Outlook 2010: TeL Systems is busy but hiring is on hold until workflow stabilizes

The employee-owned company employs about 30 people and weathered the downtown without layoffs.

Its product is commercial video and sound systems. Smaller projects might be adding a projector with sound to a conference room. Larger contracts are tied to new construction and major building renovations: Firekeepers Casino near Battle Creek and the University of Michigan Stadium are two examples.

Given the construction slowdown -reflected in part by the loss of 613 local construction jobs from 2008 through this year - and number of building projects put on hold, the future work pipeline for TeL Systems remains uncertain even as the company needs to hire temporary workers to keep up.

“I’m a little concerned that some of the construction downturn is yet to come,” Couyoumjian said. “… There aren’t a lot of buildings being designed and planned.”

So while the company is generating profits on revenue of up to $15 million per year, hiring remains on hold.

“Until we feel the economy is on a little more solid footing, we’re going to use outside contractors,” Couyoumjian said.

Couyoumjian looks back to late 2006 as the start of a less-stable business climate. That timing coincides to the year when Washtenaw County started a four-year streak of job losses that totaled 13,575.

It’s that streak that’s forecast to end this year, based on this year’s Outlook report. With what economists call a “handful” of jobs lost before gains return, data shows momentum heading toward the local labor market.

Whether that results in TeL Systems adding staff remains to be seen.

“We get resumes all the time,” Couyoumjian said. “There are a lot of people looking.”

Yet when positions open at Tel Systems, they’ll be highly technical jobs - reflecting the new mix in the local job market where jobs requiring education are expanding, and jobs requiring little education are disappearing at a faster rate.

Couyoumjian said his cautious approach to hiring is part of the company’s strategy: “We’ve always paid close attention to the bottom line.”

And as president of the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Area Chamber of Commerce, he also sees many of the area’s high-tech and startup companies riding waves of growth.

Watching that success after four years of downturn is helping the area rebuild its confidence, Couyoumjian said.

“I feel a little better now than I did a year ago in terms of where things are,” he said.

“There has been a bit of a psychological malaise … I do think people are feeling a little better and a little more positive.”

Paula Gardner is Business News Director of AnnArbor.com. Contact her at 734-623-2586 or by email. Sign up for the weekly Business Review newsletter, distributed every Thursday, here.