St. Cloud-based Aria Communications bought by QCSS

St. Cloud direct mail and telemarketing company Aria Communications Corp. has been acquired by QCSS, Inc., a call center and telemarketing firm headquartered in the Chicago area.

Effective Jan. 7, QCSS purchased Aria's business operations with the combined company of about 300 employees now able to offer expanded direct marketing services via phone, online and direct mail. The entire entity will operate under the QCSS name. Terms were not disclosed.

"Aria has been an outsource provider for over three decades," said Cathy Karabetsos, president and founder of QCSS, in an interview. "QCSS has been a provider in the outsource arena for major players in the country. … We are bringing a whole menu of both traditional and digital [services] to our clients."

Aria, which was founded in 1985 by two St. Cloud State University graduates, makes calls and sends handwritten cards for companies and also assists in fundraising drives for nonprofits. Aria has a card-making facility in Waite Park. QCSS, which has been in existence since 1991, offers outbound telesales and inbound customer support call center services as well as other capabilities.

"I am pleased that in QCSS we found an organization wishing to carry on Aria's tradition of working hard to always exceed customers' expectations," said Chuck Lucas, chief executive of Aria, in a statement.

The sale comes months after Aria leadership alerted the state Department of Employment and Economic Development that the business was decided to be sold and Aria or a future buyer might need to eliminate employees.

No layoffs were conducted as part of the sale, and there are no planned changes in facilities, Karabetsos said.

Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495 Twitter: @nicolenorfleet