'Uber of Immigration'

Immigration is a loaded word these days, between debates, protests and a constant barrage of headlines.

But at Bradenton-based Pro-Link Global, immigration services in countries worldwide form the core of a unique, and fast-growing, business. With several recent office openings, and more on the horizon, the firm is poised for a big 2016, says co-founder and CEO Andrea Elliott.

Founded in 2005, Pro-Link's niche is in helping U.S. firms relocate employees abroad. It's a complicated undertaking, and the company's 70 worldwide employees have on-the-job expertise in logistics and how to navigate bureaucracies. They also utilize a Web-based case management system so everyone operates off the same platform.

Sales have grown 400% since 2009, says Elliott, and the company now has more than 500 clients. “This year has gone extremely well,” says Elliott. “It's been one of our best years ever.”

Part of that stems from timing the needs of clients. Emerging markets in the BRIC countries, Brazil, China, India and Russia, for example, have been hot growth spots. Other growth, says Elliott, comes from targeting new clients in places such as South Africa, the Netherlands and Australia; Pro-Link opened offices in all three of those countries this year. The firm, in total, operates in more than 140 countries and partners with 1,600 consultants.

In new markets the firm goes trend hunting for industries and sectors where mergers, consolidations and other happenings put employees in a position to move. “We look for (industries) that will be economic disrupters,” says Elliot, a native of South Africa.

Pro-Link doesn't help clients with the actual expansion logistics. It instead ensures that the firm's employees and families moving abroad have the proper paperwork to live and work in that country. That includes everything from passports and visas to medical documents.

An immigration lawyer, Elliott co-founded the firm with her husband, Lance, when she relocated to Bradenton from Phoenix a decade ago. Pro-Link is now on a short list of companies that focuses on U.S. businesses in foreign markets, not companies coming into the United States. The latter side, for one, is a crowded market, says Elliott.

Pro-Link's concentration on global business also makes for interesting cases and a place to work. Examples are in a series of videos the company recently produced, “Immigration Unwrapped.” Those videos are part of the firm's increased efforts in marketing and branding. “The job is never boring,” Elliott says in an interview earlier this year.

The firm charges a flat fee for work, and payment reflects the difficulty of the assignment. Elliott and her staff also hone in a customer service-first approach designed to make the process seamless, or close to it.

“We want to be the Uber of immigration,” says Elliott. “We want to keep things easy and simple.”

Follow Mark Gordon on Twitter @markigordon