Select Staffing HQ moves to Atlanta amid ownership shuffle
One of the 10 largest staffing firms in the nation, the Santa Barbara-based Select Family of Staffing Cos., announced today it plans to merge with EmployBridge, a staffing company based in Atlanta.
The merger comes less than a year after Select restructured itself after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will permanently relocate the national company’s headquarters from Santa Barbara to Atlanta. Both firms, however, will continue to operate under their various subsidiary brand names.
Delia Cannan, a spokesperson for Select, said as both companies have established business under a range of brands, they will maintain this structure for the foreseeable future.
“Right now nothing is changing at all. They’re keeping operations steady,” Cannan said. “Both companies have offices throughout the U.S., so while the headquarters won’t be in Santa Barbara, they’ll have significant corporate operations there and all those will remain.”
While EmployBridge’s current CEO, Tom Bickes, will also serve as CEO of the combined company, Select executive Paul Sorensen will become the new firm’s president, while Select Staffing CEO Steve Sorensen will take a step back from management to become vice chairman of the company’s board of directors. Shawn Poole, currently president of EmployBridge, will become executive vice president and chief financial officer, while the remainder of the board of directors will consist of current Select Staffing board members.
Cannan said there is “very little overlap” in the staffing services provided by each firm, and Select hopes to bring EmployBridge’s pool of talent in warehousing, logistics and transport to its existing customers, while its administrative offerings will reach a broader market.
When the Select Family of Staffing Cos. filed a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 1, 2014, it listed between $50 million and $100 million in debts and $100 million to $500 million in assets. But that is only part of the story.
The company’s April 1 agreement with creditors amounts to a near total recapitalization. Select Staffing’s revenue approached $2 billion in 2012 and it plays a major role in providing temporary employees for the accounting, finance and information technology industries, filling some 300,000 positions each year.
