California company moving call center to El Paso due to minimum wage hike

A San Diego-based consulting and polling company is moving its call center to El Paso as a way to save money.

California voted to raise its minimum wage to $15 by 2022, and that’s why Competitive Edge and Research is bringing approximately 100 jobs to El Paso.

CEO John Nienstedt tells ABC-7 El Paso offers lower business costs, and that California’s raising wage floor was the main cause of the move.

“The sort of work that we do does not work well with the regulations that California and San Diego wants to impose,” Nienstedts said. “Texas is going to be much more hospitable for us. California’s loss is Texas’ gain.”

Competitve Edge employees currently make $11 an hour. Nienstedt said that employees that choose to move from San Diego to El Paso will still make $11. That may not be the case for new employees.

“It’s undetermined as to what our pay scale will be when we get to El Paso, and open up shop there,” Nienstedt said. “I guarantee you all the jobs will be competitively priced and compensated.We’re really looking forward to establishing ourselves there.”

Tom Fullerton, an economics professor at UTEP, said there is potential for these sorts of business moves to become a trend.

“El Paso has a lot of upward potential and as red tape, and as minimum wage legislation gets enacted elsewhere, a lot of companies are going to look at El Paso as a potential relocation site,” Fullerton said.

Competitive Edge will open its doors on February 1 at 6440 Escondido Dr.