The Job Guide
by July 14, 1997 12:00 am 92 views
Owner: Angela and Robert Robinson
Address: 902-A S. Walton Blvd., #1189, Bentonville 72712
Telephone: 273-3122
Hours: Upon request
Start-Up: August 1996
Northwest Arkansas’ tough job market – for employers not employees – and its central location were two of the biggest factors that brought Angela and Robert Robinson and The Job Guide to the region.
“Growth and low unemployment. Those are the keys to our business,” Robert Robinson says. “When unemployment is low like this, our services are very much in demand.”
The Job Guide is a biweekly publication providing job listings for Northwest Arkansas and reaching into northeast Oklahoma, southwest Missouri and southeast Kansas. Several of the area’s major employers are represented in the guide, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Tyson Foods Inc., Hudson Foods Inc., and Cobb-Vantress.
The Robinsons moved to the area a little more than a year ago at the encouragement of their son, Terry, who works for Wal-Mart. Robert, an avid golfer, says he loves Bella Vista, and the state’s central location makes it easier for him to travel to Senior PGA qualifying tournaments.
“I couldn’t retire when I came here,” Robinson says. “After six weeks, I got right back into it. I played in a golf tournament in North Carolina or I would have done it sooner.”
Robinson got involved with the guide as an experiment back at his home in southern California. He was working as a vice president/regional manager for Bank of America when a friend shared with him the success he was having with an apartment guide.
“I started it in 1988, just as an experiment,” Robinson says. “Right off, all the employment agencies jumped in and all the high turnover employment positions and fast foods. We were amazed at the reaction. We turned a profit after 4 1/2 months and turned cash in under a year.”
Robinson says because his guide is published only twice a month, advertising rates remain low and he is able to provide more white space than the daily newspapers. The Job Guide is free and available at all 27 Wal-Mart stores in the four-state area, several libraries and various relocation packages.