Award Recipient
Business Services
William W. Canfield
Talx Corporation
William
W. Canfield
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Knowing who
your customers are and how to solve their problems is a key ingredient
to being a successful entrepreneur says William Canfield. As president
and CEO of TALX Corporation, he has done just that. The company
is the leading provider of electronic employee services for the
human resource, benefits and payroll markets. The company's primary
customers are Fortune 500 companies, large government agencies,
and other major employers.
Canfield
has been an entrepreneur since 1968, after working seven years
for IBM. He has started or purchased an interest in several computer-related
companies. Canfield was one of the founders of Financial Data
Systems, which was purchased by Citicorp in 1980.
He joined
TALX in 1986 and has been chairman since 1988. In October of 1996,
Canfield led the company as they completed an IPO and listed on
the NASDAQ stock exchange (TALX).
TALX just
completed a successful year with substantial revenue and earnings
increases in 2000. TALX ranked 19th among all stock issues in
percentage gain in 2000 with a 232 percent increase in stock price.
TALX features
two premier applications, The Work Number, which is America's
leader in automated employment and income verification, and a
comprehensive end-to-end benefits enrollment system.
The Work
Number automates the verification process by using the web and
interactive voice response technologies and combines payroll information
from various employers. This frees up employees at large companies
who can be kept busy answering queries from lenders and pre-employment
screeners verifying information. TALX, pronounced "talks,"
is a symbol for combining the use of voice and web technology
to automate this process. TALX estimates it has 80 percent of
the automated employment verification market.
Being and
becoming an entrepreneur takes courage Canfield says. "It
takes courage to step out and try something different. You have
to put your passion and energy first, and your livelihood second.
You have to start with a great idea and trust yourself."
Under the
direction of Canfield, TALX is well positioned for growth. In
a culture that embraces challenge and change, TALX has a strong
core business and the power of team-oriented employees to successfully
expand into the future.
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