Ace Hardware opening customer care center at Fort Myers' Page Field

Ace Hardware Corp. said today it soon will open a customer care center at 4700 Terminal Drive, at Fort Myers' Page Field general aviation airport.

The center will employ 110 people in new jobs when fully staffed, Ace said.

Its lease with Lee County Port Authority fills a longtime vacancy at the former passenger terminal that served major airlines before Southwest Florida International opened in 1983.

“We are confident their new office location on airport land, minutes away from downtown Fort Myers and the growing U.S. 41 corridor, will be great match for their team,” said Jeff Mulder, port authority executive director.

McGarvey Construction Co. is the general contractor for the build-out of the 10,000-square-foot space. That task should be completed by the end of August.

Recruitment for care center staff is underway. Employment opportunities can be found at acehardware.com.

CareerSource Southwest Florida will assist with the recruitment and pre-screening of applicants over the next several months, said Joseph Paterno, executive director, Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board.

This will include hiring events, Paterno said. Prospective applicants are encouraged to register at employflorida.com.

According to Ace:

The new care center is part of a strategic, three-year plan to grow and transform the co-op’s Customer Care division.

The staff will help bridge information gaps for customers of Ace Hardware retail stores and acehardware.com e-commerce customers via phone, email and social media.

People hired for the Fort Myers office will have access to benefits including competitive wages, paid vacation, retirement savings, health and life insurance, and birth/adoption paid time off for new parents.

A spokeswoman for Ace said the company doesn't publish wages, but added that hourly starting wages for the Fort Myers facility will be significantly above Florida minimum wage.

Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics list a $22,825-to-$36,263 annual pay range for customer service workers in Lee County.

If they work a 40-hour week, that translates to $10.97 to $17.43 an hour. Florida's minimum wage is $8.10 an hour.

Company leaders chose Fort Myers after a search that covered more than 900 metropolitan areas.

Ace Hardware has been known as the place with the “helpful hardware folks” for more than 90 years.

In 2017, J.D. Power ranked Ace highest in customer satisfaction among home improvement retail stores for the 11th consecutive year.

The company is the biggest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the the world, with more than 5,000 hardware stores locally owned and operated.

Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, Ace and its subsidiaries operate an extensive network of distribution centers in the United States, and also have distribution capabilities in Ningbo, China; Colon, Panama; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Its retailers' stores are located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and approximately 55 countries.

For more information on Ace, visit acehardware.com.

Ace will fill last vacancy in former terminal 

When Southwest Florida International opened for business in 1983, the commercial airline passenger terminal on the northeast portion of Page Field  in Fort Myers was left vacant.

It stayed that way until roughly 15 years later, when Lee County Port Authority began transforming the structure for office suites to rent out.

Today, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state Bureau of Insurance Fraud and the state Fire Marshal Division are longtime tenants of the building at 4700 Terminal Drive, just off North Airport Road.

And, when Ace Hardware Corp. opens its Customer Care Center in Suite 6, the former building will be leased-up, said Victoria Moreland, port authority spokeswoman.

The lease with Ace Hardware Corp. is for seven and a half years, with two options for five-year extensions.

Ace initially will pay $4,892.20 in monthly rent, starting Jan. 1 or as soon as an occupancy certificate is issued.

Twenty-four months later, the rent will increase to $9,204.39.