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The old PRC building in Palatka. -
Positively Putnam FL
The vacant building in Palatka that once housed a call center employing hundreds at a time will be the site of another call center slated to open by March.
Seek Medicare, which will be located at 7220 PRC Way in Palatka, is a national call center service with licensed Medicare agents assisting callers with finding a Medicare plan and navigating.
Tammy Poole, Seek Medicare’s vice president of customer experience, is originally from Florahome. She said she was given the opportunity to select the location for the call center and is familiar with the sense of pride and loyalty in the community.
“I’ve been a local resident for several years and it made sense for me to be close to home,” Poole said. “Nevertheless, I spent several weeks looking around Northeast Florida, and after two weeks of searching online and driving around endlessly, I ended up back where I started — Putnam County.”
She said Seek Medicare’s goal is to open the building March 1, have 20 employees on board by April 1 and have about 40 employees by Sept. 1. Some positions may be remote, Poole said.
The initial lease is for 4,000 square feet of the 42,946-square-foot facility, Poole said. Prior to Seek Medicare making plans to move into the building, the city of Palatka discussed using it as City Hall or its public works building. The previous tenant, Alorica, closed down operations in 2012.
“Our goal is to grow into more and more of the building space as time goes on. Externally, we are working to clean up the area, do some landscaping and update signage and lighting,” Poole said. “On the interior, you will find fresh paint, blinds, some new flooring and lighting fixtures, a new training area and, of course, an updated security system.”
Putnam County Chamber of Commerce Chairman Wayne McClain said he hopes the call center will unlock and open more of the Putnam County Business Park, where the call center is located.
“We’re excited the new call center is coming in,” McClain said. “(Poole) has roots in Putnam County. It’s going to open up jobs in Putnam County.”
Chamber President Dana Jones said she was eager to work with Poole and said building owner Premier Development Partners will be happy to have a tenant at the site.
“This is a start. They do have some remote workers due to the pandemic and are taking a portion of the building to lease that space,” Jones said. “Hopefully, they will grow into it and we’ll have a call center once again.”
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