Silicon Valley Staffing Group, a temporary and full-time staffing company, announced they have signed a lease for new office space in Tempe, Ariz., adding to its offices in Emeryville, Sunnyvale and Sacramento.

"Our mortgage business (SVS Mortgage) has exploded over the last few years, and some of our larger customers have tremendous facilities in the greater Phoenix area. We feel we need to be here to give them the support they deserve," Co-president Steve Allen said in a release.

Mortgage companies that Silicon Valley Staffing Group will serve in the Phoenix area include San-Ramon-based CMG Mortgage, Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC), American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Citibank.

SV Staffing Group signed a three-year lease with a three-year option. Scheduled to open with three employees on Sept. 12, the office has room to grow to 10 staff members. Katherine Schell, who previously worked at Spherion (NYSE: SPN) and Adecco (NYSE: ADO), was hired as marketing director in the Tempe office.

The mortgage business is particularly conducive to temporary staffing because underwriters like to maintain flexible jobs that pay on average $15,000 more annually than permanent positions, Allen said. Nursing is another high-skill field that draws people to temporary assignments.

Founded in 1997 to support Silicon Valley high-tech growth, SV Staffing Group now provides administrative, financial, mortgage, and technology based jobs and employees. The company also provides executive search services.

"It's been a rollercoaster five years, especially for staffing companies. We had explosive growth in 1997, and our revenues peaked at $15 million in 2000. We've dropped as low as $7 million but we're getting back to where we were," Allen said in a telephone interview.

Staffing industry revenue growth is forecast to be 11.1 percent in 2005, up from the initial forecast of 10.4 percent overall growth, according to Staffing Industry Analysts Inc.

At the height of the economic boom the company opened an office in Atlanta in 2000, but the economic downturn forced its closure.

Competition among staffing companies varies from industry segment to segment. With a push from some of its bigger clients in Phoenix, SV Staffing Group decided that a fourth office in Tempe would allow it to provide better service in a lucrative segment of the staffing industry.

In the clerical industry there are hundreds of companies, whereas mortgage finance is "more niche-y" and has less competition, Allen said.

"The way we separate ourselves is we customer service people to death. You can make mistakes, but it's how you handle the mistakes," Allen said.

© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

Top