Chime Solutions, which provides customer service for corporate clients, is expanding its Charlotte operations and adding 250 jobs at its call center in the University City area.
Plans call for the minority-owned, family-operated business to hire life and health insurance agents who will receive eight weeks of free, pre-licensing training through Central Piedmont Community College to prepare for the insurance agent exam. Chime, which is based in an Atlanta suburb, will pay for the test.
The job announcement comes as the state works to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and Mecklenburg County faces a 13% unemployment rate.
“These new jobs, along with the upskilling that will be provided to employees is a testament of our commitment to supporting the diverse workforce that we’re proud to have here in Charlotte,” Mayor Vi Lyles said at the announcement Tuesday.
New hires will work from home and earn starting wages of $16 per hour. Chime didn’t disclose which of its clients the Charlotte employees will provide life and health insurance consultation and support services for.
Chime marks the first recipient of Charlotte’s Opportunity Hiring Grant, which incentivizes hiring from the city’s workforce development partners, such as the Urban League of the Central Carolinas or Goodwill’s Opportunity Campus. The aim is to improve economic mobility among typically underserved parts of the community. Through the program, Chime is eligible for up to $125,000 if it meets hiring targets for full-time employees from local workforce development organizations.
“This partnership and the jobs that we’re bringing to Charlotte fit perfectly with the city’s upward mobility goals and gives us access to a very talented workforce,” Chime CEO Mark Wilson says.
Last year, Chime opened a 75,000-square-foot call center at University City’s Innovation Park and pledged to hire 400 employees with plans to grow the workforce to 1,000 by the end of 2020. The company did not receive any state or local incentives at the time.
Chime was formed in 2011 by Wilson and his wife, Kelly, operating a call center at an abandoned JCPenney store in Clayton County, Georgia.
