Firm wants to add 600 jobs in 3 years

The national economic scene has not deterred Automatic Data Processing Inc. from wanting to fill its new building to the brim.

Five weeks away from being ready for employees, ADP executives toured its $40 million Solution Center on Flowing Wells Road on Thursday, and confirmed the intent to employ more than 1,000 people there.

ADP already employs 400 people in Augusta and plans to add another 200 employees each year for the next three years, said Steve Penrose, ADP's senior vice president of operations.

"We've elected to put a large part of our growth here," Mr. Penrose said. "In hiring, we're flat around the country and channeling our growth into here and El Paso. We didn't build a building to sit with half of it empty."

Along with Teleperformance and T-Mobile, ADP is part of a 2,000-job surge in Augusta's customer service sector. The New Jersey-based company is one of the largest payroll, human resources and tax-filing processors in the world.

"Given the state of the national economy, what a blessing to Augusta is ADP," Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver said. "When people can drive around and see a 160,000-square-foot building coming up out of the ground, that instills confidence in the local marketplace."

ADP has been using two buildings on Stevens Creek Road as temporary offices until its 160,000-square-foot complex is done, which should be in March. The company will be able to move into half of the building before Thanksgiving.

When the building is done, it will accommodate between 1,100 and 1,200 people. And it was designed with expansion in mind.

"We've already contemplated any potential expansion, so we do have the room, should we need it, to expand by another 400 to 500 people over our initial goal of 1,100," Mr. Penrose said.

That pleased Walter Sprouse, the executive director of the Development Authority of Richmond County.

"Those are strong hints that they're going to move in here and get their new employees, probably go up to 1,100 people. It wouldn't surprise me if it were over 1,200," Mr. Spouse said. "In the future, that means where we're standing will be one of the largest employers in Richmond County."

The temporary center opened in July 2007. Mr. Penrose said the quality of the applicants and the work being done prompted a desire to hire more people and fast track the construction of its permanent home in Augusta.

The project is on schedule, he said, and the first wave of furniture will arrive Saturday.

Approximately 585,000 clients in 31 countries outsource payroll and human resource duties to ADP. Part of its business is assisting car dealers nationwide with bookkeeping operations.

Reach Tim Rausch at (706) 823-3352 or timothy.rausch@augustachronicle.com.