Thomas L. Cardella & Associates will create 140 jobs at its Marshalltown, Iowa call center, the Times-Republican reports.

"It's great news for Marshalltown," Joel Akason, president of the Marshall Economic Development Impact Committee, told the Times-Republican.

The unemployment rate for Marshall County reached 7.2 percent in May, higher than the state's 6.8 percent unemployment figures for the month.

"Unemployment, obviously, is still higher than I would like it to be," Akason said. "They are good quality jobs [at Cardella]."

The company will hire for 40 outbound sales positions for DIRECTV's top-tier customers. Another 100 positions will fill three shifts to provide 24-hour service for inbound calls for an unnamed, large financial company.

"The company is excited to be able to bring this many additional quality jobs and benefits to the residents of Marshall County," said company President Thomas L. Cardella. "We are committed to job growth in Iowa and our clients' needs are well served by the dedicated work force in this hard-working community."