Hundreds of job-seekers lined the halls of the TriPointe building in Evans this morning hoping to land a position with Afni Inc., which plans a 500-person call center.

The company plans to hire 250 jobs initially, then another 250 by February.

Almost 250 people lined up within the first 40 minutes of today's job fair, which will run until 7 p.m. at TriPointe, 3001 8th Ave.

“This by far exceeds our expectations,” Dave Usrey, Afni's human resources director, said of the job fair turnout.

By comparison, about 500 people turned out at an all-day job fair for a recently opened Afni call center in Florida, Usrey said.

Most of the positions at the Evans facility are entry-level call representatives, starting at $9.50 an hour with incentive opportunities. Afni will also hire at least 25 front-line supervisors as well as positions in human resources, information technology, operations, instructors and quality control. The front-line positions will start, depending on experience, in the low $30,000 range, Usrey said.

Among the job seekers in line for management positions was Bob Boswell, Republican candidate for House District 50 in the state Legislature. Boswell has been unemployed since the restaurant he owned, Western Sizzlin', closed eight months ago after more than 20 years as an Evans institution.

“It's a godsend,” he said of call centers arrival. “It ought to lay to rest, too, some of the comments made about people who are on unemployment. The vast majority of people on unemployment weren't looking to get on unemployment. Obviously, there are hundreds of us out here that are doing our damndest to get off of it.”