9-15-10 —   You've heard of "Silicon Valley," but you may not be as familiar with "Silicon Holler." That's how Congressman Harold Rogers referred to this region last week, as he, Governor Steve Beshear and a host of other officials visited Wayne County to make an important announcement regarding the addition of 222 jobs at Senture Connect, a computer call-center located on KY 90 west of Monticello.

    "Silicon Holler" is a sign of the new age of industry in this country, Rogers explained, as he addressed a capacity crowd at the new state-of-the-art call center on Wednesday, September 8. In decades past, lack of a major highway or a railroad track could keep areas like Wayne County and other rural communities from landing good jobs for their people. Those obstacles are now gone.

    "In today's world it is the manipulation of information and you can do that through the air," stated Rogers. "All of a sudden, it doesn't matter if the mountains are big and you don't have enough flat land for a manufacturing facility...For the first time in history, we can stay home and compete for jobs."

    Senture Connect is expanding from its London facility into the 26,675 square foot building located in the Empowerment Zone's Industrial Park. Senture is one of several call-centers or computer based businesses that has located in Eastern Kentucky in recent years.

    Rogers noted that it has been a goal of his since being elected to Congress to bring good paying jobs to his district that would allow some of the best and brightest to stay home and work. He noted that as a teenager he followed an older brother to Ohio to look for a job, but because of the economic times had to come back home.

    It was the same story echoed by Shannon Bertram, a single mom who is employed by Senture Connect. She addressed the crowd during the ceremony and related to them what Senture means to her.

    She recalled when earning a decent living to help support her three children meant driving out of the county to work. It also meant losing precious time with her kids because of the commute.

    "Before Senture was finished, I wondered what it was and I wondered if it was going to mean a job for me," said Bertram, who lives across the road from the new facility. "When word got around, I was excited. I thought, ‘That is something I can do. I can be close to home and provide for my family.'"

    Not only was it good news for her, Bertram said, it was good news for many different kinds of employees who worked there during the last contract.

    "We are blessed to have a company like Senture...I want to thank all of you and particularly Congressman Rogers," said Bertram as she gave him a hug of appreciation.

    Christopher Deaton, President and CEO of Senture, noted that having the opportunity to help people like Bertram is "what it is all about."

    Governor Steve Beshear had the honor of making the official announcement last week. He said he was thrilled to share such an exciting day with the citizens of Wayne County, as the announcement was just another sign that Kentucky is making strides in recovering from the economic recession.

    "Kentucky is pleased to partner with Senture Connect in its latest expansion," said Beshear. "This new contact center will offer hundreds of families new job opportunities, providing a tremendous economic boost to the community. We will continue to work with Senture Connect and Congressman Rogers to create additional economic development opportunities in the Commonwealth."

    Beshear noted that the additional payroll dollars put into the community by Senture will translate into an economic boost for many local businesses. Employees will spend their payroll dollars to buy food, clothing and other types of goods and services.

    "They will put this money through the local economy several times," said Beshear.

    Rogers, who has been acquainted with the Deaton family for a number of years, praised their efforts of bringing opportunity and jobs to rural eastern Kentucky. He noted that Senture Connect has handled several different types of contracts so far, including the digital television conversion, the "cash for clunkers" program, and a chunk of work for the U.S. Census.

    Upcoming contracts will include work for the Veterans Administration, the Department of Education and the Transportation Safety Administration, according to Deaton. He said the company will begin to hire employees within the next 30 days and human resources personnel at the facility has already begun taking applications.

    The pay rate will vary by contract, but Deaton noted that the full-time positions will include health, dental and life insurance benefits. He said employees will be phased in over several months.

    Anyone who is interested in applying can do so at the Senture facility in Monticello. Applications may also be completed online at www.senture.com.