Background-screening firm plans expansion

A California-based company that helps background-screening businesses check people’s employment and education histories both nationwide and internationally opened a Spokane office this summer and is looking to expand.

ReferencePro’s local office, opened in June, employs 10, and the company may add six more over the next few weeks, said Jay Fa’asala, director of operations. Headquartered in Novato, Calif., the company has yearly revenues of more than $1 million and employs about 25 people total, said Craig Caddell, vice president.

The company also is ramping up to run a night shift to make calls overseas during business hours there, Caddell said.

Instead of targeting companies directly, ReferencePro contracts with consumer-reporting agencies.

Its workers call former job supervisors, personal references and schools to verify what people write on resumes.

The company serves about 120 client businesses, Fa’asala said. Last month, its international division completed more than 592 verifications, he said.

Opened in June 2002 by Lester Rosen, one of the founders of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners, ReferencePro uses proprietary “intelligent” software that keeps its call center efficient, Caddell said.

ReferencePro aids companies that don’t want to worry about hiring and managing processors, who can take a long time to train, said Larry Lambeth, owner and president of Employment Screening Services Inc. in Spokane. The 22-year-old firm, which has 48 employees and more than 6,000 clients worldwide, uses in-house processors, Lambeth said.

“The government makes it more and more important that companies do background checks, and a private employer just can’t possibly do the job that we can do,” said Lambeth, chairman-elect for the national association’s board of directors.

Coincidentally, ReferencePro occupies a 1,300-square-foot office in the downtown Hutton Building, 9 S. Washington St., once used by Employment Screening Services.

ReferencePro chose Spokane because it offers several universities, easy access to California, a relatively low cost of living and a great environment, Caddell said.

“Where I’m normally motivated to look into expanding into other parts of the country to diversify our risk exposure and not put too many people in any one production site, before we open another call center in some other location in the country, we’ll be able to grow the Spokane operation significantly,” Caddell said.

ReferencePro also has call centers in Greensboro, N.C., and Martinez, Calif.