Integra Telecom Inc., a Portland, Ore.-based telecommunications provider that has had a location in Spokane Valley for four years, has opened a Spokane office, has boosted its staff here greatly, and now plans to double that work force.

The company, which provides voice and data communications to businesses, opened a Spokane office earlier this week at 201 N. River Drive, near downtown. Its central office here is at 9515 E. First, in Spokane Valley. It currently employs 12 people here and plans to double that number within the next nine months.

Dana Richardson, hired by Integra Telecom last fall to manage its Spokane-area operations, says the company has invested about $2 million in the past year or so to boost its infrastructure here.

"We already had a solid fiber infrastructure here, but we built fiber to 25 other wireless carrier towers in 2009 and 2010. We can now provide service to every business in Spokane," Richardson says.

The company has hired eight sales representatives, a technician, and a customer-service representative since last November, and the operations here now have more than 200 customers in the Spokane area, Richardson says.

Integra's service area here includes Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, and the West Plains. In addition to voice and data lines, it offers integrated messaging between voice mail, e-mail, and fax.

"We see the opportunity to really grow our Washington business by serving Spokane," says spokesman John Nee.

Integra, which serves 33 metropolitan areas in 11 states, including Seattle and Tacoma, entered the Spokane market in 2006, when it acquired the Spokane assets of Vancouver, Wash.-based Electric Lightwave Inc. and began offering limited service here. In 2008, it employed its first marketing agent here.