Springborn Staffing extends its reach into Bangor
Laura Thibodeau, the owner and president of Springborn Staffing in Portland, considers her recent acquisition of WorkSource in Bangor a perfect opportunity to expand the range of her business while also reconnecting with her hometown roots.
"It's really exciting being back in the area," says Thibodeau, a Bangor native whose parents still live in the city, "and WorkSource presented a perfect fit for our current brand."
Thibodeau says she had always hoped to eventually have a presence in Bangor, and had already been developing potential business contacts in the area when she learned through the grapevine last summer that WorkSource's owner, Terry Jacobs, was selling her staffing firm located at 135 Broadway. The deal was closed on Nov. 13, for an undisclosed sum. Jacobs was unavailable for comment.
"For now, we'll be keeping the WorkSource name in Bangor because it's very well known and very reputable, and we'll probably transition to the new name in a year or so," Thibodeau says.
With the acquisition, there will be a total of six staffing consultants and other personnel working between Springborn's Exchange Street offices in Portland and the Bangor site. The new location effectively extends Springborn's business reach from southern Maine through the Midcoast and Down East regions and potentially into the Waterville area.
"The only place we're not staffing is in Aroostook County," says Thibodeau.
Springborn, which was founded in 1987 by Bob Springborn, places temporary, temp-to-hire and direct hire employees with companies in need of qualified professional (legal, banking, accounting, etc.), office/clerical and light industrial workers. The company places well over 100 temporary workers each week, Thibodeau says, although the recession has slowed direct hiring opportunities.
The key to the company's modest growth, she explained, lies not in the building of brick-and-mortar sites but rather with continued investments in state-of-the-art technology that have allowed Springborn to become a "virtual business" with a small staff and lower overhead costs.
"The way we operate is different from the old-school model," she says. "Because of the technology that's available, we can drive seven-figure annual revenues with limited internal employees."
Eastern Maine basketball fans might remember Thibodeau, who was a standout guard on Bangor High School's 1982 state championship team before playing four years at the University of Vermont. She went on to become an assistant basketball coach at Ball State University in Indiana and worked as a district sales manager in the biotechnology field before buying Springborn Staffing in June 2008.
While Thibodeau says she could be perfectly happy with things as they are now at Springborn, her entrepreneurial side doesn't rule out the possibility of adding human resource staff one day or even bringing another staffing service into the fold should the right deal become available.
"But right now, through technology, we're an independent, locally-owned company that can provide service to Maine companies that's as good or sometimes even better than what the so-called big box staffing services provide," she says. "We can help companies survive and grow and bring money to their bottom line by adding contingent staffing that can get them through uncertain periods."
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