Despite trends, light assembly staffing firm growing

BY NAOMI R KOOKER
JOURNAL STAFF

QUINCY -Two recessions and 20 years later, Mictrotech Staffing Group in Quincy is on top of its game

Its 25-staff organization, which haS offices in Danvers, Medway, Woburn, and Londonderry, NH, just opened its sixth location, in Miami Its annual revenue has hit $35 million this year

The irony is, the engine-that-coUld runs man increasingly challenging recruiting climate in the industries it serves: Microtech provides temporary staffing services to the light-industrial, manufacturing and biotech crowd, industries in which Massachusetts-based jobs are being lost to overseas positions and being downsized in general

Microtech founder and President Joseph Donahue says his steadfast long-term relationships and dwindling mom-and-pop competition haS helped him outlive many of the companies he's served

Microtech places 1,200 temps a day in Massachusetts companies such as Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE: BSX) One way he's done this is through focusing on a hard-working pool of employees, namely first-generation imnrigrants, "I see a lot of drive," he says As he should know: Donahue was a first-generation American born to Irish parents

"Basically; we interview everyone," says Donahue "You never know"

You never know about their skill ability or if they're hard working or if you're making a fair assessment unless they come in to interview The two greatest assetS for temps are proof of continual work and a desire for education,whether it is someone in an ESL or master's degree program

Donahue was schooled at Boston College High Sd1ool, then graduated Boston College before obtaining an MBA from Babson College He gives back to BC High so kids can take advantage of getting an education like he did

Microtech recruiter Bill Kelly has worked for Donahue for 18 years The hiring challenges of late include more background checks, in a post-Sept 11 world, and making sure employees are documented workers But the reason he's stayed so long is due to Donahue's diligence with keeping the company growing

"He's always looking to improve what we do," says Kelly, "always looking at the big picture"

Simplifying internal systems, such as putting all workers into a computerized database, is a small yet significant tool that allows Kelly and other recruitersto stay on task rather than get caught up in administrative functions "We operate in a lean fashion," says Kelly

On the recruiting level, Kelly says, the greatest challenge has been to maintain a local-agency feel, which they do practicing a hands-on

approach What helps is the longevity of Microtech's staff itself, which knows and understands its clients' needs

"You're not reinventing the wheel when you call in and need somebody," says Kelly

Donahue's greatest challenge hasn't been culling the work force as much as grappling With the Bay State's economic climate The acquisitions of big companies, which include Wang and Data General and more recently The Gillette Co (NYSE: G) has forced a loss of jobs and propelled Donahue to expand outside the state, as he's done in New Hampshire and, just two weeks ago, in Miami

His first week in Miami he received a request for 65 workers from a firm that had cold-called him

In 1985 when he started Microtech he says assembly wages were about $8 to $12 an hour "We don't pay much different now, 20 years later," he admits "I don't think the opportunities are growing fast enough in Boston"