Ecco Select to add jobs, expand

Ecco Select, a Kansas City information technology and consulting firm, is receiving more than $1 million from Missouri for an expansion plan that includes a new headquarters and 96 additional jobs.

Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday said the financial assistance will bolster the 19-year-old company’s efforts to generate business internationally.

Ecco Select is now based downtown at 1301 Oak St., and it leases additional space in another downtown office building.

But the company plans to consolidate this fall into a 12,000-square-foot space in the Briarcliff 1 office building at 4100 N. Mulberry Drive in the Northland, said Jeanette Prenger, Ecco Select’s president and chief executive officer. The company’s senior management and support staff will be based in the Briarcliff office.

The information technology company has about 200 full-time employees, and about half are based in the Kansas City area. Ecco Select also works with contract employees and some subcontractors.

Prenger said she expects the new jobs to be added over three years.

Ecco Select recently opened offices in McLean, Va., and St. Louis. According to its website, Ecco Select has grown more than 100 percent since 2010. It generated about $21 million in revenue last year, and Prenger expects revenue to increase 33 percent in 2014.

“Ecco Select is pursuing an aggressive growth strategy, and with our headquarters here in Missouri, we’re in a great position to launch into new global markets,” Prenger said.

International expansion looks particularly promising in Canada, Western Europe, Mexico, Central America and South America, she said.

The company, among other things, helps business and government clients develop and implement technology that manages customer databases.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development said the state’s incentive package is based on Ecco Select’s ability to meet job creation and investment criteria. Kansas City and the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City are also working with the company on its expansion.

Prenger, who founded the company in 1995, has long been active in the Hispanic business community. In 2009, she was named chief executive of the year by the Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association.

This story was originally published July 17, 2014 at 10:28 AM with the headline "Ecco Select to add jobs, expand."