Midwest US, Pacific US, Southeast US, US News

Auto industry may be fueling Southern Silicon Valley

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Auto industry may be fueling Southern Silicon ValleyMany Southern states are giving Silicon Valley a run for its money in terms of job growth in “STEM” fields, or those in science, technology, engineering and math – and driving these employment gains is the auto industry, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Based on findings from a recent Brookings Institution report, the newspaper noted that Jackson, Mississippi, and Nashville, Tennessee, are gaining STEM jobs at almost the same rate as the San Francisco Bay area, with the Southern regions posting 7.9 percent growth in jobs in those sectors.

The Wall Street Journal traced much of the growth to the expanding auto industry in the South, with major companies like Nissan and General motors operating plants in Nashville. Here, jobs were growing the fastest in management, scientific and consulting services, up nearly 40 percent in just two years. Jackson is also seeing high auto industry activity and employment growth.

Furthermore, the report showed that seven of the top eight cities that had the greatest growth in tech employment were in southern states, reported the Knoxville New Sentinel. Other cities to watch include Raleigh, North Carolina, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Banking, Financial Services, Lending Services, Monthly BLS Report

Show Your Work When Interviewing Candidates

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The phrase show your work, for many, probably dredges up memories of filling sheets of paper to answer long-form division or algebra equations back in school.  If the answer to the question seemed fairly evident, students would simply skip the solving process altogether and give the answer.  In many instances, though, teachers wouldn’t give full credit, instead writing show your work! in red ink.

What does this have to do with interviewing?  For the same reason the teacher wants to see the student’s work, candidates want to understand that their prospective leader knows the necessary steps to take to solve any given situation or problem.

One of the biggest reasons a team member will begin looking for new employment is if they don’t have faith in their leader’s decision-making skills.  There is no better way to show your prospective candidate that you’re the right leader than by showing your work, especially when discussing the common situations or tasks your team faces every day.

While this might seem like common sense, we often hear of veteran managers not thoroughly explaining their process, leaving candidates unsure whether they’ve found the right person to lead them in the next phase of their career.  This could have easily been resolved if they’d taken a few more minutes to show their work.

While the days of showing your work in math class are long gone, every candidate conversation provides an opportunity to show your work, show off  your leadership skills, and gain the confidence of every candidate you meet.

Central US, Contract Staffing, Education, Engineering, International News, Manufacturing, Marketing, Midwest US, North America, Northeast US, Pacific US, Plastics, Retail & Wholesale, Sales & Marketing, Southeast US, Southwest US, Transportation, US News

New Jobs and 95.1% Employment Rate for July

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US unemployment held steady at 4.9% for July with 255,000 new jobs added for the month.  While we continue to deal with the fallout from the ups and downs of the oil & gas industry, international currency fluctuations, and national political uncertainties, there are lots of positive signs for the economy.  This includes wage gains which have seen a small uptick over the last twelve months, growing to 2.6%.  This is ahead of the 2.2% wage growth reported from the same time the year before.  Admittedly, this is still below the 3% – 3.5% reported in the years ahead of the recession.  While certain roles and certain areas of the country have seen larger percentages of wage growth, economists point to increases in compensation (or lack thereof) as a significant factor for why some Americans aren’t feeling as great about the economic recovery yet.  More jobs means stronger consumer spending, which in turn leads to more jobs.  It also gives more people the “hope of employment”.  The confidence in being able to potentially find a job contributed to 400,000 Americans joining the labor force in July.

 

 

Bruce Peacock
Vice President of Business Development
The Richmond Group USA

Engineering, Food & Beverage, Manufacturing, Marketing, Placement Annoucements, US News

Bruce Peacock & TRG Manufacturing Division Announces Successful Project Engineer Search

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Richmond, VA July 2016 – Bruce Peacock and The Manufacturing Search Division of The Richmond Group USA (TRG) are pleased to announce the successful conclusion of a Mechanical Project Engineer search for an industry leading, global consumer products manufacturer.  This is a remarkable moment in time for this organization as they continue to rapidly increase market share and invest heavily in their global operations.  The Project Engineer will be joining a strong and collaborative, diverse team of engineers who are responsible for leading and managing multi-million dollar capital projects across global plants.

