Calling the Shots

Jason Lasure The Analyst Group President, Pensacola

The partners at The Analyst Group in Pensacola call their software system The Bridge because it spans the gap between what workforce scheduling and management software should do and what it actually does insurance. The partners hope it’s also a bridge to success. From the Gulf Coast Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship incubator in Pensacola, their company works for call centers that outsource forecasting, scheduling and results reporting. All four company founders — Jason Lasure, William Cathey, Bradley Burch, Zachary Stewart — graduated from Pace High near Pensacola and the University of West Florida. Three of the four worked for the Navy Federal Credit Union, learning the call center business before founding The Analyst Group in August 2007. They sell their software as part of a service to large and small call-center operators. At present, it’s a small company, a full-time occupation for only two of the four. Lasure, 32, says the recession hasn’t made things easy but has focused call centers on saving money, which is his company’s promise — economizing by accurately forecasting labor needs, when to hire, how many to schedule, how to optimize the workforce.

Several large deals are hanging fire, Lasure says. “We do project some pretty good growth this year.”