Vaco Enters Three New U.S. Markets
September 21, 2018 – Brentwood, TN-headquartered recruiting firm Vaco has recently expanded into Denver, Pittsburgh, and Winston-Salem/Greensboro, NC.
As executive partners, Vaco’s Renee Fisher and Kevin Witt help chart the strategic course in the firm’s many local markets. “Vaco is thrilled to extend our national footprint and bring our consultative approach to talent and solutions to Denver, Pittsburgh and Winston-Salem/Greensboro,” said Ms. Fisher.
“Vaco was built to be a place where the best in the industry would spend their careers, allowing us to partner with and serve clients, candidates and consultants for the duration of theirs,” said Mr. Witt. “We’re excited to be a part of three new thriving communities and look forward to lasting relationships.”
Expansion
Managing director Beatriz Sonnendecker will lead day-to-day operations for the Denver office, which will focus on recruiting finance and accounting executives. She has been with Vaco for eight years and brings more than 15 years experience in accounting, finance, compliance, risk and technology, including 10 years in public accounting. Vaco’s Denver location will also be managed by senior partner Frances Moreno, who has 20 years of search experience. She is a former Big 4 CPA specializing in resource needs in tax, accounting, audit and financial systems. Mr. Moreno co-launched Vaco’s Los Angeles firm and remains managing partner.
Denver is America’s fastest growing city, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The city ranked No.1 on Forbes magazine’s list of the Best Places for Business and Careers, making it a natural landing spot for growth among executive search firms.
Vaco’s Pittsburgh office will be led by managing partner Phil McGivney, who is focused on growing the Vaco brand throughout the market and driving value for clients and candidates. Mr. McGivney brings 22 years of management consulting experience, with a focus on overall strategy, corporate governance and investment decision modeling. He previously held roles at KPMG, PwC and led an SAP Center of Excellence for a large chemical company.
Pittsburgh has adapted since the collapse of its century-long steel and electronics industries. The region’s economy has shifted to high technology, robotics, healthcare, nuclear engineering, tourism, biomedical technology, finance, education and services. A National Bureau of Economic Research report named Pittsburgh the second best U.S. city for intergenerational economic mobility.
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Vaco’s Winston-Salem/Greensboro location will be led by managing partner Jeff Reynolds, where he and his team bring the firm’s suite of services to the greater Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina. Mr. Reynolds has more than 25 years of accounting, finance and operations experience, with focus in both the public and private industry. Most recently, Mr. Reynolds served as a director in PwC’s risk assurance internal audit services practice in the Carolinas.
The Piedmont Triad area is notable for large textile, tobacco and furniture corporations. The Triad remains a national center for textile manufacturing, represented by corporations including Hanes based in Winston-Salem, and International Textile Group, based in Greensboro. After many of the old industries in the area began to die out, many Piedmont Triad cities began encouraging technological businesses to move into the Triad.
Growing Firm
Vaco provides boutique-level service with global reach in the areas of executive search, consulting, permanent placement and strategic staffing. Its areas of expertise include accounting, finance, technology, healthcare IT, operations, administration and managed services. The firm operates more than 35 offices, with 780-plus employees and 4,300 consultants worldwide.
Founded in 2002 by Jerry Bostelman, Jay Hollomon and Brian Waller, Vaco partnered with its first private equity partner, Quad-C Management, three years ago. Since then, the firm has experienced significant growth through extending core business lines and entering new markets.
At the end of last year, Vaco was acquired by Stamford, CT-based private equity firm Olympus Partners. “Vaco is exceedingly appreciative of Quad-C’s contributions,” said Jerry Bostelman, founder and CEO of Vaco. “Olympus brings that same fresh perspective and collaborative approach. Their contribution will be invaluable as we explore how to more cohesively deliver our complete solutions to clients, expand our service lines and geographies throughout the globe and institutionalize the essence of Vaco to ensure its eternal viability,” he said.
Vaco completed seven acquisitions during Quad-C’s ownership that significantly expanded its executive search practice, widened its breadth of services in healthcare IT and added new geographies domestically and internationally, including Canada and India. Those most recent acquisitions included a variety search firms, such as Binary Semantics, Pivot Point Consulting, Greythorn and Charlson Partners.
Timothy Billings, a partner at Quad-C, said that Vaco is well positioned for growth. “In a relatively short period of time, we made significant investments in the company and were able to roughly double Vaco’s revenues, while diversifying the company’s end markets,” he said. “Vaco has an exceptionally strong culture and leadership team and we wish them continued success during their next stage of growth.”
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
