Sallie Mae Opens Local Loan Center

A national leader in student loans said Wednesday that it will employ 200 people by the end of 1996 at its Spokane loan servicing center.

The Student Loan Marketing Association, or Sallie Mae, conducted a ceremonial opening of its Spokane center with a promise to hire almost all of its workers from the Spokane area.

The company began operations earlier this month in a 27,000-square-foot office of the fourth floor of the downtown Crescent Court building. Employees service loans, primarily to students and lenders in the West.

Ronald Phillips Jr., director of operations, said the center currently employs 50 people. He expects the number of accounts to grow to 125,000 by year-end, 700,000 within five years.

Sallie Mae, based in Washington, D.C., purchases government-insured student loans, servicing about one third of all such loans in the United States.

, DataTimes