IMPAQT News
In-house training plan sets up firm for success
When Richard Hagerty launched his search engine marketing company, IMPAQT, in 1999, the industry was so young that Google hadn't yet become a verb.
Hagerty said he really didn't see things take off for a few years. But when IMPAQT's concept of helping clients manage their search marketing efforts on major search engines like Yahoo, Google and MSN caught on, his handful of staffers no longer fit the bill.
Because the field was so new, and he was based in Bridgeville, not Silicon Valley, the pickings for new employees were very slim.
Businesswise, IMPAQT was "at the right place at the right time," but the geography didn't mesh. So Hagerty decided that his company would have to develop and train its own work force.
"That was the trick," said Hagerty. "It's such a rarity when someone comes in here with search engine experience. So, we started going to the colleges."
IMPAQT cased the campuses of local schools with strong marketing programs -- Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Duquesne University and Robert Morris University. Hagerty hired a three-person team internally to supervise a complicated hiring process that can take up to two months.
If a job offer ensues, employees don't begin work immediately. Instead, they begin supervised training for three to six months. It's a combination of certification programs developed by industry leaders, video training and processes developed internally.
It's not cheap. Hagerty figures IMPAQT spends $250,000 annually on training. That's a bite even for a company whose revenue hit $9.8 million in 2005 and likely will soar past $12 million in 2006. Current clients include Education Management Corp., Kimberly Clark, Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline and Bank of America.
"We feel the money spent on training is only going to help us," he said.
IMPAQT registered a "dramatic growth spurt" over the past two years, when staff tripled to 61. Hagerty expects that to double again by the end of 2008.
Media Contact:
IMPAQT Marketing
412.733.7100
marketing@impaqt.com
