The Hartford subsidiary plans to add sales positions in Reno

A subsidiary of The Hartford plans to boost its staff at a customer-contact center in South Meadows, and is widening the mission of the center.

Catalyst360(deg), a subsidiary of the insurance giant that supports The Hartford in its role as the provider of health insurance for AARP, will hire and license as many as 35 staff in Reno this year. The company said it expects to hire even more next year.

The company opened the customer-contact center at 9850 Double R Blvd. in mid-2009 with 150 employees, and the staff grew to 200 within the past year.

The new positions will add a sales force to the customer service center, and sales agents will work with customers on their health-insurance needs.

The president of Catalyst360(deg) said last week that assistance provided by Nevada Insurance Commissioner Brett Barratt was critical to making the new jobs a reality.

The state division worked to provide faster access to licensing exams for a larger number of new employees at the center, said Renee Kuwahara, president of Catalyst360(deg).

Barratt said state officials didn't do anything out of the ordinary for The Hartford, but helped identify potential roadblocks delays around fingerprinting requirements, for instance and suggested ways to avoid them. He said the expansion is welcome.

"They really help us to diversify our economy in a non-polluting way," Barratt said.

Kuwahara said it chose the Reno center for the expanded role because of the quality and demographic diversity of its workforce.

Catalyst360(deg) also operates contact centers at Horsham and Lehigh Valley, Pa.