Best Places to Work in Collections Winner: Third Time and Going Strong

In what might be a new December tradition — complaining about how dark it is at 2 o’clock in the afternoon; buying eggnog and emergency eggnog for when you run out of eggnog; panicking about the gift you need to buy for Secret Santa — insideARM.com is proud to announce that, for the third year in a row, Williams & Fudge placed first as a top-ranking agency in the Best Places to Work in Collections for 2011, sponsored by Kaulkin Ginsberg.

This year’s win for the South Carolina-based collection agency is in the Large Company category. It won the Medium Company category in 2010 and 2009.

“We’ve been honored and excited each year that we’ve won,” David Williams, Executive Vice President for Williams & Fudge, told insideARM.com. “What makes it especially meaningful for us is that it’s an employee survey. It validates for us what we’re trying to do as a company for our employees.”

insideARM.com’s Best Places to Work in Collections program aims to highlight the small, medium, and large ARM companies in the United States by talking directly to the employees responsible for collections, training, and management. The Best Places to Work program is facilitated by Best Companies Group.

“We do the best we can, every day,” Williams continued. “We’re a family company first and foremost — and it’s important to us to keep that family feel as we grow and become more of a corporation.” That can be a difficult tightrope to walk; often the needs of an expanding company seem at odds with the family touch.

As Williams explained, “We try to treat every employee we hire as part of our family. We see this as a recognition and reflexion of just how important our employees are to us. Our success as an organization is because of how loyal and hardworking our employees are.”

Since last year, Williams & Fudge have added nearly 50 additional employees.

“Hiring the right people is integral,” Williams said. “And then, promoting the right people, too. Our goal is to grow everyone here; we want to make sure all of our employees are reaching their potential. It’s good for them, and it’s good for us.”

Yet 2011 hasn’t been an exceptionally great year for growth in this industry — or many others, either. Still, Williams & Fudge has seen impressive growth, helping to push it into the Large Firm category.

“We got a great sales team out on the road,” Williams said. “And our philosophy is: treat every client as if you’re about to lose them. As we grow, we want to make sure that we continute to treat our legacy clients with the same high quality and standards as we do our newer clients.

Williams & Fudge is also a vital part of its community, participating in a variety of charitable works.

“We have an annual bike race,” Williams explained. “All the employees bring in bikes, which they then sit down and roll down a hill. Afterwards, we load the bikes up and deliver them to a local charity, Toys for Happiness, who make sure the bikes get to families in need.”

Williams & Fudge celebrated their 25th anniversary this year — a significant milestone. When asked if the company planned on participating in insideARM.com’s Best Places to Work for 2012, Williams said, “Of course! We see this program as such a valuable tool for feedback and confirmation. Plus, we’ve got a reputation to uphold!”

See all of the Best Places to Work in Collections honorees at http://www.insidearm.com/features/best-places-to-work/.

Williams & Fudge, Inc. (W&F) collects on defaulted loans and receivables for colleges and universities throughout the country. Since 2007, its main office has been located in an historic building that serves as the centerpiece of the town of Rock Hill.

About our Sponsor
Kaulkin Ginsberg is the leading source of M&A, strategic advice, and timely information for outsourced business services companies since 1989. The firm has completed over 130 transactions representing in excess of $3 billion in shareholder value for a variety of clients – from small family businesses to Fortune 500 companies. In 2011 Kaulkin Ginsberg is celebrating twenty years in the ARM industry.