The Outplacer

The Outplacer

Daniel Farrar says Gulf Coast business owners are too negative. Anyplace in Florida looks better when you move from the Midwest.

Who would buy an employment firm in Fort Myers when Lee County's unemployment rate keeps rising?

Daniel Farrar just moved to Fort Myers this year from Chicago and he wants you to know things look a lot better in Lee County than they do up north.

"I find this market to be very negative," says Farrar, a former high-level executive with consulting firm Accenture. But Lee County has so much going for it, including a new airport and a fast-growing state university. Because of the weather and water, the Fort Myers area "is always going to have an allure and appeal."

For now, though, Farrar is busy helping companies with their layoffs. His employment agency, Resource Innovations, provides outplacement services to companies who are firing staff in the face of an economic downturn. It also provides human-resource management services to small- and medium-sized companies.

Part of Farrar's job is to help laid-off employees find new jobs. "Eighty percent of open positions are never advertised," says Farrar. "It's called the hidden job market."

He recently helped one health care company that was trimming its work force and found jobs for those displaced with another health care company. None of the jobs he found for them were posted. "Sometimes it's not an economic problem, it's just a business transition."

Currently, about 40% of Resource Innovations' business is managing human-resource departments for smaller companies and 60% is providing outplacement services to shrinking companies.

Farrar says companies are hiring in almost all areas except construction. There are jobs in health care, engineering and even in retail. "There's hiring going on all over," he says. "They're always looking for good sales people." Nationally on average, 95% of people laid off find another job within three to six months and it's no different on the Gulf Coast, Farrar says.

But what about the recent 9% unemployment figure for the Lee County? "Ninety-one percent of people are employed," Farrar counters.

Of course, Farrar says payrolls at real-estate related companies are still declining. But that's because the boom was so steep. "The drop has been significant," Farrar says. "Small businesses tend to be more vulnerable to an economic downturn."

For his part, Farrar doesn't seem too worried about his own company. "You have to have a product people can afford," he says. Typically, outplacement services cost about $3,000 per person, but Farrar plans to offer a program that will cost less than $1,000 per person. He's eyeing Sarasota and Tampa and may eventually open offices there.

By the middle of 2009, the economy will start turning, Farrar estimates. And by then, he'll be ready to help companies find qualified employees. He should know; the 53-year-old Farrar was a top executive with Accenture in Chicago when he decided to become an entrepreneur in Fort Myers earlier this year. "I'd rather be in control of my own destiny," he says.

"Fort Myer is not unique," Farrar says. He's renting a house until he can sell his house in Chicago. Still, he says area business owners are unduly pessimistic, fueled by nonstop media that fans the flames. "It's a pervasive discussion," he says.

One positive outcome is that the Gulf Coast is becoming much more affordable. In Chicago, Farrar says, it's not unusual to spend $400 per person for dinner and the theater. "There's a lot of growth opportunity," he says.

-Jean Gruss