Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Aerotek deepens roots in northwest Arkansas
By Jeff Mores, The Benton County Daily Record
Aerotek, a part of Allegis Group, the world's largest privately held staffing company, has been servicing northwest Arkansas for nine years. Until recently, however, it had been doing so long distance, with its closest office some 120 miles away in Tulsa, Okla.
Continued growth and opportunities prompted Aerotek to set up shop here late last year. Aerotek, which boasts more than 150 offices across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, opened the doors to its newest location at 213 W. Monroe Ave. in late 2007 and has spent the past few months strengthening its presence in northwest Arkansas.
"Our footprint is already across the United States, but the economic and population growth here has been something we've had our eye on for a while," said Travis Keller, senior account manager of Aerotek's first Arkansas office. "We're a leading provider of technical, professional and industrial staffing, but our scope extends beyond just those areas. Right now, we're doing a lot of networking in northwest Arkansas. We see this being a very busy office, serving the area just north of the Missouri-Arkansas state line to Forth Smith, and even clientele into Little Rock."
Keller said Aerotek plans to open a second office in Little Rock in the coming years, but the company's sights are set on building on its already strong relationship in northwest Arkansas.
"Having a local, Arkansasbased presence will give us the opportunity to expand Aerotek's service offerings for persons seeking jobs and customers looking to fill open positions in the northwest and central parts of the state," Keller said. "With the economy growing significantly in this area for the past few years, so has need for the quality employees - a service in which Aerotek can excel."
The new location primarily places employees in accounting and finance, and call-center and corporate professional positions. The office also recently added technical and commercial staffing services to include the placement of experienced engineers, drafters and designers, as well as people looking for employment in light-technical, general-labor, skilled-trades and clerical positions.
"In today's competitive environment, the costs of hiring, attrition and other recruiting and staffing expenses are a major drain on corporations," Keller said. "We're here to locate, select, screen and mobilize the talent needed."
According to a 2007 study conducted by Staffing Industry Research Inc., Aerotek is the No. 1 provider of technical and engineering staffing services in the U. S. The 25-yearold, $ 2. 5 billion company is also the sixth largest such organization in the world. Allegis Group, of which Aerotek is a part, includes more than 6, 500 internal employees and 77, 000 contract employees working with customers around the world.
"We do a lot in the area of professional services and contract engineering, but we do quite a bit with environmental employment, such as cleanup, waste removal, civil-site land development and other areas," Keller said. "We adapt to serve the needs of whatever area we serve.
"We're not here because of one client but because of the tremendous growth and opportunity here. We're not just trying to set someone up with their next job, but get them on the career path that makes sense for them long term."
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