The joint announcement was made today by Premier Ghiz and Elie Chebli, CEO of Montreal-based IO Solutions Call Centre Inc. The company’s expansion is creating employment in a rural area by utilizing the Bloomfield’s West Prince Industrial Park, a key infrastructure asset in western Prince Edward Island.

“Today’s grand opening of IO Solutions in Bloomfield is a great addition for job growth in the West Prince area and for all of Prince Edward Island,” said Premier Ghiz. “Prince Edward Island is an ideal location for businesses, with our existing excellent infrastructure and access to a highly skilled labour force. We are working to continue to attract high quality companies to expand to PEI, as we focus on supporting the private sector to accelerate our economy and job growth.”

IO Solutions undertook a job fair in July in both Summerside and Bloomfield. The attendance at the Bloomfield job fair exceeded expectations and, currently, the company is seeking to go up to 100 positions within their first year. The skill sets required for these positions are excellent customer service skills, basic computer skills, and good communication skills.

“IO Solutions is proud to be expanding to Prince Edward Island,” said CEO Elie Chebli. “We selected this location because of the quality of people in customer service and their amazing communication skills. Our company is focused on finding ways to make sure our customers have access to information they need as quickly and efficiently as possible. We create a variety of customer self-serve tools including telephone, back office and online support that fits our client’s needs. IO Solutions looks forward to a positive future in Prince Edward Island.”

IO Solutions undertakes work for the telecommunications sector and has approximately 420 employees with 70 employees based in Bloomfield. It is a family owned and operated business, including Mr. Chebli’s brother Jade Chebli, as the company’s vice-president of operations.

The Government of Prince Edward Island, through Innovation PEI, is providing support through the Innovation and Development Labour Rebate program (IDLR). The IDLR provides a rebate equal to eligible salaries and wages. Eligible salaries and wages are paid to PEI residents for incremental, full-time positions.