Southern Nevada vies for help from collections

Tulsa, Oklahoma-based debt collection agency CFS II is looking to expand its operations outside of the state despite recently cutting its employee base, Tulsa World reports. The agency, according to VEGAS INC., deals in the acquisition of charged-off credit-card debt at discounted rates from banks and lending institutions, and renegotiates payments under new terms with borrowers. It recently reduced its staff from 220 people to 185, but is still in growth mode according to president and CEO Bill Bartmann. "We have cut employees for production reasons," Bartmann told Tulsa World. "With the end of the year we had a performance review - that is normal and natural, and that is part of any production based-environment. We are not doing a layoff or cutting back for any reason other than performance." Nevada is currently competing against North Carolina and Illinois to become CFS II's new home, a move that could eventually provide 2,000 call center jobs, VEGAS INC. notes. The state's Commission on Economic Development recently offered Bartmann an incentive package of $538,106 in sales and business tax abatements to sweeten the deal. A decision will be made by March, with the facility expected to be fully operational by the second quarter.