2007:
09-Nov Expert opinion: Successful firms take care in handling employees
14-Sept Warning to fast-growing companies: Plan ahead, stay in control
24-Aug More than ever, gender a nonissue for today's entrepreneurs

Business Wire

Expands Addison's Staffing Expertise in the Energy Industry
Tuesday April 22, 11:10 am ET CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Addison Professional Search, a rapidly-growing specialty staffing firm focused on providing top-quality contract and direct hire personnel for finance and accounting, information technology and administrative positions, today announced that it has acquired HireSynergy, a Houston-based executive search firm specializing in placing professionals in accounting, finance, and IT positions.

The deal expands Addison's expertise in serving the finance, accounting and IT staffing needs of the energy industry and strengthens the Company's presence in the Southeast region. HireSynergy represents a second Houston location for Addison, which has additional offices in Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Jersey City, NJ, New York City and Schaumburg, IL.

HireSynergy will continue to be led by Birgit Kamps, who has built the 38-person firm into one of Inc. Magazine's "500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America" and one of Texas Monthly's "10 Best Places to Work in Texas"

"We are thrilled to welcome Birgit and the HireSynergy team, who have an outstanding reputation and deep industry expertise that is a tremendous complement to our existing Houston practice," said Joel Katz, chief executive officer and founder of Addison. "Adding HireSynergy to our network is a perfect strategic fit and represents a key stepping stone toward our goal of becoming a top national firm that provides a broad range of specialized staffing services to our clients.

Birgit Kamps added, "HireSynergy is pleased to better serve its clients as an Addison Search Company". "Both firms have demonstrated a commitment to quality service, which has resulted in client satisfaction and recognition as one of the fastest growing companies in the staffing industry. Our union provides our clients even better service by doubling our Houston staffing team, and being part of a firm with offices in key cities that include Chicago and New York".

Addison, which was established in 1999, has been recognized in each of the last two years as one of the fastest growing private staffing companies in the US by Staffing Industry Report and as one of the "Fast 50" rapidly growing Chicago-based companies by Crain's Chicago Business.

About Addison Professional Search
Addison Professional Search is a specialized staffing firm that provides highly qualified personnel, on both a temporary project and direct-hire basis, primarily in the areas of finance and accounting, information technology and clerical services. Addison serves a diverse client base of mid-sized businesses as well as Fortune 500 companies. Addison was founded in 1999 and has offices in downtown and suburban Chicago, Boston, Houston, Dallas, New York City and Jersey City, NJ. Additional information is available on the firm's web site at www.addisonsearch.com.

About HireSynergy
HireSynergy is a Houston-based Executive Search Firm that specializes in placing Accounting, Finance, and IT Professionals, in direct hire and contract. Named one of Inc. 500's Fastest Growing Private US Companies, ranked with the Largest Houston Area Permanent Placement Firms and named as one of the Top 10 Best Places to Work, HireSynergy strives to define excellence in the field of recruiting. For more information on the firm, please visit: www.hiresynergy.com.

Bauer College of Business U of H

Savvy Alumna Birgit Kamps Driven by Compassionate Approach
As CEO of HireSynergy, a $10.6 million executive placement company, Birgit Kamps is well-known as a savvy businesswoman who has garnered accolades for her business, including being named to Houston Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work” list for several years running.

Not surprisingly, Kamps, a former tax accountant with Arthur Andersen, has also allowed compassion to drive her relationship with Bauer. Though it might have made more business sense to strengthen her involvement with Bauer academic departments that more closely intersect with HireSynergy, Kamps instead chose to fund Student Leader Scholarships for graduates of Charter schools like YES Prep Academy, which prepares low-income students for college. “My heart goes out to people who want to do so much in life and are very interested in growing themselves, but just don’t have the resources,” Kamps says.

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Bauer College of Business U of H

First Women in Leadership Symposium
Held on March 14, the symposium was a NAWMBA event bringing successful female leaders in the Houston area to share their insight and personal experiences.

In the panel discussion, Kamps emphasized that taking personal time is not necessarily a ratio of hours worked, and it is important to have a structure in place for balance. At one point, she introduced “yoga in the afternoon” to female employees at HireSynergy, which also sponsored the NAWMBA event.

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Texas Monthly

The 75 Best Companies to Work for in Texas
In today’s competitive business environment, it is a distinction to be named one of the 75 Best Companies to Work for in Texas. This program was designed to recognize the best employers in the state, the ones who make it a priority to create better workplaces for their employees.

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Smart Business
01-Mar-2008

Say it Again: How to stay in touch with your employees
If you plan to stay married, you know that saying 'I love you' once does not mean you never have to say it again. The same goes for the business world and the need to constantly reiterate your company’s vision and values to your employees, says Birgit D. Kamps, founder and CEO of HireSynergy.

"It’s a constant conversation," Kamps says. "Whenever there is a problem or conflict or any decision that needs to be made, I always say, 'How does that relate to our values?'"

This sharp focus on communication helped the 40-employee company stay intact during its turbulent early years, which included a period of severe hardship followed by rapid growth, during which revenue grew to $10.6 million in 2006, up from $1.4 million in 2003.

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Houston Business Journal
01-Feb-2008

One good deed ...
HireSynergy's generosity in helping people find jobs for no charge after the Enron collapse has been rewarded in the form of business and referrals from those it assisted

In the aftermath of the 2001 collapse of Enron Corp. and the later dissolution of Arthur Andersen LLP, many companies were busy trying to figure out how to capitalize on those firms' demise.

But Houston-based HireSynergy took a different approach -- one that, at the time, some described as compassionate and others pegged as foolish.

The company helped former Enron and Arthur Andersen employees polish their job-search skills -- for no charge.

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Houston Business Journal
09-Nov-2007

Expert opinion: Successful firms take care in handling employees

Q) If money is not the answer to retaining good employees, then what is?

Birgit Kamps
CEO
HireSynergy

People leave people, not companies. Often, staffing firms keep track of the Top 5 reasons employees are willing to leave their current employers to accept another job. In the last few years, two key reasons have consistently been reported:

• Employees have an issue with the management style of those to whom they report.
• Employees have an issue with leadership style of the company.

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Houston Business Journal
14-Sept-2007

Warning to fast-growing companies: Plan ahead, stay in control

Budgeting and forecasting are indeed crucial for any industry, says Birgit Kamps, CEO of HireSynergy, a fast-growing staffing company.

"If a fast-growing company fails to do this, it can end up in a completely different direction than planned wondering what went wrong," she says.

"Any good pilot will tell you to check your instruments and flight plan before take-off," she says. "As long as a company grows "with an eye on its instruments" and has a plan for where it is headed it will never veer too far off course."

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Houston Business Journal
24-Aug-2007

More than ever, gender a nonissue for today's entrepreneurs

"The benefit, I think, is that females tend to be more intuitive," says Birgit Kamps, CEO of HireSynergy, an executive search firm. The challenge, she says, is that there aren't many female CEOs with whom to network.

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