HomeAdvisor, an online home services marketplace formerly known as ServiceMagic, is getting ready for its next big moves. That includes opening up a sales and training office at 15th and Wazee streets in January and relocating its headquarters and 300 or more of its more than 900 positions from Golden to Denver.
The new sales and training office in Denver is designed as a training and leadership program to help develop small business leaders and entrepreneurs, according to spokesperson Brooke Gabbert. "It's to build and capitalize on what Denver is seeing right now. Developing the entrepreneurial spirit and growing them as leaders," she says. "We plan on having 60 to 70 employees in that office." She says the company plans to open that office on Jan. 4.
That program, Gabbert explains, calls for a two-year commitment and will develop develop small business leaders as well as prepare participants for sales and leadership jobs within HomeAdvisor. As such, she says it's a program that's similar in some aspects to those available through Galvanize or the Commons on Champa.
Also, the company hasn't finalized its plans yet but Gabbert confirmed that it plans to move its headquarters from Golden to Denver. "Being closer to downtown is better for recruiting," HomeAdvisor CEO Chris Terrill told The Denver Post. "It will be a place we can grow. We're actually growing so quickly that when we started the process of looking downtown, we're already larger than we thought we'd be."
The company is making other moves. It recently announced a partnership with Google allowing homeowners to book appointments with home service providers Google's search results via a "Book Now" option. "No other player in our category is able to power instant scheduling at such massive scale," Terrill said in a release. "It will also drive more qualified customers to the small businesses in our marketplace -- a marketplace that will drive an estimated $25-$30 billion of gross marketplace transactions this year alone."
In addition HomeAdvisor's parent company, IAC/InterActiveCorp, made a bid to acquire HomeAdvisor's rival Angie's List for roughly $512 million. "The combination of the Angie's List brand, highly trafficked website and its network of paying service professionals with our HomeAdvisor business, the category leader which has seen eight consecutive quarters of accelerating growth in its core U.S. business, would cement our position as the premier home services platform," said Joey Levin, CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Chris Meehan with tips and leads for future stories at chris@confluence-denver.com.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.