LEWISTON, Maine - A global tech support company based in India has announced that it's linking up with a Lewiston-based marketing and call center. iYogi today says that it will partner with Argo Marketing to set up its first service center in North America. The venture is expected to create 300 jobs over the next year.
iYogi started eight years ago remotely fixing computers from its base in India. Since then it's expanded as a subscription-based, on-demand technical support service around the world.
More than three million customers rely on iYogi for installation, diagnostics, repair and security. Six months ago the company began a search for a suitable partner in the United States.
Company co-founder Vishal Dhar says Maine was appealing for several reasons, including its quality workforce and support for training from the governor's office.
"And finally, actually, in Argo and Jason, to find the same sort of spirit entrepreneurship that you could actually build, take it to a proof of concept, that gives us the confidence to say we will deploy 300 more people."
Dhar says North America is iYogi's largest market and the needs of its customers are evolving rapidly. Being in the U.S. puts it closer to those customers.
And the company plans to pilot several new initiatives, including a platform to harness the work-at-home community. Argo Marketing which is based in downtown Lewiston, also has offices in Pittsfield and South Portland.
"This is just one more example, and I think a very public example, of what we can do here in this state with the right labor, the right workforce management, the right drive and dedication," says Argo Marketing's CEO Jason Levesque. "We can do pretty much anything and we can compete, not only in this country, but internationally."
Levesque says jobs in marketing, sales and IT support will pay between $27,000 and $44,000 a year ,based on tenure, level of experience and type of job performed. And it is possible for applicants to be trained on the job, as well as to advance rapidly.
"You look at these 24 folks here and a year from now they're going to be some of the senior management on the floor, managing 300 plus people," he says. "So yeah, there's a lot of room for upward mobility."
Last year, half-a-dozen former employees of Argo filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that the company violated state and federal labor laws by not paying them overtime. Levesque describes them as a few disgruntled employees out of a company of 500. He says the company regularly pays overtime each week and will continue to do so.
Argo will hold a job fair for interested applicants on Monday at the Lewiston Career Center.
