QPS Companies Inc., a Brookfield-based staffing company, is the Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce’s 2007 Small Business of the Year.
QPS was founded in 1985 by Scott Mayer and has grown from a two-person operation to a company with 21 office locations in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. By the year’s end, QPS will have added three to five more offices in Minnesota and Iowa.
The company had revenues of $80 million last year. Mayer expects another 20 percent growth in the firm’s revenues for 2007, following double-digit growth in 2005 and 2006. The strength of the economy is good for QPS because many businesses are in need of more staff, Mayer said.
However, Mayer didn’t start out with entrepreneurial ambitions. Instead, he was on a basketball scholarship at the University of Wisconsin in Madison when he realized that school and basketball were not the routes he wanted to pursue.
“On a whim, I responded to a staffing service firm,” Mayer said. After a brief stint with the company, Mayer launched his own staffing firm. He honored his non-compete agreement by only placing permanent positions in the company’s first year. When the non-compete expired, the market opened wide, and the growth began for QPS.
By hiring the right people, taking care of his employees through rewards, incentives and a healthy work environment and committing to customer service, Mayer has effectively grown QPS over the last 20 years.
The QPS mission statement is to be the progressive industry leader. The company has an ongoing training program and fosters an environment of employee empowerment in decision-making and individual goal-setting.
A rigorous 120-hour annual continuous training program was launched last year as a way to create a “gold standard” in the staffing industry.
QPS now employs almost 4,000 field employees weekly and works with more than 900 companies throughout the Midwest. QPS has earned a reputation for fast response to its employees and clients, finding optimal employment for its applicants and taking initiative to resolve its clients’ unique staffing needs, Mayer said.
“I think that we act and function like a Fortune 500 company, but we’re small and better able to react at a moment’s notice,” Mayer said.
QPS Companies has many value-added services that comprise the “QPS Advantage.” This advantage is divvied into three categories:
The pre-placement stage, QPS performs reference checks, behavioral interviewing, and other important testing.
The post-placement stage, QPS handles orientations, customer location tours, onsite management and holds quarterly customer meetings.
QPS offers translation services, human resources consulting and market studies.
QPS Companies offers temporary, temp-to-hire and direct hiring capabilities. The company’s four divisions include: QPS Professional, Technical, Industrial and Office.
Its professional arm offers management and executive search capabilities, providing high-level talent for all business types. Its technical arm provides specialized recruiting and placement of skilled and technical professionals in the fields of skilled manufacturing, machine operation, engineering, computer-aided design, design/drafting and contract staffing.
QPS Industrial specializes in placing general labor and light technical candidates to various industries, including manufacturing, production and distribution companies.
Its office arm provides administrative and office talent to meet the variety of needs businesses have.
Each division complements the others and developed from needs that arose as the company evolved, Mayer said.
“There was a need for light industrial, basic entry level labor skilled trades,” Mayer said. “Then the professional, engineering, sales positions evolved.”
About 85 percent of the company’s business is in Wisconsin, with 35 percent in the greater Waukesha area.
With such a strong presence in southeastern Wisconsin, QPS is committed to serving the community. QPS is actively involved in charity work, including the Hunger Task Force, Sojourner Truth House, WKLH’s Christmas for Kids, After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, the American Cancer Society, a walk for Multiple Sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s Association.
QPS Companies Inc.
Address: 13935 Bishops Drive, Suite 330, Brookfield
Web site: www.qpscompanies.com
Industry: Staffing
Revenues: $80 million
Employees: 190
