GCS is Ten! (A Brief History)

What were you doing 10 years ago this week? Some folks were working, while others were in college, high school or maybe even grade school. A select few of us were witnessing the creation of GCS.

On July 30th, 2001, GCS legally organized. It would be December before we began making calls, but things were beginning to move. The intent was to start in Mt. Hope, WV and allow additional sites to spiral out from there. GCS chose the Beckley, WV area because of the chance to build a great management team from the talented labor pool. Many people on the newly formed management team at GCS knew each other from an earlier involvement with SOMAR (SOuthern MARketing) a similarly styled contact company run by Greg Alcorn, founder of GCS.

SOMAR had a strong employee management base in Beckley, so when GCS wanted to find the right group to lead the way, it knew where to go.

During GCS’ launch, the company put associates from Summersville, WV, through insurance school to become agents. Meanwhile, it was decided to place the operational headquarters in Mt. Hope, WV. Because of that decision, a dedicated group of individuals commuted daily from Summersville to the Mt. Hope facility. The company promised them it would expand it’s next location to Summersville. GCS made good on its word.

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As GCS began, figuratively and literally, building its foundation, the demand from clients for more services drove the need to open additional centers in new locations. Many of the communities where our sites are located were chosen because they had great labor markets and lots of community support. When clients requested more insurance options, GCS expanded. When clients wanted to serve bilingual customers, GCS responded by opening the Ft. Lauderdale, FL site.  When clients asked for lower-cost, off-shore options for voice and non-voice services, GCS united with Air Relay forming GCS International and giving them a professional presence in the Philippines.

The corporate office even did some moving. It relocated in 2009 from an old manufacturing office on W. Innes Street, into a nicer building in historic downtown Salisbury.

Locations where GCS has grown…

• Oak Hill, WV – December 10, 2001-2002
• Mt. Hope, WV – March 4, 2002
• Summersville, WV – November 21, 2002
• NRV (Pulaski, VA) – January 6, 2004
• Huntington, WV – January 17, 2005
• Saltville – VA – February 9, 2005
• Ft. Lauderdale, FL – January 22, 2006
• Coastal Bend (Kingsville, Texas)
• July 17, 2006-2010
• Odessa, TX – August 13, 2006
• Wheeling, WV – October 13, 2006
• Lancaster, OH – April 4, 2007
• Yuma, AZ-September 27, 2007
• Pittsfield, ME – March 17, 2008
• Eastwood (Eastwood City, Philippines) April 1, 2008

So, where are we growing from a strategic perspective? For some insight, we asked COO Bryan Overcash to offer his thoughts on where GCS is heading to meet the changing needs of our clients and their customers.

“GCS is moving from ‘survival’ mode to ‘success’ mode. We see growth in mobile contacting, BPO services, blending of out-bound and in-bound services, more customer care and third-party marketing. Our employees will need to grow with us to sharpen skills and learn more effective ways to connect with the customer.

“We are excited about all the new areas of opportunity, but we also plan to continue to stick to our mission to enhance the quality of life in the communities where we work and live – just like we did 10 years ago.”

Bryan, why do you think GCS is still going strong at the end of the first 10 years?

“Competitiveness – with that comes determination, persistence and hard work. That’s the reputation of our people. Every person is important to the success of our company.”

We can’t wait to see what the next 10 years has in store for our company, our communities and our people.

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