Don Murray, the Executive Chairman & CEO of Resources Connection, Inc. (RECN) Interviews with the Wall Street Transcript

67 WALL STREET, New York - January 18, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Staffing, Outsourcing and Rental & Leasing Services Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Workforce Flexibility Requirements - Growth in Temporary Staffing Demand - Secular Trend Toward Temporary Staffing - Strong Demand For IT Staffing - Growth in Equipment Leasing Adoption Rates - Consolidation Potential in Fragmented Industry

Companies include: Resources Connection Inc. (RECN)

In the following excerpt from the Staffing, Outsourcing and Rental & Leasing Services Report, an expert analyst discusses the outlook for the sector for investors:

TWST: Please introduce our readers to Resources Global Professionals, the operating unit of RECN, with a company history and then what the business looks like today.

Mr. Murray: The history of our business is we were started by myself when I was a Partner at Deloitte. Deloitte at that time had an investment fund for venture investments, and they agreed to fund my idea. And we got funding of about $2 million to start with, which we were able to pay back within about six months. The whole idea was a venture-backed investment that would, typical for venture-backed companies, be able to give a venture capital-type of return to the partners. And that in turn was a five-year plan just like most venture capital plans are, but Deloitte got worried about independence, and after two years they asked us to basically spin the company out.

So we did that and spun the company out with the help of Evercore Partners, and went public in 2000. We were the last IPO in 2000. Up to this recession, we had a nice growth curve; we just tried to survive the recession. And we have expanded from our base accounting and finance services into first, IM services (information management), and then we expanded that base into human capital, supply chain management and risk management. Lately we have been working hard on our risk management businesses, and introduced legal services as an alternative to hiring high-priced outside counsel.

TWST: What would you say distinguishes Resources Connection from other staffing or similar service companies?

Mr. Murray: We don't refer to ourself as a staffing company, because our people really are professionals, and they make a living from doing this. They are not going to find a "permanent" job, because this is their career. Most staffing companies, the people are very interim, transitional people. Our consultants have been with us for 10 years, seven years, five years. So it's kind of a hybrid model, and what distinguishes us is just that - we have people that are very happy at what they do, they are very comfortable in what they are doing, so they are not particularly looking for, as you put it, a staffing type of role. They're looking to do projects, they like doing projects, dedicated to solving problems, and our people are very experienced.

So the difference between us and, say, another type of business that might seem similar is that our people are very experienced. And typically when you would bring in consultants from a traditional consulting firm, those people are not that experienced. They rely on a business model where they would hire young people first, and then those young people would bring in a pyramid type of scheme, so the majority of the people in the company are at the lower level and less experienced.

Contrast that to our business: the lower level people on our pyramid are very experienced people with 20-plus years of experience. So our people don't need to be trained, their billing rates are very reasonable for their level of experience, and so we're really like a project management firm.

And because of the way we work, our staff doesn't necessarily have to be full time, per se, and typically our people would be very skilled for what you are looking for. We don't just throw out an unassigned body to a client. We basically look for the right skill set to get the project done correctly, and that's a huge difference between us and a number of companies.

TWST: Who would you say are your typical clients or your range of clients?

Mr. Murray: If you look at our business model, we attract all types of clients, but the majority of our revenue comes from the Fortune 500 type of clients. We have several thousand clients, including middle-market businesses, and we value those businesses. But the majority of revenue basically comes from recurring Fortune 500 revenue. So if you think of anybody in the Fortune 500, that's a typical recurring client for us.

TWST: Are you seeing any particular trends evident among your client base?

For more of this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.