Firm is certain about making a comeback

A good sign for an economic rebound: A company that makes money when it finds executives jobs grew revenues 45% in 2011.

Even better, that business, Sarasota-based building industry executive search firm Brooke Chase Associates, projects it will grow at least another 25% in 2012, says CEO Joe McElmeel. Says McElmeel: “Some of our clients are doing a lot better than in previous years.”

Brooke Chase, which McElmeel founded in 1980, reached $1.1 million in revenues in 2011. While that's still down from the $2 million the firm did in 2006, it's up significantly since 2009, when it ended the year with $560,000 in sales.

The firm's niche is in finding executives for jobs in anything related to building products, from kitchen and bath to plumbing to lawn and garden. In addition to clients that rebounded, McElmeel tells Coffee Talk that Brooke Chase “made a concentrated effort last year to attract new business.”

The effort included two new hires, and McElmeel says he will likely hire two more people this year. Like many other Gulf Coast executives, though, McElmeel utters the U-word — uncertainty — several times when he chats about his business outlook. “I don't see a boom in the economy,” says McElmeel, “but I do see a gradual uptick.”