Cruising.

Byline: The Register-Guard

The Eugene-Springfield area has learned through bitter experience that telephone call centers can be here today and gone tomorrow. For that reason, restraint has tempered the enthusiasm surrounding rumors that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. might open a new customer service center in Lane County. Yet, Thursday's formal announcement of the company's plans to build in Springfield included encouraging evidence that Royal Caribbean is making a long-term commitment - making it the biggest economic development coup of the decade.

For starters, Royal Caribbean plans to build a new headquarters for its Springfield operations. A company wouldn't invest $60 million in construction if it thought it might soon shift its operations to Banga- lore.

The capital investment also lends credibility to Royal Caribbean's claim that its Springfield center may become the company's largest, with 1,000 employees by 2009. The company wouldn't build space for workers it didn't intend to hire. Job growth forecasts are never certain, but the cruise line shows every sign of planning to become a large, permanent presence.

Moreover, the company needs to hire people who can do more than read scripts to callers. Royal Caribbean executives say that cruises aren't bought, they're sold - and 90 percent of them are sold to travel agents who know every angle of the vacation cruise industry. Royal Caribbean will need trained, experienced employees who can answer questions, solve scheduling problems, accommodate special requests and generally make knowledgeable, demanding customers happy.

To attract and retain such a work force, Royal Caribbean offers a better-than-average package of employee benefits - health insurance that includes dental and vision coverage, a pension plan, tuition reim- bursement, life insurance, an employee stock purchase plan and special deals on vacation cruises. A company that regards its workers as disposable or interchangeable gives them a paycheck and not much else. A well-rounded set of benefits is a strong sign of a company that values its employees and hopes to keep them for the long term.

Indeed, it was the availability of a good work force that ultimately tipped the balance in the Eugene-Springfield area's favor. The Springfield site had to meet all the company's basic requirements, and tax and other incentives became a part of the negotiations. But many other communities have attractive building sites, solid telecommunications infrastructure, educational institutions that offer job training and generous inducements to job-creating industries. It was the people that made the difference.

Brian Rice, Royal Caribbean's vice president for revenue performance, said he spent time in Springfield and Eugene visiting restaurants, walking through malls, getting his hair cut, talking to people at bus stations and asking for directions. People were unfailingly helpful and polite. He marveled at drivers' willingness to let other vehicles into a line of traffic, and at a car rental clerk's ability to remember his travel plans.

Rice was looking for people he'd want to hire to represent his company, and he found a lot of them.

A thousand jobs in a clean industry is worth celebrating, particularly after the setbacks experienced by other large employers in recent years. Knowing that a company that could have gone anywhere in the West has chosen to come here is good for confidence right now, and will be good for the regional economy soon. It's especially gratifying to find that Royal Caribbean made its choice not just because of what the Eugene-Springfield area has, but because of who its people are.