O2 plans European Village opening

Palm Coast Observer
News

O2 Secure Wireless still plans to hire 40.

O2 Secure Wireless Inc., the internet, TV and phone company which announced in May that it would hire 40 Palm Coast employees, made a deal Oct. 6 to open a retail location in European Village.

The site, which will serve as the company’s national corporate headquarters, was selected in accordance with what O2 CEO Val Kazia calls an “aggressive territory-development strategy,” and will allow for anticipated growth in the complex.

Although the company’s expected date of Sept. 1 to fill 40 positions has passed, Kazia holds fast to that employment figure. His expectation to double the number of jobs to 80 after a year of operation stays consistent, as well.

“Eventually, we’ll get to that,” he said. “Things got delayed because of funding issues, but we’re still making progress.”

Kazia explained that, so far, his company has hired one worker. He expects to fill 39 more positions by mid-2012, and reach 80 by mid-2013.

O2 has a service agreement for the 55,000-household territory of Palm Coast, as well as throughout Flagler and Putnam counties. The company merged with St. Augustine-based telecom provider Earthcom Service Inc. in 2010, and Kazia is currently in talks to expand his coverage area by nine nearby cities, with all backhaul running through the Palm Coast office.

Currently in the remodeling stage at European Village, Kazia’s team is re-flooring, painting and tearing out dressing rooms from what used to be a dance studio. He’s also working on providing Wi-Fi services to the village, which would allow patrons to wirelessly connect to the Internet while at the complex’s restaurants and shops.

O2 is also developing numerous tower facilities throughout the United States.

“While all funding sources are intact, it has been frustrating,” Kazia said. “(But) despite difficulty, we are determined to move forward on our own with all resources that are available to us.”

He expects the European Village store to open by mid-November.

“Nothing’s easy right now, the way economic times are,” Kazia said, explaining that he’s raising money slowly and purchasing equipment piece-by-piece, rather than in bulk.

“(But) we’re getting there,” he said. “It’s just taking a bit longer than expected.”

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