Australian-based E-tivity Corporation opens first U.S. office in Denver

Identifies U.S. Market as a Workforce Management Growth Opportunity

E-tivity Corporation, a workforce management (WFM) solutions provider and a wholly owned subsidiary of HemiPhon PLC (H3P), has opened its first office in the United States.

“Our research into the U.S. market shows there is a definite opportunity for our solutions,” said Michael Volk, E-tivity Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer.  “Put simply, the struggling American economy translates into an extraordinary chance for E-tivity Corporation to help American businesses rejuvenate their bottom lines by improving efficiencies and controlling labor-related costs.”

E-tivity Corporation has a strong presence in the WFM market in Australia.  The company has clients in various industries, but primarily focuses on the retail, hospitality and events sectors.  Customers include Michael Hill, Starwood Hotels, Travelex and other notable global brands.  E-tivity Corporation has invested $30 million in research and development over the past decade equipping the company with a suite of WFM software that is now highly competitive on a global level.

“We wanted access to a new market hungry for our workforce management solutions and also big enough to monetise that R&D commitment,” said E-tivity Corporation’s Chairman and Executive Director, Phil Jones. “The U.S. market, which is roughly 15 times the size of the Australian market, has that appetite.”

“Equally important, success in the U.S. will translate into benefits for our Australian customer base in the shape of enhanced software solutions.”

E-tivity Corporation’s WFM solutions include capabilities such as scheduling, time and attendance, and work rule interpretation. These workforce management solutions, Jones said, have been improving labor efficiency and reducing costs in Australia for decades and are ready to be implemented in American businesses.

“E-tivity Corporation’s U.S. expansion is in line with HemiPhon’s strategy to occupy the cutting edge of workforce management solutions by combining the best IP with robust customer growth to hasten the development of next generation solutions,” Jones said.
The E-tivity WFM software is based on a concept developed by Jones.

“I originally designed the software more than three decades ago as a direct result of my frustrations with scheduling staff at the McDonald’s franchises which I owned at the time,” said Jones. “We then developed the software into a commercial product that has been successfully implemented in 15,000 sites worldwide.”

The E-tivity Corporation office, located in the Denver metro area, was launched with a small sales and operations team which is expected to increase quickly with the addition of more sales and implementation staff to meet the growing demand for the E-tivity software suite.

“The office is centrally located in the United States,” Volk said. “Denver International Airport is a major hub with direct access to almost every metro market, so we are well-positioned in terms of launching a business that can rapidly grow across all metro and major markets in the United States.”

Volk said he plans to open additional satellite offices around the country to service sales into the enterprise market. The company also plans to establish a network of resellers to address the small- to medium-sized business market.
The aggressive plans for expansion hinge on E-tivity Corporation’s research which shows that the fragmentation of the U.S. WFM sector coupled with the current economic climate indicates there is a real demand for systems that can deliver improvement to a company’s profits.

“Given the economic climate and the pressure that is being put on companies to increase their efficiency and improve their margins, managing staff accountability and cost is mission critical,” Volk said.

“Labor is one of the three largest variable costs in every industry.  E-tivity’s workforce management solutions help control that cost by allowing a company to see the impact of scheduling changes in real time, how those changes track with the budget and ultimately affect the bottom line, and take further action if needed.”