The Mark Group, a UK company with recently opened North American headquarters at The Philadelphia Navy Yard, is hiring big time. And training, too.
The Mark Group is looking for 60 to 70
new hires who can be trained to go out in the field as energy efficiency experts. The company, which concentrates on the residential market,
recommends and completes refitting and repairs to make homes more comfortable and cheaper to run. Chief Operating Officer Dave Hopkins says Mark Group's average fee is $2,500, which will be returned in cost savings in two to three years.
Last week, The Mark Group graduated its first class of students at its
North American Energy Efficiency Training Academy. The facility, developed with the support of a $192,000 grant from the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation, is sending out workers who can enter a home and go places even the homeowner may never have gone, like attics and crawl spaces, to identify and fix problems like leaks and drafts. Hopkins says the company is training and hiring two types of employees: assessors and technicians.
Since The Mark Group's US launch in November 2010, 40 people have been hired, and by year's end, The Mark Group will have over 100 employees out and about in the Delaware Valley, including New Jersey and Delaware. The parent company has a presence in 20 countries worldwide, and chose Philadelphia as its first stop in the US, thanks to assistance at the state level from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and locally from
Select Greater Philadelphia. "We have plans to expand to the Pittsburgh market, Newark, New Jersey and Baltimore," says Hopkins.
So far, The Mark Group has relied on word of mouth referrals and a favorable
article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and next month expects to launch a marketing campaign. The company has also signed an
exclusive deal with Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors to provide energy efficiency services to the agency's clients.
Source: Dave Hopkins, The Mark Group
Writer: Sue Spolan