As families clean out closets, attics and cabinets to pass the time during quarantine, a local media conversion company is growing its workforce to keep pace with demand.
"The interest in our services has continued throughout the year, and now with so many at home and spending time with family, the importance of protecting analog media for generations is even more important," said Legacybox co-founder Nick Macco.
The company hired 60 full-time employees in the last three weeks, growing its overall workforce to 230. The new hires work across the company's operations in customer support, design, marketing, fulfillment and processing.
The hiring comes as the company surpasses 850,000 customers, co-founder Adam Boeselager said.
"We're building the team that will help us with growing demand and advance towards 1 million customers," Boeselager said.
Macco and Boeselager first founded Southtree in 2009, though the business began in 2006, when they were college students at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, transferring VCR tapes to DVDs in their garage. In 2013, they launched Legacybox, a branch of Southtree that provides consumers with four package options and all the materials they need to label and ship their media.
"We're immensely proud to be able to offer work opportunities during a period that has been difficult for many – and we're able to offer that in an environment built on innovation and safety," Boeselager said.
Most of the company's's Holtzclaw Avenue headquarters is closed, with the majority of office staff working from home, Macco said.
"We have a limited staff back operating with full CDC guidelines, he said. "Our non-public production facilities implemented CDC guidelines even before they were released, including temperature and wellness screenings, provision of PPE, mandatory glove usage, closure of common areas, enhanced professional cleaning, and new shifts without overlap."
Legacybox has also completely reconfigured workflows to allow socially distanced workstations. Employees who are on site work in isolated work cells called "horseshoes," Macco said.
In 2016, the company was named one of "America's Fastest Growing Companies" by Inc. Magazine. Goop, the luxury lifestyle website launched by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, featured the business in its 2019 men's holiday gift guide.
Macco and Boeselager have appeared on the Home Shopping Network and QVC to promote Southtree, which has also been called "Best Memory Keeper" by Good Housekeeping Magazine, "A Must Have" by ABC's The View, and "My 2016 Resolution" by Rachael Ray Every Day Magazine.
Contact Mary Fortune at mfortune@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow her on Twitter at @maryfortune.