Apr 19, 2004

Finding Roots For Family Trees

WEDNESDAY April 14, 2004

Finding roots for family trees
By Bob Mims
The Salt Lake Tribune

 America's fascination with mining cyberspace for genealogical gold has given Provo's MyFamily.com the kind of problems any business would love: rapid growth and the need to hire.
    Bursting at the seams of its old, rented call-center facility on the north end of the Novell's campus, MyFamily.com moved this week into more spacious digs at 235 E. 1600 South in Provo. The space was needed to house about half the Internet genealogy company's more than 800 employees -- a work force double the size it was a year ago.
    "Since Jan. 1 alone, we've grown by 150 new jobs," said Craig Sherman, chief marketing and revenue officer. "My guess is we will add another 300 jobs by the end of the year."
    While a grand opening is planned for today, about 400 call center staffers began working at the new, 49,000-square-foot location on Monday that until 2001 served as a Sears call center. The new center should top 700 workers by early 2005, Sherman said.
    The privately held MyFamily.com does not release specific earnings, but Sherman said sales have increased 20-fold over the past six years.
    "The key reason for that is that the Internet makes doing family history much faster and easier than ever before. That has fueled the growth of this hobby," he said.
    MyFamily.com has 1.6 million paying subscribers, with more than 10 million visitors logging on to its family of Web sites, which includes MyFamily.com, Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com and RootsWeb.com.
    MyFamily.com also sells Family Tree Maker-brand software, publishes Ancestry and Genealogical Computing magazines, and numerous books and computer databases.
The company's new facility, Sherman emphasized, is not "just another call center.
    "In the next couple weeks, we will introduce a very sophisticated genealogy training program for all of our agents at the center," he said. "We pride ourselves on education and training -- and we are proud of what we do.
    "This is not just selling widgets, credit cards or financial services," Sherman declared. "We are passionate about this; we are helping people find more meaning in their lives, learn about their pasts, who they are and where they come from."
    The new center is much more than just banks of phones, computers and cubicles. An extensive game room, complete with big-screen televisions and other diversions, is incorporated into the building -- as is room set aside for quiet study.
    The latter feature reflects what Sherman said was the "core" of MyFamily.com's work force, students from nearby Brigham Young University and Utah Valley State College. Earning an average of $12 an hour, the younger workers are supplemented by senior citizens with genealogical expertise.
   Applications will be taken today during the open house, set to begin at 3 p.m.