AUGUSTA (AP) – Gov. John Baldacci on Tuesday announced the expansion of a Maryland-based company into a former electronics plant in Augusta, which will offset the loss of jobs resulting from a rash of recent factory closings.

TelAc, a division of Access Worldwide Communications Inc., plans to open a pharmaceutical call center that will employ 300 people in a sprawling building formerly occupied by Sanmina-SCI, Baldacci said.

Last year’s closing of Sanmina’s electronics plant put 440 people out of work, and announcements of shutdowns of a meat processing plant and cable call center in Augusta will mean the loss of about 250 other jobs.

The new TelAc call center is expected to be operational in late March, pending completion of construction at the site. TelAc Teleservices Group is Access Worldwide’s consumer and business-to-business teleservices division.

Baldacci was joined by Augusta Mayor William Dowling and other officials at an announcement at the plant site.

TelAc President Georges Andre said from company headquarters in Hyattsville, Md., that the decision to choose Maine over three other states for the expansion was based on the availability of a “highly skilled, well-educated and motivated work force.”

Andre also said his company received assistance from the Baldacci administration bringing its operations to Augusta. The Department of Economic and Community Development helped to negotiate a deal for $400,000 in state-of-the-art switching equipment for the company, said its commissioner, Jack Cashman.

While Augusta has been beset by a string of job losses, announcements of recent shopping center expansions hold promise for hundreds of new retail jobs over the next few years.

An expansion at the Marketplace at Augusta that is to begin next fall could add 1,000 new jobs and make it the largest retail complex in Maine.

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On the Net:

Access Worldwide: http://www.accessww.com/home.asp

AP-ES-12-23-03 1539EST