunities New Brunswick had committed $5.3 million to the call centres, which opened in 2018.

The corporation paid $584,000 of that commitment before S&P pulled out. Lund would not identify the major client S&P Data lost. 

"In the last four years, we've attracted over 80 companies to the province," Lund told Information Morning Saint John.

"This is the first time in four years that we've had a situation like this where we actually may lose money."

Always risks

Lund said the closure of an operation such as an S&P centre can't be foreseen, but there are always risks, which ONB tries to mitigate. Even the S&P centres weren't a complete loss.

"We paid out over $500,000, but we've also generated $300 to $400,000 in new tax revenue."

Lund said the Crown corporation is now focused on helping the laId-off employees find work.

It is holding a job fair Wednesday in Saint John, where companies are trying to fill a total of 600 jobs.

"It is unfortunate," Lund said of the lost S&P jobs. "But we are confident that, you know, most if not all of these workers will find new opportunities.