CharlotteObserver.com:
Cabarrus County leaders praised a telecommunications direct-sales company for bringing several hundred jobs to the region at its grand opening celebration Thursday.
Concord Mayor Scott Padgett and ACN Inc. representatives said they view the company as a “silver lining†amid the tough economic conditions, though both the company and the incentives used to bring it to Charlotte have opposition.
Founded in 1993, ACN moved its headquarters from Michigan to Concord in December. It sells landline phones with video screens, wireless phones, local and long-distance phone services, Internet services, home security systems and satellite television.
People pay fees to become field representatives. They earn money based on how many items they sell and how many other people they sign up with the company.
ACN says it’s a way for people to make money on their own when many businesses are laying off employees. Critics have questioned some of ACN’s business tactics. Michigan’s attorney general investigated complaints against the company in the early 1990s. ACN President Greg Provenzano said the company’s lawyers ensure that its operations are legal.
About 25,000 field representatives are expected to visit Charlotte this weekend for training seminars. Donald Trump, a New York developer and host of television’s “The Apprentice,†is scheduled to speak to the group Sunday morning.
Logo from ACN