Database company opens Sedalia research, call center

A Sedalia native has returned home to open a research and customer service center downtown that is expected to create 70 to 80 jobs.

Doug Curry is chief executive officer of Xceligent, an Independence-based company that builds databases of commercial properties. It has databases for 27 markets and recently joined with a nationwide company to service the top 100 markets.

“It seemed like a nice thing to come back to my hometown,” Curry said at a press conference Monday.

Some 50 people including state, county and city officials, along with community and business leaders attended the announcement at the Economic Development Sedalia-Pettis County office.

About 15 people are already working for Xceligent here. The center is at 400 S. Ohio Ave., where the company will have research market analysis, sales transaction research, customer care and client service positions.

All employees are hired at entry-level positions, then advance, Curry said. Job candidates should have strong written and oral skills, and some computer knowledge.

“We’re going to teach skills as it relates to real estate,” Curry said.

Here’s how the company works: Workers in the designated market photograph commercial property and document its characteristics. Those who work at centers, like the one here, call brokers monthly to update information about the property, such as who is leasing it and if the space is vacant. Brokers pay a subscription fee for access to the database.

The venture here is “very different than a call center,” Curry said. Employees develop relationships with brokers and, with research and knowledge of commercial real estate, will be able to analyze the data they collect to establish trends.

Xceligent chose Sedalia for the research and customer care center because executives found that Missourians have a strong work ethic, Curry said.

“Sedalia was an obvious choice for us,” he said. “The consistent Missouri work ethic seems to be something we can count on and rely on.”

It isn’t often that successful businessmen return to their hometowns to expand businesses, but Sedalia seems to be different, said Linda Christle, executive director of Economic Development Sedalia-Pettis County.

“If you give to your children through education ... I think they remember that, and they think about in the back of their mind: ‘Can we do that in Sedalia?’ And they can,” she said.

Curry said the company will find out in the next six months to a year if it qualifies for state tax credits for opening the center here.

Christle said the company should qualify for the Missouri Quality Jobs program, which offers tax credits if at least 10 employees are paid at or above the county average. Pettis County’s average wage is $26,886.

Christle said she hopes the company’s venture will jump start a trend of locating more technology-based businesses here.

“It’s a real nice opportunity for us to have a company of this quality start us out in the technology arena,” she said.

The company will also help with revitalizing downtown, said Meg Liston, administrator of Sedalia Downtown Development Inc. She said downtown revitalization needs more than additional retail and renovations of buildings.

“Non-retail, quality jobs are an essential element in downtown districts,” Liston said.

When Curry and his wife, Erin, started the company in 1999 there was a lack of databases for commercial properties.

The company has databases in 27 markets including Kansas City, St. Louis, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Miami and San Diego. It recently joined with LoopNet, Inc., a San Francisco company that focuses on listing commercial properties for sale, to provide services to the top 100 markets.

This year, Xceligent has databases planned for Oklahoma City, Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Fla. Curry said the company will do 10 to 15 markets a year until it reaches the top 100. Eventually, the company would like to cover the United States.