Stellar Recovery Inc., a debt collection agency that has tripled its top-line revenue over the past year, is moving its corporate headquarters from Kalispell to Jacksonville, Fla., but will continue to expand the Kalispell call center.

Company president John Schanck said he expects to grow the Kalispell work force from 75 to more than 100 employees in 2012.

"I have a lot invested here and the people we hire is what will help us grow," he said.

In addition to call-center work, the Kalispell facility handles much of the company's back-office processes and accounting, Schanck said. The building at Ashley Square, owned by Stellar's sister company, Pentanna, has another 5,000 square feet for expansion.

Schanck spent $600,000 to upgrade the building and $100,000 to pave a back parking lot for employees. Future plans include remodeling the exterior front of the building and repaving a front parking lot.

He had hoped to tap into the city of Kalispell's tax-increment revenue for a low-interest loan, but said he was unable to put a deal together with the city.

Kalispell City Attorney Charles Harball said the city's Urban Renewal Agency considered Schanck's request but ultimately recommended that he pursue other low-interest financing options available through the city.

"They weren't told ‘No, go away and don't come back,'" Harball said. "They had good ideas and like any investor, they were going to see" what options were available to them.

Stellar Recovery already has ramped up to 75 employees at its Jacksonville facility that opened a year ago, and has moved its top executives to Jacksonville, Schanck said. The company also has moved its information technology department to Jacksonville.

Schanck, 56, cited Jacksonville's business-friendly environment, larger job applicant pool - particularly for top-echelon executives - and significantly lower costs for Internet connections as key reasons for establishing a facility in Florida.

"It was an easy decision to make," he said. "I know the people I need to hire, and we're hiring some legends in the industry. I let people drive the initiatives. I don't micromanage, and that allows them to write their own check at the end of the day."

Schanck has hired an experienced operations manager for the Kalispell call center who is scheduled to arrive here from Georgia in mid-January.

While employees at the Kalispell call center make an average of roughly $25,000 a year plus benefits, some workers who started with no experience now make upwards of $80,000 a year, Schanck said. Wages range from $10 to $15 an hour with a bonus system that allows employees to earn anywhere from $100 to $5,000 a month extra, depending on performance.

"There have been five internal promotions in Kalispell," he said. "We pride ourselves in promoting from within and [offering] career path guidance."

Stellar Recovery uses cloud computing technology - the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage and process data - to handle a current load of three million accounts nationwide.

"We purchased $1 billion of delinquent assets this year," Schanck said, explaining that his funding comes from Wall Street hedge funds.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, enacted last year to create new financial regulatory processes to enforce transparency and accountability of financial institutions, has been a challenge for the debt collection industry that has increased not only regulations but also costs, Schanck said.

And it's a mistake to think that collection agencies do better during a recession, he said. Customers who were making average payments of $250 a month now may be able to afford only $100 monthly payments.

"It squeezes the margins," he said. "So you have to be frugal and innovative."

Third-party debt-collection agencies such as Stellar Recovery collect on past-due accounts and payment installment plans issued by a number of entities such as credit card companies, hospitals, retail stores and car dealers.

Even with the lingering challenges caused by the national recession, Schanck projects Stellar Recovery's growth to double in 2012.

With 35 years in the debt-collection business, Schanck said he has proven himself as a leader in the industry.

In 2009 he and CEO Bob Peterson bought out ARS Recovery Service, a company Peterson has started in Kalispell in 1999. The name was changed to Stellar Recovery.

Schanck co-founded Accelerated Bureau of Collections in Denver in 1985 and grew the company from two to 750 employees by 1996. He sold that company and three years later founded Enhanced Recovery Corp.

Between 1999 and 2009,Enhanced Recovery "experienced enormous success" purchasing buildings and staffing employees in Jacksonville and Orange Park, Fla., and Waycross, Ga. When Schanck exited that company to spend more time with family while his wife was undergoing cancer treatment, the company had grown to 650 employees.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.