Nicor call center – and 200 jobs – leaving Geneva
by JONATHAN BILYK
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jbilyk@kcchronicle.com
GENEVA — About 200 local Nicor National employees will need to decide whether their jobs are worth driving to Naperville to keep.
This week, Nicor National — a subsidiary of parent company Nicor Inc. — confirmed that it will close its call center in Geneva and relocate operations to a new facility in Naperville.
Nicor confirmed the move after Naperville-based property manager Keystone Midwest announced that it had reached a lease agreement with Nicor National for 65,483 square feet of space in a four-story office building near the junction of Route 59 and Interstate 88 in Naperville.
Nicor spokesman Richard Caragol said Nicor National intends to consolidate operations at the new Naperville facility, relocating first its Geneva call center by next spring, followed by Nicor National's corporate operations and support divisions later in the year and into 2011.
Nicor National, which changed its name from Nicor Services in September, is a company owned by Nicor Inc. that sells and services home warranty and energy efficiency plans for utility customers in more than 15 states.
Caragol said the move will help Nicor National have enough space to grow as it continues to expand its warranty and energy efficiency plan offerings into other parts of the country.
About 200 people are employed at the call center at 1950 S. Batavia Ave. in Geneva, Caragol said.
He said all of the employees at the call center will be able to keep their jobs, if they so choose.
Employees were notified of the relocation in October, Caragol said.
"This is merely a consolidation of facilities," he said.
The owner of the property at 1950 S. Batavia Ave., Byrnes & Company, has already begun seeking new tenants for the former call center.
Company owner Rob Byrnes could not be reached for comment.
But a brochure posted on Byrnes' Web site listed two buildings for lease on the site totaling 91,000 square feet on 19 acres. The brochure also notes that the property includes six acres available for new construction.
