Home > Articles By Issue > Locations > Article Feb. 2003

By Mary Ellen Mccandless

It's not uncommon for a company to choose a location based on the quality of the local workforce. It is unusual, however, for a company to create a new subsidiary specifically to provide employment for the overabundance of available, qualified workers in the area. According to Fred Riek, CEO and founder of both DPSI and its spin-off company Help Desk NOW, this is exactly what happened after DPSI established its first facility in Newfoundland, Canada.

DPSI was founded in May of 1986 in Greensboro, NC to develop, sell, and support Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) software. Today, this market niche is referred to as Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) for enterprise-wide solutions, and as CMMS for non- enterprise solutions. DPSI has licensed over 6,000 systems with over 400 Fortune 500 companies and 400 international firms in its 16-year history. In February 1999, DPSI opened its new Technology & Development Center in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland, Canada. It initially hired 10 people, but currently employs approximately 50 employees. Because of the large number of applicants, in 2000 DPSI formed another company that would provide jobs for many of those people seeking work. Help Desk NOW, as a subsidiary company of DPSI, was established as a technical support/call center outsourcing company.

Help Desk NOW's 25,000-square-foot call center, also located in Grand Falls-Windsor, was completed in early 2001 and resulted in the creation of over 400 jobs. The center, which uses the latest in voice and Internet technology, went live June 18, 2001. It's located in the EXCITE Technology Park, built by Exploits Centre for Information Technology Excellence (EXCITE), an economic development agency that targets the IT industry for Newfoundland. The 40-acre park is a key factor in the region's effort to attract technology companies. We talked to Riek—who recently received the 2002 Leadership Award from the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries (NATI)—about his companies' decision to locate these facilities in Newfoundland, and their future for growth in the region.

When and why was Help Desk NOW formed?

Help Desk NOW was formed because of the large labor force available in central Newfoundland. When the software side of our business (DPSI or iMaint Technologies) was setting up in Grand Falls-Windsor, we had over 750 resumes but could only hire a fraction of the qualified people we interviewed. We felt badly, so we decided to come up with a business that could put a lot of these people to work. Help Desk NOW was the answer. We wanted it to be mostly IT-related support, but we entered into a contract with a sizable telecommunications company for cellular telephone support. Help Desk NOW is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DPSI.

Who were the members of Help Desk NOW's site selection team and what role did each member play? What process did you use to choose a location?

The site selection team was, and is, comprised of Mike Riek, the President of Help Desk NOW and my son; Lynn Carriker, our Executive Vice President; and me as the CEO. The process we used for our first location was easy. The Town of Grand Falls-Windsor built a state-of-the-art facility that would house all the people we could hire within a 30-minute drive, and our experience with the Exploits Valley Economic Development Corp. (EVEDC) and Stanley Singh, who is now director of the Excite! Corp. was excellent. Grand Falls-Windsor was an easy choice. Our next three sites were more difficult to decide upon.

What location factors were essential for Help Desk NOW's call center?

There are three factors in deciding where to locate our Help Desk NOW centers: (1) a sizeable employment base (qualified available workforce); (2) a building large enough and suitable enough for the size of center we wish to establish; and (3) any economic factors, such as subsidies, that would make our chances of success greater.

How did you become interested in Grand Falls-Windsor as a possible location?

My son, Michael, and I were attending Softworld '98 which happened to be in St. John's that year. Michael met Stanley Singh who was then with the EVEDC. We were at Softworld to find a software development partner. Stanley successfully convinced us to open a new technology office in Grand Falls-Windsor. We now have about 50 people in our software division and about 425 in our Help Desk NOW office in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Besides Grand Falls-Windsor, were other locations considered for the project? Which ones?

We looked at St. John's, Mount Pearl, and Corner Brook as well. The available workforce, the new building that was completely wired for an IT operation, and reasonable financial incentives from the province were the deciding factors.

What factors made this labor force a good match?

The available workforce was one of the key requirements. We were more familiar with the Grand Falls-Windsor (and surrounding areas) workforce than anywhere else. Just about every one of the resumes we had represented a qualified applicant. Our decision to locate in Grand Falls-Windsor was easy because of the workforce available and the town's courageous decision to build the EXCITE! building in hopes of housing companies that would create work.

What kind of assistance did Help Desk NOW receive from provincial and local economic development agencies?

From what we have learned, the financial assistance given to us by the province is the lowest that any other call center operation has received. We were given $6,000 per person spread out over a 30-month period. We also received a much smaller amount of assistance from Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) for eligible employees and for some training. The Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency (ACOA) provided a loan to us to help us acquire some of the necessary capital equipment. The College of North Atlantic (CONA) and the town assisted us with providing space and chairs for us to conduct interviews and some of our training. Everyone working together as a team with us was a major draw. In my 36 years of business, I have never seen such wonderful cooperation for the benefit of the people needing work, as well as for the company seeking to find good workers.

Our strategic business partner, NewTel and Aliant, also were instrumental in providing technology solutions and in providing the necessary equipment at more than reasonable terms. Everything together made it work. The way in which everyone cooperated with us and each other made it a richly rewarding and unique experience.

Tell me about your facility. Was it a pre-existing structure or did you have it built? What did you base this decision on?

As I indicated earlier, the town was the first in all of Canada to apply for and receive money under the Municipalities Act—which was amended in 1999 to allow towns to invest in economic development projects such as EXCITE!—to build a facility to attract businesses. The federal government, the province, and the town jointly put in money to make this building a reality. The town put in the most money and had the most to lose. That is why I have to say it was very courageous of the town leaders to have made this decision. They built a beautiful building that both our companies now completely occupy. I cannot envision a better facility for our purposes.

How does the facility reflect Help Desk NOW's corporate identity? Is there space for future expansion at this site, or will expansion take place elsewhere?

The facility is a great showcase for Help Desk NOW. We proudly take prospective customers to see our center there as well as to meet our wonderful people. Both the facility and our people help us get additional business. We have very little expansion space at the Grand Falls-Windsor facility. But, we no longer have a large qualified labor force there either. We do see some growth yet at this facility, but we see most of our growth will be elsewhere.

In the summer of 2002, we opened our second center in Bloomfield, Prince Edward Island. We currently have about 35 employees there and we expect to have as many as 250 employees there over the next 18 months. Additionally, we have entered into an agreement to build a 50,000-square-foot facility in Miramichi, New Brunswick. This facility will be available to us in May 2003. We do expect to use temporary housing for contracts we hope to get prior to moving them into the new facility in May or June. Ultimately, we hope to have up to a 1,000-seat call centre facility in Miramichi with both technical and non-technical contracts.

Did you meet with any unexpected challenges or surprises during the site selection process? If you had to do it over again, what things would you do differently? Which would you do the same?

AIn all my work years, I have never had anything go as smoothly as did our experience with the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor, the Province, HRDC, ACOA, CONA, all our new employees, and everyone else in the area. It was a love fest from the beginning and it still is. If I could, I would spend the rest of my work days duplicating our Grand Falls-Windsor experience. While a few things may not have happened as soon as I would have wanted, it is amazing that so much did work out so well. The cooperation from everyone has been unparalleled in my experience.

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