Grand Rapids tech firm opens two out-of-state offices, adds 20 jobs

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Grand Rapids-based Service Express Inc. recently added six new jobs and plans to add 20 more this year. The firm also opened a new office in Louisville, KY and soon will soon open another new office in Nashville, TN. What’s more, the company’s growth is up another 20 percent, just like every year for the past five years, and it will close out 2008 with sales of nearly $25 million.

While the new locations bring the number of satellite offices to 12, half of the new jobs are in West Michigan—mostly IT technician positions, with a few accounting, warehouse and dispatch positions.

“We repair and maintain high-end servers and mainframes in data centers of large companies,” says Ron Alvesteffer, president. “Our technicians need to be able to fix two things: the equipment and the customer. They need to know where the customer’s pain is and how to take care of it for them.”

Alvesteffer adds that the IT services industry has an untapped market potential of some $10 billion dollars.

“Our customer all start with service contracts with the original equipment manufacturer,” he adds. “We’re tapping into that and focusing on how to get them better service and reduce costs at the same time, and when their contract expires they hire Service Express to take over the maintenance.”

He adds that high-touch customer service is the key to the company’s success.

“In any industry, you have more and more frustrating customer experiences. We’re providing great experiences for our customers and that translates into our 20 percent growth,” Alvesteffer notes.

“To us, it’s very exciting and we’re not just surviving in this economy, we’re thriving in this economy.”

Source: Ron Alvesteffer, Service Express

Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.