American Financial Services, (AFS), a division of the North Seattle Community College Foundation which opened a call center in downtown Bremerton in early May, is already is expanding its operations here.

The company works with consumers nationwide on debt management programs in a variety of ways, including newsletters, telephone and on-line support utilizing the extensive resources on its website.

The Seattle-based non-profit recently completed a multi-million dollar acquisition of a larger credit counseling service, Genus Credit Management, that will make AFS the largest credit-counseling agency in the nation with 250,000 clients.

The two companies combined account portfolios will be managed separately under the guidance of AFS CEO Cuba Craig. Genus clients and creditors are already being notified of the change by phone, mail or e-mail. Craig added that AFS is continuing to look for other acquisitions in order to grow its business.

“This transaction expands our ability to reach more consumers with educational and counseling programs and to implement debt management programs that work for both our clients and our creditors,” commented Craig. “It also means we’re really here to stay; that we can expand and hire more Bremerton-area folks.”

The company initially hired a dozen local people to staff its Bremerton customer service center. It expects to double that number this month and ramp up faster than originally anticipated to meet its earlier four-year goal of 100 employees.