Dec. 16, 2020

A Sioux Falls-based employment software company is growing into new markets out of state.

HireClick is a software product that officially launched last year and is co-owned by Rich Abild and Scott Petersen, who began in business as Classified Verticals in 2005.

The company still partners mostly with local television stations to run regionally focused online job boards, but the HireClick software product is the fastest-growing part of the business, Petersen said. So far, it has brought on about 1,500 businesses.

“Job boards are way to advertise and reach active job seekers, whereas HireClick is more of a hiring software that not only helps you find more applicants but really helps you in streamlining a lot of hiring functions,” he said.

Tasks range “from finding candidates to managing candidates, communicating with them, leading all the way up to the hire. In the software world, it’s considered an applicant tracking system.”

The most unique thing about it is that it integrates with Indeed and ZipRecruiter and is a featured applicant tracking system on Facebook, he said.

“Our focus is exclusively Upper Midwest. We know and understand how Indeed works in Mitchell, S.D., versus Minneapolis,” Petersen said. “There are different ways to go about using Indeed and ZipRecruiter for the unique hiring needs of businesses in flyover country … and we’re very focused on producing local candidates, so that’s unique.”

The price is competitive too, he said.

“Because we own the technology, we sort of took our time with it, so we could come out with an extremely favorable price point. So while your big companies have had applicant tracking systems, most small businesses haven’t been able to afford an applicant tracking system. We have it down to the point of a quick install and $99 per month, no contracts required, which is extremely unique in the business.”

About 90 percent of clients have not used an applicant tracking system before this, he said.

The 11-person HireClick team is based in an office at 8th & Railroad Center in downtown Sioux Falls. It just launched HireClick in Lincoln, Neb., and is expanding to Omaha and Des Moines.

“Our operational plan has us at pretty aggressive growth,” Petersen said. “I really estimate we will grow from a team of 11 to probably between 30 and 40 in four to five years, and we anticipate all that growth will be in Sioux Falls. I’m a big believer.”