PULSE interviewed four industry leaders in domestic/rural outsourcing throughout the United States for this edition of Hot Spot. They include: Rich Etzkorn, Executive Managing Director, DTZ; Monty Hamilton, CEO, Rural Sourcing, Deborah Price, Esq. V.P. of Business Recruitment, Missouri Partnership; and Laura Willard, Project Manager, North Dakota Department of Commerce.
In recent years the United States has become one of the most desirable regions for organizations looking to expand their IT and business-services delivery centers. According to Laura Willard, domestic sourcing has grown tremendously, with organizations opting for smaller, rural locations, keeping costs much lower and allowing these companies to be competitive on a global basis.
Deborah Price added there has been extensive growth in rural onshoring with business support service establishments, of which there were 950 in Missouri in 2013, employing close to 23,000 people. In the past three years, Missouri has ranked in the top 10 fastest growing states for tech jobs and continues to expand. Back office operations and call centers for biosciences, health sciences and services, financial services and IT industries are also big in Missouri.
“We’re seeing projects with jobs that traditionally were outsourced offshore now looking onshore,” said Price. “Missouri’s BroadbandNow (MOBroadbandNow) initiative that was launched in 2009 brought rural communities from across the state, online. This was a huge initiative and priority for the state.”
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