The Iowa Department of Human Services announced last week that a call center serving its Child Support Recovery Unit will move from Des Moines to Marshalltown.

But the 50 or so employees of the call center will likely be handed an incentive that will encourage them to stay with the call center, even if that means driving from Des Moines to Marshalltown every day.

Maximus Inc., a Reston, Va.-based government services company, has operated the call center for the past six years under contract. Following a bidding procedure, the company recently won an estimated $2 million contract from the state to move its operations to Marshalltown.

DHS spokesman Roger Munns said Maximus wants to retain as many call center workers as possible in the move and plans to offer employees a gas card to pay for commuting costs. The company will consider providing a shuttle service between Des Moines and Marshalltown if there is enough interest.

“Everyone knows it’s likely that some, maybe half, will decide to seek opportunities elsewhere,” Munns said.

The Child Support Recovery Unit call center fields about 1,800 calls a day from custodial and non-custodial parents who have questions about payments, income withholding and related topics. The unit collects more than $300 million a year from non-custodial parents, with most of it going to custodial parents and the remainder reimbursing government for welfare costs.

Kevin Concannon, director of the DHS, said the department began to look for alternative locations in the hopes of saving money and reducing turnover, which Munns said has been about 15 percent in the past.

“It’s mostly a performance improvement to improve turnover as opposed to cost savings,” said Munns, adding that reduced turnover leads to a more stable, more productive workforce.

There are many opportunities in Greater Des Moines for people with call center experience, which has contributed to a great deal of turnover in the recovery unit’s call center, he said.

“Once people are trained, they become very efficient and are prized employees and are valuable to others as well,” Munns said. “So they seek out those opportunities.”

The DHS asked the Iowa Department of Economic Development to submit a list of cities that might be interested in becoming home to the Child Support Recovery Unit call center.

The Marshalltown call center will occupy 10,000 square feet on the fourth floor of a downtown office building and should be operational by July. Wages will range from $10 to $14 an hour for the 50 to 60 employees.

“This is a big win for downtown Marshalltown,” said Joel Akason, executive director of the Marshalltown Economic Development Impact Committee. Some Marshalltown businesses have completed expansions in recent years, but there have been no additions to this extent.

Marshalltown did not offer financial incentives to attract the call center, Akason said, but the city plans to pursue job training initiatives it will present to Maximus. Job training programs, which will be developed in cooperation with Marshalltown Community College, would encompass job skills specific to the call center, such as computer and customer service skills.

Concannon expects about half of the current call center staff will choose to commute to Marshalltown and some may move there.