Founded by local entrepreneur Diego Solis, Open World HR is a business that offers international staffing and employee outsourcing solutions.

When Solis began to develop plans to provide accessibly priced employees to small business owners, he researched resource options and found the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center at the U of A.

The assistance he received from consultant Stephanie Parsons made a real difference in refining his ideas. "Stephanie listened to the project and believed in it," Solis said. "This made me think I could actually do it!"

Open HR offers remote hiring of skilled, dedicated contractors from Mexico who are fluent in English. This offers a lower cost service compared to the market due to the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Mexican peso, enabling an excellent wage to the Mexican workers. "We help small businesses optimize their output, accelerate growth and reduce payroll expenses," according to Solis.

Cross-collaboration between ASBTDC specialists was beneficial to this business start. Carolina Mejia, bilingual consultant, worked to connect Solis with the Hispanic community, since culturally, this market is more inclined to hire personnel from their own country. He also took advantage of the quarterly trainings offered by the center.  "They connected us to people and other free resources that have allowed us to expand our knowledge," Solis said. "Every day I learned something new about accounting, law and sales."

Solis would advise those considering a business start to work with the ASBTDC. "There is no need to look elsewhere. They truly care for everyone who asks for help."

The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center at the U of A helps small businesses in Northwest Arkansas thrive. With offices in Fayetteville and Bentonville, ASBTDC consultants provide one-on-one confidential consulting at no cost to the client and in-person and virtual trainings and workshops to help entrepreneurs gain the knowledge and skill to be successful.

The ASBTDC at the U of A is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration through a partnership with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and is a unit of the Division of Economic Development, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.