Elliot Forsyth, Proquest vice president, said the Ann Arbor-based digital archiving company added 100 positions in 2010 and plans steady growth in 2011.

Angele J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

The pace was unexpected. And it’s still going to take three years to regain what we lost in recent years.

Yet that also means that many local companies are increasing their headcounts, adding 4,087 jobs in 2010, according to University of Michigan researchers. By 2013, 8,840 jobs will be added to that number.

Those totals show that Washtenaw County’s economic recovery is under way, according to the annual Economic Outlook forecast prepared for AnnArbor.com.

Where are these jobs? Fueling the gains are companies large and small that are adding single positions or dozens, depending on their individual pace of growth.

One of the larger growth stories in the county is Ann Arbor’s ProQuest, which hired 100 people in Washtenaw County in 2010.

Four years after it was launched - following a sale by its parent company, then known as ProQuest, and a merger - it’s about 70 percent larger, said Elliot Forsyth, senior vice president of the digital archiving company based on East Eisenhower Parkway.

“A lot of that is attributed to acquisitions,” he said. “We’ve had some nice organic growth as well.”

In 2010, the company hired about 100 people, most of whom work at the corporate office and some who work at the company’s manufacturing facility in Ypsilanti Township. The total local employment base in the county is now more than 600.

This year, the local headcount already has grown by 20, Forsyth said. Many of the jobs are in product management, finance and marketing.

The 100-person gain won’t be repeated this year.

However, ProQuest still expects to add to the county’s employment base: “For the balance of this year, our focus is to continue to grow and to migrate these acquisitions,” Forsyth said.

Washtenaw County’s largest employer - the University of Michigan - is forecast to grow more, adding 4,461 jobs from 2009 to 2013.

Many of those jobs will be in the U-M Health System, which at the end of 2010 employed 21,271. The Ann Arbor campus, meanwhile, employed 18,191.

In 2010, 4,000 jobs were filled - and 60 percent of those were filled by external candidates, said spokesman Rick Fitzgerald in an e-mail. Of those jobs, 53 percent were in the health system.

“The university anticipates continued modest growth in hiring during 2011,” Fitzgerald said. “However, many of those who will be hired this year will replace those choosing to retire or will fill new positions related to funded research.”

At the Hyundai America Technical Center Inc. in Superior Township, the headquarters for the automaker’s North American engineering operations, more than 170 employees are on staff. They’re doing tasks like engineering design, powertrain development and testing, customer research, and environmental testing and certification.

About two dozen of those positions were added in 2010, Hyundai spokesman Dan Bedore said in an e-mail.

Those hires came as the auto industry started its rebound - and as the Asian automaker set U.S. sales records.

Hyundai’s Technical Center “has plans to hire in modest numbers in 2011 for positions in various departments,” Bedore wrote. Those jobs will be engineers, technicians and corporate professional staff, he added.

Modest job gains finally are forecast for the construction industry, which was battered by the housing slowdown, then beaten down some more as the recession stalled both residential and commercial construction. Local construction employment was cut in half from 2005 to 2010, according to the report.

The key word is “modest,” and in many cases it comes as companies shift gears. Some Washtenaw County building companies branched into other states over the last several years. Some learned new skills, shifting from home building to remodeling or demolition.

Beal Inc. is one of the companies that’s shifted gears several times, resulting in a rapid hiring pace since it reached a staff of 50 in 2008.

Today, owner Stewart Beal said, he has 144 employees. They’re in Ann Arbor, but also Detroit, Toledo, and - most recently - Atlanta.

“The people I’ve hired have a constant drive to get more work,” Beal said. “…. We’re very versatile and do all sorts of projects.”

Hiring for 2011 already is starting. This month, he’s hiring two new estimators. Their job is to keep writing bids, aiming to keep the pipeline full. A major project with 70 employees ends in May, and they’re seeking jobs on school buildings that will start in May or June.

The economy has benefitted the company: Its demolition work didn’t slow at all, instead becoming a growth area. This year, Beal is projecting sales of $7.5 million, up from $5.8 million in 2010.

The growth isn’t limited to laborer positions. The size and expansion of the company means that Beal needed a human resource director, a CFO and other support that helps him run the company.

“By having this work, we’ve been able to create jobs that never existed before,” Beal said.

While forecasts call for more retail jobs, it’s hard to find wide-scale evidence of hiring. The industry stayed ahead of declining sales and profit margin pressures by limiting payroll, and many retailers cut or eliminated positions through attrition.

National news shows gains in retail sales and a boost in consumer confidence, which eventually should result in more retail jobs. Gains may be most immediately visible through seasonal hiring this spring, such as at home improvement stores, which are reporting dramatically higher sales.

In the meantime, retailers are enjoying the sales rebound.

“Things have been positive in terms of business,” said Ida Hendrix, manager of Briarwood Mall.

However, she added about jobs, “I have not heard a buzz that (our stores are) hiring more people.”

Bar and restaurant positions also are expected to grow this year - but that may take more time before existing businesses add staff to pre-recession levels.

Like manufacturing, many in the industry were watching for stability. They know that the return of jobs to the county mean that residents likely will have more disposable income to spend in their establishments.

Mainstreet Ventures - based in Ann Arbor but with restaurants in several states - isn’t looking to add to its permanent staff here, said Kevin Gudejko, director of operations.

But the company hasn’t laid people off, and it’s preparing to hire 40 to 50 people to work this summer at Palio, the seasonal rooftop restaurant on South Main Street.

“We’ve been fortunate in that things have been very stable for us,” Gudejko said.

Job gains are reaching service providers. The sector - described as a “grab bag” of job types in the Outlook report - includes repair and maintenance, membership associations and private household employment.

The nanny business saw some changes in recent years, said Lily Sacks, a partner in My Nanny Rocks of Ann Arbor. The agency kept many of its high-income clients, but lost more middle-income families who sought nanny placement - or fielded more requests for part-time nannies as parents sought to cut down on expenses.

However, today the company is fielding four to six new requests per week and “we’re definitely scrambling for caregivers,” Sacks said.

The requests started to increase over the last six to 10 months, giving Sacks an early economic indicator of the rebound visible in the Outlook report.

She and her partners will interview four to seven prospective nannies a week, as part of their screening process. The ones who are chosen often get placed right away.

Some job growth is related to acquisitions by local companies, which in turn bring their new employees to the area as part of a growth plan. It’s working in the reverse in the case of some local employers - like HandyLab.

Yet Amcor, a global company that bases its rigid plastics division in Pittsfield Township, is one example of a local company that’s benefitted from expansion - and one that will benefit from a non-automotive manufacturing rebound.

Two acquisitions were absorbed into the Pittsfield Township office in 2010, prompting an expansion in its Avis Farms facility. With 45 local employees now - including some who will transfer from Manchester, the facility now will hold up to 80 employees, said spokeswoman Shelley Steele.

New positions will be added slowly, she said. But they’re also the high-education, high-wage jobs sought in the region: They’d be financial, IT and engineering positions.

Steele adds that she still sees signs that the region has to rebound. One indicator is the number of “for lease” signs in Avis Farms.

But the overall jobs growth, she said, “is thrilling to hear. Like everyone else, I was a little worried when Pfizer left. It’s nice to drive by (there) and see some activity.

“… I think we have a lot to look forward to.”

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.