A company growing rapidly in Northern Kentucky attributes its success to a combination of business practices, its location and the region's high-tech workforce.
OMEGA Processing Solutions – which specializes in the electronic processing of credit and debit card transactions, point-of-sale and cash register systems, loyalty cards and check recovery for various businesses – recently announced the expansion of its Fort Thomas headquarters. OMEGA will add 25 new jobs to the region.
The expansion, which is slated for completion in spring 2012, will double the space at the company's existing headquarters in the Fort Thomas Executive Center, while providing future opportunities for growth, says Scott Anderson, chief executive officer and co-founder of OMEGA.
"The growth that we have created at OMEGA Processing Solutions represents a hotbed of opportunity for our merchants and customers, every bit as strategic as the business advice and consulting OMEGA provides everyday," Anderson says.
The company is no stranger to rapid growth; in fact, business has been booming for OMEGA since its founding in 2003. In August, Inc. Magazine ranked OMEGA as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the United States. OMEGA was also named one of Greater Cincinnati's "Fast 55" growing companies by the Cincinnati Business Courier in March and has been named both an "Emerging 30" winner from the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and an "Emerging Business" winner by Cincy Magazine.
"We have experienced double-digit revenue growth in each of our first seven full years of operation, and are expecting to continue that trend this year with an 11 percent increase in revenue," says Todd McHugh, president and co-founder of OMEGA.
Why such growth? It could be due to a variety of factors, ranging from OMEGA's business practices – the company's mission statement exhorts not only the importance of providing top-quality services to clients but providing a top-notch work environment for employees – to the community which surrounds it.
It's a resource the company has mined efficiently, McHugh says. The company currently offers services to more than 6,000 clients while employing 16 people, all of whom are Kentucky residents.
"We are very fortunate to live and work in an area with such a highly trained workforce," McHugh says. "The tech jobs that OMEGA employs require these skills and we are happy to count several local college graduates from various tech disciplines among our long-term employees."
This highly skilled workforce played a major role in the company's decision to establish OMEGA's headquarters in Fort Thomas in the first place; it also made the decision to expand in Northern Kentucky an easy one.
"When looking at various options for our expansion, the first factor was 'Where can we continue to find an abundance of highly trained, qualified employees?'" McHugh says. "We then looked at government support, costs and a number of other factors.
"At the end of the day, Northern Kentucky was simply easy to say yes to, as it is a leader on almost all criteria that we established in deciding to expand."
The success of companies like OMEGA serve as a kind of thermometer for the region's economic health.
"Northern Kentucky's vibrant business climate and talented workforce has once again been a catalyst for economic growth," said Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear in a statement.
OMEGA's expansion and the reasons behind it were lauded locally as well.
"We're extremely pleased to have a growing high-tech company like OMEGA Processing Solutions in Fort Thomas," said Fort Thomas Mayor Mary Brown. "We congratulate the company on its success and expansion. We are grateful for the opportunity to support the creation of new jobs in our community."
The company is even looking to expand its horizons through a possible partnership with Northern Kentucky University's College of Informatics, says McHugh.
"We have had exploratory meetings with the college, Campbell County Economic Progress Authority, and Northern Kentucky Tri-ED to discuss how we might work with the college moving forward," McHugh said. "We have had preliminary discussions and are looking for a formal arrangement sometime in 2012."
A partnership with NKU could not only spur more growth for OMEGA, but also provide a template for other high-tech businesses in the region, said Steve Pendery, Campbell County Judge-Executive and Northern Kentucky Tri-ED Executive Committee Member.
"High-tech, entrepreneurial companies like OMEGA Processing Solutions are key drivers of our economy," Pendery said. "We expect to see more growth from our existing companies, especially with the Northern Kentucky University College of Informatics in the region."