VISTA was launched in a Salt Lake City neighborhood called Sugar House on March 5, 1990 in a spare bedroom, with three people, one phone, one computer, a card table, three plastic lawn chairs, and a very strong plan.
We had seven employees at the end of 1991, 100 employees by January 2004, and 198 in January 2010.
Central to the plan was establishing an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) at VISTA as soon as we were eligible to offer one. We recognized from the beginning that employees, and the relationships they were able to build with physicians and healthcare organizations, are the ‘intellectual property’ of a staffing company. We knew that those employees walked out the door every night and we wanted to make darn sure they walked back in the next morning.
The ESOP was created in 1991. At that time, the stock was valued at $0.62 per share. By 1996, as our revenue broke the $10 million mark, the stock was valued at $33.58.
In 2007, VISTA was acquired by On Assignment, Inc., one of the largest healthcare, scientific, IT, and engineering staffing companies in the US. The proceeds from the sale of the company totaled $230 per share or 370 times the 1991 value. Thanks to the ESOP, employees shared in the proceeds, which was part of that all-important plan. It gave employees a real reason to think and act like owners.
In the beginning we were strictly a locum tenens company, but in two decades of growth, we have expanded to include international placements for physicians in Australia, New Zealand, and Bermuda; year-long US placements; and permanent physician recruitment and consulting. Whatever your association with VISTA Staffing Solutions happens to be, thank you for being part of 20 great years. And here’s to 20 more!
