Alta lands hundreds of job seekers

When Alta Resources held a career fair in Fort Myers for 400 jobs last month, company executives suspected they'd get a crowd.

Alta Resources is a fast-growing Wisconsin-based company that provides phone and message services for clients in health care, insurance, packaged goods and entertainment. The company employs 3,000.

Indeed, about 1,800 people applied in person and online for health-insurance customer service and sales at the new Fort Myers facility in the Gateway area near Interstate 75. Chairman, CEO and majority shareholder Jim Bere, who owns a home in Naples, says the large number of college graduates in the Fort Myers area made it an attractive location to expand Alta.

Colleges and universities include Florida Gulf Coast University, Edison State College, Hodges University and other privately held institutions.