PARKERSBURG - Creating jobs within the United States and investing in West Virginia were two important reasons for Suddenlink to construct a new customer care center in Parkersburg.

The $3.5 million facility had its official opening Tuesday at 980 Altman Drive with local governmental officials, area business leaders and others attending.

Operations switched over to the new center last weekend.

''It has been quite a project,'' said Jerry Kent, Suddenlink chairman and CEO. ''West Virginia is an important place for Suddenlink.

''Around 800 employees, 17 percent of our workforce, live and work here.''

When Suddenlink took over operations from Charter Communications in July 2006, it had 616 employees statewide, Kent said. By September of this year, it had added 149 new jobs, a 4 percent increase, he said, adding in January 2009, it expects to add another 49 jobs.

The center will be taking calls from a five-state area and handle anything from installation to changes in service as well as other business concerns, said Michael Lelemen, Suddenlink's director of government relations.

''We had an existing call center here and it just made sense for us to build this facility here because of the quality of the workforce here,'' he said.

The customer care center is one of five facilities Suddenlink owns and operates within the United States, Kent said. This facility provides employees with 18,000-square-feet of workspace and state-of-the-art communications technology.

''Fully staffed, this facility will house more than 220 of our West Virginia employees,'' Kent said. ''That number more than doubles the capacity of our old facility on Seventh Street in Parkersburg.''

Suddenlink provides television, Internet and phone service to around 180,000 residential customers and 9,000 businesses in the state

''For those reasons and others, we have made a major commitment to West Virginia,'' Kent said. ''We plan to invest more than $100 million here through 2011.

''Of that amount, $35 million will be invested this year alone.''

''For 2009, look for further (Internet) speed increases next year,'' Kent said. ''They are coming.''

West Virginia Secretary of Commerce Kelley Goes said good communications systems, especially broadband services, are a part of the infrastructure the state is building to better serve its people and to attract new economic development to the state.

''With that the state will continue to grow and diversify,'' she said. ''It is important we have someone here like Suddenlink. These kind of services can help provide education, jobs, health care and opportunities for our citizens to work for any company in the world from home.''

Suddenlink officials commended the Wood County Commission for their work in helping them to decide to invest in Wood County and West Virginia.

Wood County Commissioner Blair Couch commended the company for staying in the United States when other companies have moved operations overseas.