Afni Inc., the Illinois-based customer contact company that has had a presence at 2625 Scottsville Road in Bowling Green since 2000, is continuing to grow locally.

The Bowling Green Afni office now has 230 employees and announced plans this week to expand the call center and add 86 more jobs. According to a news release, the company – which provides customer phone support for a number of large retailers and other clients – is expanding to meet the needs of a new client.

“We’re thrilled to partner with one of the nation’s largest food and retail companies to offer new, exciting jobs in the Bowling Green community,” said Cindy Blackburn, Afni’s vice president of global human resources.

The company plans to invest $315,800 in the call center, modifying the building and installing new equipment in order to meet the needs of its new client. It is the second expansion at the Scottsville Road facility since its opening.

Founded as a receivables management company in 1936, Afni has added multi-channel customer contact services for clients in telecommunications, satellite/cable, health care, insurance and retail. Afni has some 6,000 employees across six U.S. locations, two facilities in the Philippines and a team of home-based agents.

Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon welcomed the announcement, saying Afni provides valuable services.

“Afni provides a great service for businesses all over the world,” said Buchanon. “Their agents are literally the initial point of contact when customers are experiencing issues. Being able to help people in their time of need is of great value in building lifelong customer relationships for generations for any business.”

To help fill the positions needed for the new client, Afni will have a hiring open house in Greenwood Mall from noon to 7 p.m. Monday and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

“We’ll make job offers on the spot,” said Blackburn.

Blackburn said the jobs will pay $12 to $12.50 per hour and will include incentives that can boost that pay.

Those unable to attend the hiring open house can visit the company’s website at afnicareers.com to learn more about the jobs and apply online.

To encourage Afni’s expansion, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority approved the company for tax incentives up to $300,000 through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the agreement term through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.