(Pictured: Jonas Dahlberg - Transcom CEO)

A Swedish-based company is considering Greenville County for a new call-center operation that ultimately could employ 500 people and offer entry-level salaries of $14.50 to $16 an hour.

Transcom officials said Greenville is among at least three finalists and the company plans to make its location decision by the first week of November.

The officials wouldn’t disclosed the other finalists, but said they started with 125 U.S. cities under consideration.

The project would involve a $5 million capital investment. Leadership and management positions would pay $50,000 and higher, the officials said.

Greenville has “a really positive environment“ and “probably most important a workforce that we’re confident we can sustain for many years,” said Donald B. Berryman, Transcom’s EVP - chief commercial officer, North America.

“We’re not looking to come in and build a call center and hire people and then go away.”

The facility would be the company’s U.S. operational hub, he said.

The company still must work out economic development details for locating in South Carolina, Berryman said. The county has offered training incentives, he said.

“Greenville’s pretty-well equipped to bring business in and really encouraging and accommodating for bringing in new businesses. We found that to be a real plus,” Berryman said.

According to its website and Transcom officials, the company has 30,000 employees at 50 contact centers and a large network of home agents, across 23 countries, delivering services in 33 languages to international brands in various industries.

Transcom is a privately owned company. Altor Fund IV is the majority owner.

In a second quarter report for 2021, Jonas Dahlberg, president and CEO, said Transcom continues to grow strongly, with 11 percent organic growth in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year.

He said the growth is primarily driven by continued positive development in the eCommerce and tech sector, growing 32 percent and amounting to 42 percent of total revenue in the quarter.