ARA Content: Preserving Reputation and Legacy

Ted Yoch had come to the conclusion it was time to begin stepping away from the day to day operation of his profitable e-content business. ARA Content had grown steadily since he spun it off from another business, but Ted was really getting stretched too thin. Nearing retirement but not wishing to totally step away from the business, he was hoping to turn things over to a qualified individual who could really focus on building the organization for the future. However, Ted didn't have anyone qualified internally to step into a President role, so he needed to go outside the organization. Ted was very concerned about preserving ARA's strong industry reputation, level of trust and culture, and wasn't sure he could find someone on the outside who would maintain that reputation and preserve the legacy he had created. Vendors, employees and particularly customers, had come to rely on what ARA delivered - high quality content, on time and on target for their client's advertising and public relations needs.

KeyStone was hired to identify and secure that individual; someone with not only strong skills in sales/marketing, internet delivery, staff management and operations, but also a person possessing similar core values to Ted's, someone who would maintain and expand the ARA way of doing business.

After conducting a core values assessment with Ted and his team at ARA, KeyStone developed a set of cultural criteria to evaluate potential candidates. KeyStone sourced numerous potential candidates and presented Ted the top five. Through multiple interviews and psychological assessments, a very strong candidate named Scott Severson emerged. KeyStone assisted through the offer phase and Scott became ARA's President. One year after Scott's hire, ARAnet had grown over 30%. "KeyStone did an outstanding job of securing the right person for the right job. Scott is a perfect match of skills, experience and core values for ARA," Ted said.

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