Liaison Technologies Expands “Rural Sourcing” Initiative in Carbondale

ATLANTA & CARBONDALE, Ill.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Liaison Technologies, a global provider of secure cloud-based integration and data management services and solutions, announced today that it is expanding its presence in Carbondale, Ill., with a larger facility and additional hires, proving the benefits of “on-shoring” and illustrating that “rural sourcing” pays off for technology companies and the community. Liaison will celebrate its expansion and move with an Open House for the Carbondale community and Southern Illinois University (SIU) students, faculty and alumni on Monday, February 27, 2012.

“SIU actively seeks out companies that are interested in bringing outsourced jobs back to the U.S.”

Liaison chose Carbondale to serve as headquarters for its global Managed Services group two years ago. The company outgrew its space in the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center at SIU and has recently relocated to a 5,000-square-foot facility at 1075 Reed Station Road. Atlanta-based Liaison helps companies in more than 35 countries connect electronically with their business communities and trading partners, and ensures that on-premise and cloud-based business processes and applications can easily and securely share information.

“We decided that instead of sending these jobs offshore, we would try a different approach – staying onshore and finding a partner in rural Illinois to keep these jobs in the United States,” said Larry Mieldezis, Liaison’s COO. “Establishing our Managed Services hub in Carbondale was exactly the right thing to do as evidenced by the success we’ve had there, which has led to our expansion.”

As a native of Marion, Ill., and SIU alum, Mieldezis was the driving force in choosing Carbondale for its Managed Services hub. He knew from experience that SIU was a constant source of good technical talent and he wanted to give fellow graduates an opportunity to work close to home.

“The IT talent is so strong at SIU that we really wanted to come here,” he said. “If more companies embrace rural sourcing and take advantage of the local talent, the days of graduates having to leave areas like southern Illinois to get jobs in the technology space will become a thing of the past.”

On-shoring is becoming more prevalent as tech companies realize the benefits of using domestic technical talent in rural communities anchored by a technical college or university. Because of the lower cost of living in rural communities, companies can offer competitive wages and benefits at a lower cost than they can in large metropolitan areas. They can also avoid the problems associated with out-sourcing overseas, such as language and cultural barriers, regulatory compliance and security requirements, political instability and time zone differences.

“For every person we hire in Carbondale, we would have to hire 1.5 in India or China,” said Mieldezis. “With our on-shoring initiative, we’ve found an avenue that is cost-effective and keeps jobs in the U.S. Our Carbondale operation has become our model for rural sourcing and we hope our success here inspires other companies to follow our lead to bring technology jobs home.”

The Managed Services group based in Carbondale provides customer support for Liaison’s on-premise and cloud-based data integration and data management solutions and platforms, as well as data mapping and implementation services to Liaison’s North American customers. It also works closely with Liaison Managed Services teams in the Netherlands and Finland to service Liaison’s global customers, making Liaison’s Carbondale employees an extension of its 260+ person workforce around the world.

“SIU actively seeks out companies that are interested in bringing outsourced jobs back to the U.S.,” said Kyle Harfst, director of SIU’s Office of Economic and Regional Development. “We’re very happy to see Liaison’s growth in Carbondale and hope other companies will replicate its success in southern Illinois. From my perspective, it has worked wonderfully.”

Liaison employs 17 Mapping Analysts and Support Analysts in Carbondale and is actively seeking additional Mapping Analysts for its Managed Services team. The company expects to begin hiring the additional staff in March.

For more information about Liaison Technologies’ Open House or to view career opportunities at Liaison, visit www.liaison.com.

About Liaison Technologies

Liaison Technologies is a global integration and data management company providing unique and high-value solutions to securely move, transform and manage business information on-premise or in the cloud. With a comprehensive array of business-to-business and application-to-application integration and data transformation services, Liaison's practitioners implement data management infrastructures adapted to specific business requirements. Headquartered in Atlanta, Liaison has offices in the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.liaison.com.

Liaison and the Liaison logo are trademarks of Liaison Technologies, Inc. All other names or product names mentioned in this release are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.