Brightstar Corp. is exactly the type of major foreign direct investment (FDI) that President Luis Guillermo Solis has been trying to bring to Costa Rica. This global supply chain and retail solutions provider for the wireless industry is headquartered in Miami, and its new operations center, located in Barreal de Heredia near the CENADA, is creating 150 jobs. Here’s the official press release by the company:

San José, Costa Rica, November 10, 2014 — Brightstar Corp., the world’s largest specialized wireless distributor and leader in diversified services for the wireless industry, today announced the official opening of its new shared services center in San José, Costa Rica, in support of the company’s continued global growth and expansion. The new center will centralize finance and accounting, information technology and other key business services across Brightstar’s locations throughout the Americas and globally.

The more than 22,000 square foot facility includes access to transportation, covered parking, a fitness center, cafeteria and other amenities for employees. More than 70 full-time positions have been filled, and at projected capacity, Brightstar will create up to 150 professional positions, almost all of which will be hired locally.

The Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora, said that “Brightstar is a company that represents very well the type of investment that the country seeks, intensive in technology and quality jobs for Costa Ricans seeking to develop and implement their knowledge in the economy, as well as expanding the ecosystem of services to high technology companies recognized worldwide.”

“Costa Rica is a world-class location for high-technology multinational companies and an ideal location for our Americas operations,” said Allan Acosta, Shared Services Center Site Lead. “Since we first started recruiting at the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) Job Fair in February, we have been extremely impressed with the talented workforce and business-friendly climate.”

CINDE’s Managing Director, Jorge Sequeira, stated “We are glad to have a company like Brightstar consolidating the services sector, which continues to grow steadily, becoming a booster of our economy and a strong employer. Today, more than 46,000 people have found a quality job thanks to 143 services companies that operate in Costa Rica, which also reported very significant exports to the Costa Rican economy: Computer and information services, plus other business services grew from 1.3 percent of GDP in 1999 to 5.8 percent in 2013, amounting to USD $2.8 billon.”

Brightstar has expanded rapidly since it was founded 17 years ago and now is one of the largest multinational companies in all of Latin America. Globally, the company serves more than 200 wireless operators, 40,000 retailers and 15,000 enterprise customers, and Brightstar has a local presence in more than 50 countries and delivers products and services to more than 100 countries. The company touches almost every aspect of a wireless device somewhere in its lifecycle to include: distributing devices and accessories and manage inventory; helping businesses promote and sell product, both in-store and online; reselling and recycling used devices; and offering device protection, replacement, trade-in and financing solutions.

“The consolidation and centralization of business critical services will greatly support our global operations,” said Pablo Suarez, Brightstar’s President of Latin America. “Our team here will also serve as a ‘Center of Excellence’ to train new employees and promote a continuous improvement operating environment.”