MCKEESPORT, Pa.,None — Satellite TV provider Dish Network is closing its customer service call center in McKeesport, idling 600 workers.
Dish Network said the center will close at the end of business Friday.
The Englewood, Colo.-based company has said the McKeesport site doesn't meet the company's "business needs." Dish Network said it isn't closing any other call centers in the country.
Employees had mixed emotions.
"I'm a little excited," said Danielle Hill, who worked in customer service for two years. "I love my job and what I did, but it's time to move on."
"Everyone was family oriented in there," Kathi Sanford said. "We got along. I'm going to miss it."
Dish Network announced the closure last November, saying the facility was too large for its needs.
The call center opened in 1998 and was a major employer in this city of about 20,000 that housed United States Steel Corp.'s National Tube Works until 1987. At its peak, the tube plant employed about 8,000 people.
Leaders in McKeesport said they hope to find a new company to move into the building.
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