StaffMark Tops Area List of Staffing Companies

Although Northwest Arkansas has several small, locally-owned staffing agencies, many of the larger offices are divisions of national companies.

The number one company on the Business Journal’s list of the area’s largest personnel agencies is StaffMark Inc., which has corporate headquarters in Fayetteville. StaffMark was named one of Business Week’s top 100 growth companies in 1997 and is still making acquisitions at a rapid pace. Since the company was formed, it has expanded across the United States and into Canada and Great Britain, purchasing more than 20 companies in the last 15 months. In addition to traditional staffing services, StaffMark also has medical and technical staffing divisions.

StaffMark had $200 million in revenues in 1996 and industry analysts estimate the company’s revenue will top $400 million for 1997. The company goal is to have $1 billion in revenue by the year 2000, says CEO Clete Brewer.

The second-largest company on the list is Snelling Personnel Services, which has two branches in Northwest Arkansas. Snelling is a franchise, so the two branches are owned and operated by two separate companies.

The Fayetteville location is a full-service staffing agency that has placement and national recruiting services. Another full-service location will open in Rogers later this year, says manager Ramona Terrill.

The Bentonville Snelling location only serves companies in the transportation industry by recruiting drivers and executives from across the United States.

Other national companies with Northwest Arkansas branches on the list are Manpower Inc., Kelly Services Inc., Express Personnel, Volt Services Group and A.S.A.P. Services Inc.

Dunhill Professional Search of Rogers is the only locally-owned company to make the list. Owner Dwane Owens purchased the company from retiring founder Walter Heyne in 1994.

Dunhill is not a temporary staffing agency but a company that fills permanent positions, concentrating on professional technicians. Most of its business is done with national corporations in the food and meat industries, says Owens, but Dunhill also works with local businesses.

Dunhill markets individuals and recruits professionals for companies, doing all of the pre-screening of applicants.

“We do everything for an employer, so they end up with a very qualified candidate on their desk,” says Owens.

Owens, a former CFO, bought Dunhill when he decided to retire from corporate life and own his own business.

“This fit my background better than a doughnut shop or a convenience store or something like that,” he says.

Staffing and economics

The demand for temporary help has risen steadily since 1991, according to the National Association of Temporary and Staffing Services. About one million people were employed nationally on a daily basis through staffing agencies in 1991, as compared to more than 2.2 million people in 1996.

“If the economy remains healthy, as most agree it will, staffing services should continue to grow,” says Bruce Steinburg, director of research and public relations for the NATSS. “Even the Fed has begun to realize that the lack of enough qualified workers is probably one of the current factors limiting further job creation and economic growth.”

Steinburg says the staffing industry invests millions each year in worker training.

“The level of skills that the service- and knowledge-based product industries require of its workers is considerably higher [than in the past],” says Steinburg. “Temporary help and staffing services invest hundreds of millions of dollars annually in extensive training and retraining of American workers.”

On a macro level, some experts think that staffing services contribute to the overall stability and growth of the nation’s economy.

“By making staffing capacity and employment costs variable and directly tied into actual production, the business operation can operate much more efficiently,” says Steinburg. “Business organizations can no longer afford to create jobs that have no economic justification to exist on a year-round basis.” q