Pace Harmon was one of Consulting magazine's Seven Small Jewels in 2007, but soon the word "small" may not be the most appropriate way to describe the outsourcing, strategic sourcing and IT firm. Pace Harmon, which currently has offices in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, is in the midst of an aggressive—and impressive—growth spurt.
In April 2007, when it was named a Small Jewel, the firm had 45 billable consultants and about $15 million in revenue. In the nine months since, the firm has added 15 more consultants and more than $5 million in revenue, according to Steve Martin, the partner and co-founder of Pace Harmon. But Martin doesn't plan on stopping there. Over the next six months, the firm will add an additional 15 consultants on its way to being a $40 million firm with about 90 to 100 billable consultants by 2010. "It's aggressive," Martin admits. "But certainly attainable."
Much of that growth will come from a continuing boom in outsourcing, according to Marc Tanowitz, a principal with Pace Harmon. Right now, about half of Pace's overall business is in outsourcing advisory services. By 2010, outsourcing advisory services could make up as much as 75 percent of the firm's overall business. And while he suspects much of the growth to be organic, he wouldn't rule out the possibility acquiring a small firm along the way.
But adding another 40 or so consultants in two years won't be easy, particularly with the high standards that Pace Harmon holds. For every 200 resumes the firm receives, it conducts about seven interviews and makes just one offer.
"It's incredibly competitive," Tanowitz says. "And we have a different approach from other firms in that we're heavily focused on experienced hires. We have ex-CEOs and ex-CFOs at Pace." Only about 10 percent of new hires come to the firm right out of college or an MBA program.
And some of those new hires will be working in new offices. In 2008, Pace will "most likely" add a U.S. office in Chicago, Dallas or New York, Martin says. "And by 2010, we'll "most likely have an
international office in Amsterdam, London or Brussels."
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