COEUR d’ALENE — Credit card customer service provider Alliance Data on Monday officially opened the doors of its Coeur d’Alene center, where it will employ 200 people by the end of the year.

The modern-looking, 44,500-square-foot call center facility is currently occupied by 100 employees, and company plans call for ramping that up to 400 employees by the end of 2015, said Tammy McConnaughey, senior vice president and chief credit risk officer for Alliance Data. Coldwater Creek, the Sandpoint-based clothing retailer, built the facility 745 W. Hanley Ave. but never used it.

Alliance Data Retail Services is based in Columbus, Ohio. It now has seven customer care centers nationwide.

Adding in benefits, incentives and other compensation, employees in Coeur d’Alene will earn $45,000 on average each year, McConnaughey said.

The company manages 135 private label and co-brand credit card programs, McConnaughey said.

The Coeur d’Alene employees will focus on inbound sales and service calls from customers regarding their branded credit cards.

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer, at the ribbon cutting ceremony, said the city is excited to have the infusion of jobs and economic growth.

“I know it’s taken a lot of hard work on Alliance Data’s part to get to today,” Widmyer said.

Alliance Data promises to take an active role in the community, the mayor said.

“We really look forward to our partnership together,” Widmyer said.

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, in a letter to Alliance Data Retail Services President Melisa Miller, thanked the company for choosing Coeur d’Alene and boosting North Idaho’s economy.

“The new Idaho call center not only will provide competitive wages, but also aims to offer benefits and tuition reimbursement for approximately 200 employees,” Otter wrote. “It’s clear that Alliance Data Retail is an ambitious company.”

“This time next year we hope to be 400 strong” in Coeur d’Alene, said Miller.

The company currently has an overall workforce of 5,500, Miller said.

“We have really wanted to locate on the West Coast for a while,” Miller said.

This year, the marketing and loyalty company will generate more than $2 billion in gross revenue, Miller said.

Also at the ribbon cutting, Miller announced that the company is donating $50,000 to the United Way of Kootenai County to support a Ready for Kindergarten program.

“We did our research and really tried to understand where our dollars could have greatest impact,” Miller said.

Mark Tucker, executive director of the United Way of Kootenai County, said more than half of students entering kindergarten are not ready.

He said the donation will allow the United Way of Kootenai County to start a full Ready for Kindergarten program that will serve three communities in the county. More than 150 families will be able to go through the program at no cost.

The program will start in the fall and continue through the spring.

Want a job at Alliance Data? The company has jobs listed on its website: www.alliancedata.com/pages/careers/.