SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Despite a fall-off in business as war-wary international clients dwindle, Westcom, a Westmoreland telemarketing company, still has its eyes on expansion.

In three weeks, on April 24, Norman Anderson hopes to open a branch of his call centre facility in Falmouth. Added to his Savanna-la-mar headquarters, Westcom will then have 128 seats where employees work the phones on a two-shift system.

Anderson opened Westcom’s doors in November of 2001, offering a wide range of computer-based services. Now, in addition to the effect on its mostly American clientele, of the war in Iraq, business has also been affected on the local front, as some clients adopted a wait and see attitude as they prepared for the reading of the government’s budget for 2003-2004.

The budget was read Thursday, and Anderson is hoping that business will pick up, despite the ongoing war in the Middle East.

The Falmouth project is an integral part of his efforts to boost business.

Under the project, which will be administered under a subsidiary company called Westcom Exchange and Trade, qualified persons or businesses will be allowed to purchase seats in the stand alone free zone. There they can conduct their own business, with their own clients.

Westcom will initially assist in securing clients for investors who will be required to pay a one-time operational fee ranging from $10,000 to $50,000, depending on the package requested. They will also be expected to absorb some of the operational costs on a monthly basis.

And Anderson has longer term plans to expand to Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth and Lucea in Hanover. This will see his staff doubling to 256.

“Creating opportunity for the young people is my greatest satisfaction,” he explained. “This creates a hope for them and not just a job because what they grasp in this technology will allow them to make a difference in their lives and in the wider society, even after they leave the company.”