Same Place, Different World

Frost-Arnett, based in Nashville, operates out of a former strip mall. Frost-Arnett employees call people and ask them to pay their overdue phone bills or medical bills. The 107-year-old company uses plenty of information-age technology, but it uses a distinctly old-fashioned strategy that is particularly well-suited to Campbellsville: Its collectors are polite, even gracious. The company was looking to expand and to branch out from large metropolitan areas. A commercial real-estate broker suggested Campbellsville, and a quick road trip in early 1999 impressed company executives.

"We noticed how clean the town was," said Ralph Bliss, 64, senior vice president for operations. "Everybody had nothing but good things to say about the community. That's something that doesn't show up in statistics."

Frost-Arnett held a job fair in April 1999 in order to take applications. "I thought we might get 100 people," says Bliss. "By the time we got set up at 8:30 AM, they were lined up out the door. We saw 1,200 people that day. We had 12 applicants for every workstation that we expected to have." Frost-Arnett now has 96 workstations in the same shopping center as the unemployment-services office.

The rent, says Bliss, is one-third of what it would be in Houston or in Atlanta. The wages in a big city "would be double, and there would be fewer quality workers." And attendance? "Our average at most locations is 80%," says Bliss. "Here, it's 96%."

Jane Bryan, a vivacious 53-year-old woman with a large head of poofy blond hair, is a Campbellsville immigrant, dragged to town from St. Petersburg, Florida after her husband fell in love with Campbellsville during a business trip. The Bryans gave up a substantial income, a three-level house, a swimming pool, and the pleasures of a big city to settle in Campbellsville. After years of listening to his wife grumble, Bill Bryan suggested she start counting her blessings. "I told him instead that I was going to pray for parole," she says. "Parole from Campbellsville."

Bill Bryan eventually convinced his wife to start a travel agency, which took years to find footing in Campbellsville. But Bill Bryan -- a former yellow-pages salesman -- hit on the idea of advertising for business with a toll-free number in the yellow pages of small towns across the country. Jane Bryan's travel agency started to flourish, so much so that the couple decided to start a travel-agent school, with an aim to create a full-fledged national-reservations center that would handle calls for American Airlines and other companies.

Their timing was pure coincidence. But 41 of the 43 people that they enrolled were laid-off workers from the Fruit of the Loom plant and were using state money as tuition. "That first class at the travel academy -- they reminded me of hurricane victims," says Jane Bryan.

All 43 students graduated -- at a ceremony in May 1999 that drew 400 people to a Baptist church. The Bryans had decided to employ all of them, and 40 of the students wanted a job. Over a single weekend, the size of the staff at Jane Bryan's National Reservation Center jumped from 5 to 45 -- with a payroll of $12,000 a week.

That's when Bill Bryan called Rosenbluth International to see if he could wangle some business. He was stunned to get straight through to Kathy Veit, VP of operations, and their discussion started a series of conversations that led within months to the Bryans selling their nascent travel center to Rosenbluth. Rosenbluth then turned the center into its sixth global IntelliCenter, handling travel arrangements for employees of two large corporations, as well as overflow reservations calls for an airline. The center has 80 agents, and expects to employ 200 in the next two years.

Jane Bryan has stayed on as the center's "leader in learning," and her heart has opened to Campbellsville. "When Rosenbluth agreed to buy us, I told the people working for us, 'You were never sold. You were acquired. They wanted you.' I thank Fruit of the Loom -- because it brought all these good people into my life, people I never would have experienced otherwise."

Voices (IV): "There Is a Lot I've Still Got to Learn"

Rosa Griffin, 51: "I went to the Amazon open house. Over 3,000 people applied. I had this feeling. I'd been praying, asking God to help me find a job. I was interviewed on the TV news that day. I said I was so glad that Amazon had come to rescue Campbellsville. I didn't know what the company did, but I really didn't care."

Bertha Marr: "I heard all the people talking about Amazon. So I put an application in. I didn't hear anything, and I said, I've wasted my time. Then I was called to come in for an interview. When they called, I asked if it was a joke. I didn't really believe they would call me. It wasn't bad, the interview. I had never been to any interviews before. I told the people I talked to that I believe in doing quality work. They asked what I meant by that. I said, I believe in doing it like I would want it done if I were buying it. They asked me about missing work. I told them that in my 30 years at Fruit of the Loom, I had never been tardy once. The man couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it."