Avant LLC hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, Nov. 8, 2019. Avant recently relocated its call center operations to Commerce Park in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)
Avant LLC recently announced that the company has completed the relocation of its call center operations from nearby Louisville to Commerce Park in Oak Ridge.
This completes a year-long series of planning discussions that started in the fall of 2018, a press release said. The financial services company currently employs 200 people in the region. Site director Steve Massey expects that number to grow to between 350 and 400 in 2020.
“Our move has been very successful so far, and we are looking forward to growing with Oak Ridge into a bright future here,” Massey said.
“It’s exciting to see a company that is growing and already has plans to increase employment levels come into the City of Oak Ridge,” said Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson.
Avant.com is an online lending platform and leading provider of credit alternatives to middle-income consumers, the press release said. The company also offers its technology solutions to bank and non-bank partners via its Powered By Avant product to “provide an innovative digital lending experience to its customers.”
“We are happy to have a company of this caliber locate in Oak Ridge, and we look forward to having them as a part of the business community,” Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch said.
Steve Jones, an economic development consultant for the City of Oak Ridge, said the relocation is a significant investment in Oak Ridge.
“It’s good news for the work force in the area,” Jones said.
Mark Harvey, vice president of operations and development for the Cowperwood Company, said the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Development Center at Roane State Community College provided invaluable help.
“Together, they were able to give us key, detailed demographic information which allowed us to provide Avant with the data the company needed to make the decision to locate in Oak Ridge,” Harvey said.
“We were pleased to play a role in this and are very appreciative of Avant’s confidence in our city and in our workforce,” said Parker Hardy, president and chief executive officer of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.
Note: This news story was submitted by Kathy Gillenwaters of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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