Qualfon snatches up Center Partners

COEUR d'ALENE - Center Partners has been acquired by Qualfon Inc., a global provider of call center and business process outsourcing services.

Qualfon operates in the Philippines, Guyana, Mexico, China and the U.S., employing 10,000 people and serving an international base of clients. Qualfon, founded in 1996, announced the acquisition Wednesday.

Center Partners will operate as a fully-integrated part of Qualfon and take on the Qualfon brand name.

Center Partners' six centers in Idaho, Washington and Colorado and its 2,500 employees will be added to Qualfon's workforce and 11 existing centers.

Center Partners, headquartered in Fort Collins, Colo., serves multiple industries, including retail, financial services, consumer products, media and technology companies.

Center Partners has office locations in Coeur d'Alene, Hayden, Post Falls and Liberty Lake, along with offices in southern Idaho and Colorado.

Qualfon is a debt-free company and acquired Center Partners in a cash transaction as part of its growth strategy.

Qualfon CEO Mike Marrow will continue in that capacity.

"We found an outstanding business in Center Partners that shares the same people-oriented approach and is a perfect fit to both diversify our client base and also to enable us to have an experienced United States delivery operation offering premier services to clients," Marrow said.

He said Qualfon will continue to be aggressive in expanding the company.

"These businesses stand stronger together," said Jim Dunn, CEO of Center Partners. "Today is a major turning point as Center Partners adds global capabilities, and it's also the brink of a new era that presents an even more promising horizon for our clients and employees."

On April 29, Center Partners had announced it was adding more than 400 jobs in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene areas as part of a hiring campaign.

The new jobs are to be "non-temporary," full-time and part-time positions with benefits for those regularly working 20 hours or more a week in sales, technical support and customer service.

"A job at Center Partners is a chance to build a solid professional skillset," said Tepi Hanson, vice president-human resources. "And because we fill many of our promotions internally, our employees love the opportunity for personal and professional development they get from working with us."