Grand Rapids technical services firm’s growth generates 11 new positions

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Grand Rapids-based GetService has diversified its services and adapted to a new business model. Both of those changes culminated in the development of two new jobs already this year, and a projected addition of up to nine more positions by year’s end.

GetService, located at 5222 33rd St., provides businesses that have 20 to 300 employees with information technology services. Three years ago, the company transitioned to a business model based on billing customers a flat fee for services, instead of billing them an open-ended hourly rate. Because of that transition, the company has added clients, expanded its services and expects to double its services sales in 2009.

“We help companies that don’t have an IT department and provide support to existing IT departments,” says Mark VanderWal, vice president. “We become their virtual in-house IT staff. We can handle most issues remotely, which means we start helping the customer immediately. We also provide server hosting services, including 24/7 monitoring of data.”

The company currently has 16 employees. The nine new jobs include infrastructure engineer positions and sales positions, which range in pay between $30,000 and $70,000 a year.

VanderWal says that because every company deals with information technology, the potential exists to serve clients across all industries. Currently the company has clients across a variety of industry sectors, including health care, manufacturing, nonprofit and business services.

“Our services evolved as IT evolved,” VanderWal says. “We adapt, change and grow to find what our customers want and then do what we need to do to support them. We have a saying around here: ‘We’re choosing not to participate in the recession.' Despite what the headlines say, there are companies that are doing well and want to do well.”

Source: Mark VanderWal, GetService

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].

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