Hiring Grads

Jim Bere owns a house in Naples, but he says a bigger reason he picked the area to expand his company is the number of university graduates here.

Bere is the majority shareholder, chairman and CEO of Alta Resources, a fast-growing Wisconsin-based company that now has more than 3,000 employees. Alta provides phone and message sales and customer service for undisclosed clients in health care, insurance, consumer packaged goods and entertainment.

The company recently held a job fair in Fort Myers, where it plans to hire 400 people. Bere cited Florida Gulf Coast University, Edison State College and other universities as a source for future employees. “We are not making a short-term investment in this place,” he says. “That's why those universities are so important.”