Bruce’s PBSA 2024 Annual Conference Report
PBSA 2024 Fall Conference
Boston Mass Sep 8-10, 2024
What a great conference. It was well attended with a highly spirited group of participants and so many new faces. What a joy. Attendance totaled 798 of in-person with 202 being first-time attendees (25%!), 515 regular attendees and 283 exhibitor personnel.
Sunday night’s opening ceremony was a full house. Chairperson Chad Ascar handed over the reins to new Chairperson Tim Gordon, who updated us on the organization’s state and future plans.
Then, we went into the Exhibit Hall for refreshments and networking. The layout of the Exhibit Hall was a bit disjointed, but the attendees were quite capable of finding the exhibitors they were specifically seeking as well as others. As always, it was great to see everyone. We heard many comments that the food being served at every meal was the best of any conference.
After the Exhibit Hall from 6-8PM, the party started. It was a very nice two hours with a sports team theme and no loud music to try to overcome when having discussions. The pizza was some of the best ever, and the ice cream bar was way too tempting. On the other hand, there was no music for dancing. The 8-10 hours were great for conversations, but I am hoping next year, from 10-12, there will be a dancing atmosphere.
Sad to say but there was no party Monday at all☹.
Of course all was not just fun and games. Over the two days of the conference, many critical, timely, and informative sessions were covered. This considerable investment in time and information from those presenting is provided to you as a member/attendee, making attendance an invaluable return on your small investment while supporting your Association. If you want more specifics on session topics, see the PBSA website, or better yet, be there next time.
Industry Trends
Sales Growth.
Not every CRA we spoke with is showing revenue growth this year, with things beginning to soften for many. Some companies said they are currently down as much as 10%, but most less than that, and several looked at me like I was crazy when I asked how much their sales were down because they were actually up dramatically.
Overall, the feedback was that CRAs believe we are not in for a significant recession. How the upcoming elections will impact the economy and, in turn, affect hiring is yet to be seen, but our industry should remain healthy. Yet we hear that there are significant reductions in force (RIFs) at the largest CRAs. Checkr had a 32% cut this year, and RIFs are expected to happen if the acquisition of Sterling by First Advantage is not restricted from closing by the Feds (note: most feel there is still plenty of competitors in the space, so the Feds should not be an obstacle).
For those terminated, if you want to stay in the industry, remember there are over 500 CRAs (including several non-PBSA members) registered on the industry job board, and you can post your resume at no cost. www.BackgroundScreeningJobs.com
Productivity improvements.
We heard a lot about the productivity improvements that smart CRAs are driving via technology. One provider told me they just created an API with a large CRA client that will eliminate three people—a huge savings.
Joynd showed off its new technology for integrating CRAs with ATSs, a 5-minute, cost-effective process. Congratulations to Joynd.
CRAs are moving their platforms (proprietary or third-party) to what they feel are more robust and/or cost-effective platforms. Sometimes, this is a painful process, but they felt the need for the long-term benefits.
New product offerings.
ITRV. The IRS is now offering instant reports of income verification. The new source is https://salviaconsulting.com/. Accio is currently finishing their integration to this data.
Data Analytics. A&R Analytics offers a package of critical management data extracted from your technology (proprietary or 3rd party) presented in a highly usable and actionable format. Ask me if you need to know more.
Labor offshoring (ZimWorks). CRAs have offshored labor to India but other countries are being found where the accented English is closer to North American.
Derek Hinson invents another product: Common Name Ranking. The logic here is that the more popular the name, the more likely the chance for a hit and the more likely the hit is not actually on the applicant you are vetting.
Berg Consulting Group is now offering marketing expertise via a Fractional CMO, Michael Kirsh.
VerifDiploma offers a database of background information for France.
Mergers & Acquisitions.
We heard from many companies about their interest in acquisitions, although we were also approached by those who were interested in current valuations and how we could help them in the process of selling. The industry is still very much in a sellers’ marketplace, with many more buyers than sellers; albeit the valuations are negatively impacted by the lack of strong YoY sales growth and the overall concern about recession.
My gut told me that the summer was a languid time for M&A, so I just checked my records. I cannot find a single deal done (except for Accurate Acquiring Orangetree) since the spring conference. I can assure you that will not be the situation between now and the end of the year.
International:
CRAs seem to have more and more requests from clients for international searches.
Foreign-based screening companies are more and more eager to work to move outside their local area client base to capture volume in the vast US market.
Blockchain. Considering all the talk about this over the past two years, I never even heard the word mentioned at the conference. There are not many specifics about how any CRAs are using AI yet, either.
People, Places, Stuff
- Nick Fishman is leaving InformData into a hiatus.
- Same for Vince Brodt.
- Megan Martinson moved from InformData to Eagle Eye Screening Solutions.
- Melissa Kearns moved from InformData to SPI.
- Mary Poquette was awarded the Mike Sankey Award for contributions to the industry and PBSA. Congrats, Mary.
- Jennifer Hoots is now with Tauxbe Data as Executive Director of Product.
- Jackie Loriga (former First Choice) has a new wholesale company, Safe Check Research.
- Craig Cadell has left Verisys and is looking.
- Scott Hall has left FirstPoint to Zirrus (outside the industry).
- Dave Fox is gone from FirstPoint, and Bill Howard is now leading their screening function.
- Nikki Holten (former Eli Lilly) is now back in the industry, with Capwell Consulting Group.
- Kim (Castellanos) Riff was back at PBSA with news about her twins on the way.
- Nina French, the drug screening guru, is developing a whole new approach using smartphone technology to avoid accidents caused by impaired individuals. She is very passionate about this, and I was very impressed with the concept.
- Melissa Foiles left ISB Global and is back with her compliance consulting firm ILYM.
- I have to give kudos to AccioData once again for having the most innovative exhibit booth: a 20×20 space with nothing more than a VR headset. Barry and Galen do it again!
- Dean Carras, the godfather of organizing great PBSA conferences, has moved from Equifax to IDI.
- Frank Phillip has moved from Tessera to Background Information Services (BIS).
- Keoki Huffman has moved from Tessera to building his own public record (NatCrim) products.
- Renae Cramphin and Wanda Hicks have moved from CRI to their start-up, iProtect Screening.
- Phil Smith and Lianne Charton have left AccusourceHR.
- Val Butler has left InfoCubic to Cisive.
- Chuck Salvia is recovering after surviving a triple bypass.
Thank you to all the Association staff at PBSA and our wonderful Executive Director, Melissa Sorenson and Operations Director, Michelle Leblond, and Director of Conferences, Katie Sissler for organizing a great conference.
The PBSA 2025 Spring conference is in Arlington, VA.
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