National debt boosts expansion at collection agency

First National Collection Bureau Inc.

breaks ground on a 26,000-square-foot office building this week on a five-acre site just south of Interstate 80 at Patrick, says David Imburgia, CEO and chairman.

Target completion is September.

"We're expanding like crazy," says Imburgia.

First National Collection Bureau will employ 500 collectors of accounts receivable at the new location.

It now employs 96 in Reno at a Warren Way office and 75 at a Rock Boulevard office, says Bradley Jardan, president.

Over the past several years, the company closed offices in Phoenix,Honolulu and San Ramon, Calif.

to consolidate in Reno.

"It got so expensive and ridiculous in California," says Jardan."With the growth of northern Nevada, we have an exceptional labor market."

The company has now outgrown its Reno location."Four years back,we thought it would last," says Jardan.

The new space will have 442 workstations designed by Machabee Office Environments, plus administrative support staff.

"We've already started hiring," says Imburgia.

The location was chosen to facilitate hiring." We're hoping to draw from Carson City, Fallon and Fernley," says Imburgia.

Licensed nationwide, the company collects for big banks issuing credit cards.

Citibank provides 70 percent of its business,with Chase Manhattan and smaller banks making up the rest.

"Americans live on credit," says Jardan.

"They spend today and pay tomorrow."

"We're not just recycling money locally," says Jardan, unlike local collectors that work primarily for doctors and hospitals."We bring money nationally into northern Nevada."

In 2004, he projects First National Collection Bureau will net $13.6 million after client payout.

The firm keeps half of what it successfully collects.

The debt collection business is a growth industry nationwide.

First National Collection Bureau enjoyed a 34 percent growth rate over the past two years, and a 36 percent growth rate this year, says Jardan.

Collections are especially good this time of year,when people are getting their tax refunds.

The average tax refund is about $1,300 and the average debt amount is about $1,000."Our clients let us settle on their behalf for about half the amount owed," he says.

The new building was designed by Michelle Ney, an architect with builder Devcon Construction.