 

Working closely with the Global Director of Engineering and HR Business Partner, we took on the challenge of finding a Mechanical Engineer with previous hands-on capital project experience, involving high speed packaging lines, in a fast paced consumer product manufacturing environment.  A national search was conducted to uncover and attract a pool of qualified candidates.

 

We identified a talented Project Engineer with a strong project engineering background with CPG manufacturers.  This placement will provide our client company with a well-rounded Mechanical Project Engineer, who spent the last 5 years designing and managing entire capital projects: including designing plant layouts, designing equipment, managing installs and maintenance, etc., to join their global engineering team.  Our client is very excited about her joining the team and her ability to take on this challenge of leading and managing capital projects for their global operations.  Should you desire additional information about this successful search or about our firm, please contact Bruce Peacock & TRG Manufacturing Division at (804) 285-2071 or email Bruce at Brucep@richgroupusa.com.

 

Bruce Peacock
Vice President, Business Development
Uncategorized

Launch date for Apple Car pushed back

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Launch date for Apple Car pushed back one more year, report reveals

Jul 22, 2016

Though many people have most likely never heard of the Apple Car, the rumored release date for this top-secret project may have been pushed back another year.

A new report from technology site The Information has divulged the news on the car that is still yet to be created, reported Fortune magazine. Believed to be called Project Titan, the Apple Car venture was thought to have an original launch date of 2020.

However, according to the report the team has run into several complications and as a result, will push back the introduction until 2021. Though Apple itself has yet to comment on the project one way or another, the company is said to be working on a self-driving electric vehicle.

According to Digital Trends, the delay is said to be due to a turnover in project lead. Recently, Steve Zadesky, who was at the head of the Apple endeavor, stepped down after more than one and a half decades with the company.

As far as collaboration, the lack of discussion on the subject likely means Apple is hoping to use in-house servers, noted the source.

Top-secret Apple Car launch date said to be pushed back one more year.

Banking, Financial Services, Lending Services, Placement Annoucements

Jon Burkhart & TRG Commercial Banking Team Successfully Complete Market Leader Search

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RICHMOND, VA: July 26th, 2016 – Jon Burkhart and the Commercial Banking Team of The Richmond Group USA <x{(}>(TRG) are pleased to announce the successful conclusion of Market Leader search in Nashville, TN for a well-known and established TN-based bank.

Recently, one of our best clients in TN reached out to us with a desire to hire a Market Leader and establish a physical presence in the Nashville marketplace.  As we were already engaged with them on multiple opportunities throughout the Middle TN region, they wanted to synergistically capture on the recent conversations we were having with commercial banking executives in the marketplace.  They needed an energetic, up-and-coming commercial lender who was credit trained, had experience successfully building a team, and could draw on an extensive local client base to quickly grow the marketplace.

Due to the specific qualifications this role required, a comprehensive search was conducted to uncover and attract a pool of qualified candidates in Nashville and neighboring communities.  Because of our deep, already-existing relationships in TN, we were able to identify, qualify and attract the right candidate within two weeks.  The candidate was someone we’ve known for years and was very passive in entertaining other opportunities, though he had a specific goal for his career that closely aligned with the opportunity we presented him.

With this new exciting opportunity, the Market Leader has the ability to be a very visible leader within one of the fastest-growing regions in the US, and has had an immediate impact on the bank, developing a pipeline of over 10MM in new loans in relatively short order.  The bank now has a Market Leader with an extensive network and the skill set to quickly and successfully grow a new market.

As your business continues to grow, so does your need for talented individuals. What are you doing today to secure the future talent needs?

Should you desire additional information about this successful search or about our firm please contact Jon Burkhart and the Commercial Banking division at 804-285-2071 or email Jon at jonb@richgroupusa.com