Offsite Works, a local outsourcing company started by Denise Gore, has been named the best ‘Home-based Business Advocate’ in the state, according to Small Business Association media spokesman David Tiller.

The award will be presented during Small Business Week, May 7, at a program for all winners in Tennessee.

“What really impresses me about this is – not only is it innovative – but also she is female, she is not under 30, and she is working in what we could agree is a quite high-tech atmosphere,” Tiller said. “Her press list of satisfied customers is totally amazing. Many huge companies – Southwest Airlines, Broadcast Music Inc. - you’re talking about companies that have to outsource for short and longer projects and they’ve really found someone they can depend on.”

Gore’s business employs more than 100 independent contractors, 90 percent have at least five years experience in the workplace and 80 percent have college degrees. The company’s tagline is “think outside the walls.”

“The difference for companies is knowing what work they have that can move outside their walls and how that action comes about,” Gore said. “Every call I make, or my salesperson makes, is almost like a consultant. We talk about their workflow process and what do they do in their business. What are the things that seem to be bottle-necked or back-logged or deadline-oriented?”

After researching the idea on the Internet seven years ago, Gore said she “spent some time trying to decide if it had any merit, and if someone would even use the services.”

Shortly thereafter, she developed Offsite Works and headquartered the agency in the office wing of her home. Because there wasn’t anything like it at the time, Gore wrote all of her own contracts, work orders, and agreements with her independent contractors.

“We’ve become like a department to many companies so they don’t have to staff it onsite,” Gore said. “A lot of times, it’s not necessarily their core business but their functions that, if they don’t do these functions, their core business won’t happen. That’s where we fit in the best.”

Gore says her core business has come from contract work force - a company needing a team of people to handle a particular function that is ongoing. Regional offices with data intensive needs including survey work, warranty cards, registering at a trade shows, insurance enrollment or reenrollment forms are all examples of tasks performed by Offsite Works.

“Anything that comes from the consumer, it will still be a very long time before they will all be able to go on the Internet and fill out your warranty card,” she said. “That’s a long time coming.”

The Offsite contractors are assigned a deadline and correspond with each other via e-mail and e-group discussions. Gore said they meet in person a couple times a year and also release printed quarterly updates.

“The people in our workforce want flexibility and like that opportunity to work at their own pace. We don’t try to find our people, they find us,” Gore said, noting her company hasn’t had to advertise for workers. “ Most all of our contracts are on deadline rather than a certain person has to work eight hours. It’s growing. It’s still not where we’d like it to be because we have more people than work.”

Once a prospective customer has been contacted, Offsite Works performs a cost-benefit analysis to see if it can perform the same tasks outside the office for a better price. If Offsite Works can benefit the company through outsourcing, a Pilot program is instituted for further evaluation.

“If we can show real numbers in savings, and they can see the other benefits – deadlines being met and they don’t have to manage these people and they don’t even have to worry about a thing – they want to know how long they can keep this going and how many more people they can put on other things,” Gore said.