Published: San Antonio Express-News
By: Valentino Lucio
Date: December 17, 2010

Brooks City-Base is expecting a new tenant next month, and it's expected to bring 600 jobs to the Alamo City.

Along with Brooks Development Authority and the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, VMC, a technology consulting and outsourcing firm, announced Thursday that it expects to open a technical support and customer care center the first week of January.

“About a year ago, we started studying different markets,” said Kristin Carrico, chief operating officer for VMC. “We whittled the list down from about 100 locations and when we looked at the demographics, the talent pool and the availability of IT professionals, San Antonio was our choice.”

The company, which is based in Washington state, is looking to hire support personnel, quality assurance agents and supervisors. The company plans to hire all personnel locally, at a rate of about 100 people a month until the positions are filled.

“There will be some oversight from other locations, but we will be hiring everyone from that San Antonio market,” Carrico said.

The site at Brooks City-Base includes a 35,000-square-foot space that is newly furnished with an expanded cafeteria. There will be about 700,000 square feet of space available after the Air Force leaves Brooks City-Base next September.

Don Jakeway, president and CEO of Brooks City-Base, said VMC is a welcome addition.

“This is a real shot of adrenaline to the economic development effort of the South Side,” he said. “This is a real momentum builder for us and the community.”

Development in that area has grown in recent years with the addition of shopping centers near the former Air Force base.

“VMC is an excellent addition to Brooks City-Base, driving growth and opportunity to San Antonio's Southeast Side,” Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson said. “We are confident VMC will find the work force they need quickly and look forward to seeing them fully operational soon.”

VMC has several other locations, including offices in Canada, Europe and Asia. This will be VMC's first venture in Texas. VMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volt Information Sciences Inc., a technology consulting and database services firm in business for about 60 years.