Retirement's a happy ending for ABR founder

Jim MacDougald says he couldn't be happier for his company, which was sold to Ceridian, and himself.

By KRIS HUNDLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 30, 2000

Jim MacDougald may be a millionaire many times over, but the founder of ABR Information Services knew what he really wanted when he sold his company to Ceridian Corp. a year ago: health insurance benefits after retirement.

"I've been in the health insurance business for 35 years, and I know how hard it is to go out and buy it as an individual," MacDougald said in an interview Thursday, the day after he announced his retirement. "So I put in the deal that they have to give me health insurance until I'm 65. That's my perk and I'm not embarrassed by it. That's all: no retirement plan, no bonus, no separation payment. I got what I got a year ago when I sold my stock."

Of course, MacDougald got a windfall then: $43-million for his family's 5.8 percent stake in the company he built. But rather than take the money and run, MacDougald, 57, agreed to stay on during ABR's consolidation with the giant Minneapolis human resources company and his operation's relocation from Palm Harbor to a new campus in St. Petersburg.

"They knew they couldn't incent me economically to stay on; I'm not that greedy," MacDougald said of his employment agreement with Ceridian. "I just said, "You're giving me and the shareholders a lot of cash and I won't let you down. I'll just make sure that when the time comes for me to leave that it will be amicable.' "

About six weeks ago, as the company now known as Ceridian Benefits Services was moving its last department to the new location, MacDougald suggested the time was right to retire. His new bosses agreed.

"We're solid as a rock and have a good management team in place that's ready and eager to move up the ladder," said MacDougald, who will be succeeded by Bill Povilus, an eight-year veteran of the company. "The whole company is a dream, and the ending is the best kind of ending."

MacDougald, who leaves office at the end of July, said such a happy ending wasn't so obvious a year ago. The company, which administers benefits for major Fortune 500 employers, was worried about potential computer problems due to the year 2000. Then there were concerns about the relocation to south Pinellas County.

The sheer logistics of the move for a company that depends on being constantly accessible to its customers was daunting enough. Added to that were fears that hundreds of employees from north Pinellas would resign rather than make the move, forcing Ceridian Benefits to find workers in an unknown market at a time of record low unemployment.

"We thought we'd lose 400 employees when we made the move," MacDougald said. "And we didn't know what kinds of obstacles we'd face recruiting in St. Pete. We thought we'd never get the workers and the wheels would come off this thing."

MacDougald's nightmares didn't materialize. New Year's Day came and went with nary a computer glitch. The physical move of hundreds of workers took place with military precision and no inconvenienced customers, thanks to a redundant computer and phone system.

Fewer than 100 employees decided to leave as a result of the move. And, most important, when Ceridian Benefits threw job fairs to fill vacancies in south Pinellas, hundreds of well-qualified people showed up.

"We were ready to go through hell, but it was shocking how easy it was to find good people here," said MacDougald, adding that job candidates in St. Petersburg tested markedly higher on intelligence tests than applicants in Palm Harbor. "St. Pete doesn't appreciate what a great work force it has here."

The upshot: Ceridian Benefits hired 100 workers to replace those who resigned; another 100 to meet expansion needs; and 200 more because the company has moved Wisconsin and Virginia offices to Florida.

MacDougald suspects good candidates might have been attracted by the stability of a large corporation, as well as perks like a jogging trail, on-campus day care center and new offices. But he doubts pay was an issue.

"We consider our wages average for entry, though they're probably above average in how speedily we move people up," he said. "There can be rapid career movement upwards, and that's appealing to a lot of workers."

Now that the pieces are in place, MacDougald is anxious to leave the company he and his wife, Suzanne, started 18 years ago. "Everybody that started the company with me has already left," he said. "I knew my job would be to be the last to leave and turn the lights out."

MacDougald, who can be brash and outspoken, denied he had any problem working for a corporate boss after running his own show for so many years. "I simply replaced my board with the president of Ceridian, and he was extremely easy to work with," he said.

The biggest challenge of the merger, MacDougald said, was cross-training Ceridian's 12,000 employees in all his company's products. That and getting rid of ABR's red logo.

"We kept finding it everywhere, even in the marble floor in our old location," he said. "We just left that there for the next guy."

Not one to sit idle, MacDougald has plenty of plans for retirement. He and his wife are building a Mediterranean Revival-style house on three lots on pricey Snell Isle. ("It's a one-lot house, with two lots for gardens," he said. "I'm not building a motel.")

MacDougald said he might also dabble in a little residential real estate development.

He starts a term on Eckerd College's board in October and said he's anxious to help the troubled institution, whose president recently resigned after announcing that its endowment has been drained.

MacDougald also is on the boards of Academy Prep and the Dali museum and is involved with the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. Also on tap: travel to the Far East and Australia, golf lessons and visits to a daughter in Denver who is expecting twins in September.

"I've got the financial resources and time to do good things," MacDougald said. "Inside, I'm a social worker."

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