By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer

OXFORD – A spirited attempt to persuade L.L. Bean to build a permanent call center in Oxford Hills has failed, but not utterly.

While on Thursday announcing plans for a new, 30,000-square-foot facility in Bangor, the well-known Maine retailer also said it has signed a multi-year lease on the former ITC space in Oxford.

“We’re very excited,” said Brett Doney of the Oxford Hills Growth Council on Thursday. “As a community we were able to convince them to keep their regional call center here, which wasn’t part of their plan.”

L.L. Bean opened a temporary call center on Route 26 last November, hiring 300 workers through the holiday season. The jobs paid $9 or $10 an hour.

In December, the company announced it was scrapping plans to build a 50,000-square-foot call center in Oakland, due to potential competition in the labor force. The growth council quickly lined up alongside communities appealing to the retailer to build in their towns.

On Dec. 29, the growth council even staged a photo in which Oxford Hills residents donned their L.L. Bean gear and held up a banner that read, “L.L. Bean Come Home!” The photo was reprinted as a poster and sent to the L.L. Bean corporate offices with a red ribbon.

Even though the poster did not lead to a permanent call center, Doney was upbeat. “We hope that (the seasonal call center) continues indefinitely, and as the company grows that we have the ability to grow with them,” he said.

Doney did not have payroll figures from the past holiday season at the Oxford call center. L.L. Bean did not return phone calls Thursday.

According to earlier estimates from Maine Planning Office economist Galen Rose, with the call center jobs paying $9 to $10 an hour for 30 hours a week, the payroll likely totaled $625,000. He said the temporary call center would benefit local merchants, but was unlikely to have a long-term effect.

Whether the call center is a huge boon for the local economy or not, news that it will be hiring again next season is welcome to those like Denmark resident Katie Dunn, who worked in Oxford over the holidays.

Dunn said the work did not always appeal to her, but she would consider going back “because the benefits were so good and I really liked the way L.L. Bean trained us.”

She expects dealing with customers over the phone will become easier over time, and said she was thrilled to receive news from the company this week announcing that all holiday workers are receiving $150 bonuses.

“They also paid us for Thanksgiving and gave us a Christmas bonus,” Dunn said. “My husband was surprised – he didn’t believe it.”

Hartford Selectman Lee Holman is another person who worked at the call center. She said the experience exceeded her expectations because the wages were decent, there were bonuses even for seasonal workers and everyone was allowed to shop at the company store.

“But on top of that, (there was just) a sense that they valued their workers,” Holman said.

John Schiavi, who owns the Oxford building L.L. Bean will continue to lease, was not available for comment Thursday.