Staffing Opportunity

John West tried the “semi-retirement” thing. But after holding executive positions at several companies with more than 1,000 employees, he found it hard to slow down.

So instead of taking an early tour of the Golden Years, 55-year-old West launched a private equity firm Dec. 31, with longtime business partner and friend Mark Whittington. According to West, the pair hasn't decided how big they want to grow their new entity, Hire Partners LLC. Says West: “We hope to be at $1 billion in revenues, but right now we're taking steps to being a $100 million company.”

West says the last bit with a chuckle, but the pair is serious about building a rapidly growing holding company for firms in the resource personnel outsourcing and staffing industry. The new firm already wholly owns Atlanta-based Hire Velocity LLC and owns a majority of Washington, D.C.-based TSC LLC.