By Clyde Noel

Although the Labor Department reported the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 5.8 percent last week, a Los Altos firm is enjoying an excellent year in the labor market, because it is in a specialized field.

Located in downtown Los Altos, The Bauman Group, a retained executive search firm, works exclusively in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device field. The group specializes in clinical development.

“We work exclusively in the research and development side of the business,” said Ina Bauman, president of the company. “We find executives with special skills for companies nationwide. That becomes the foundation of a strong building block to our business.”

This is Bauman’s eighth year as a solo operator in Los Altos. She has two affiliate offices in the East with contract employees, and an executive assistant, Jo Ann Stokes, who acts as office manager.

“Jo Ann maintains all the functions of the recruiting business, and that allows me to market and bring in new business,” Bauman said. “We work closely with many venture capitalist firms and help them bring an executive team together to form new companies.”

A registered nurse, Bauman has extensive experience in the health-care field. Before becoming an independent businesswoman, she worked seven years for two health-care firms. She worked in various nursing roles for hospitals and corporations for 14 years.

“We have been fortunate to have maintained a By Clyde Noel

Although the Labor Department reported the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 5.8 percent last week, a Los Altos organization is enjoying an excellent year in the labor market, because it is in a specialized field.

Located in downtown Los Altos, The Bauman Group, a retained executive search firm, works exclusively in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device field. Within that sector the group specializes in clinical development.

“We work exclusively in the research and development side of the business,” said Ina Bauman, president of the company. “We find executives with special skills for companies nationwide, and that becomes the foundation of a strong building block to our business.”

This is Bauman’s eighth year as a solo operator in Los Altos. She has two affiliate offices in the East with contract employees, and an executive assistant, Jo Ann Stokes, who acts as office manager.

“Jo Ann maintains all the functions of the recruiting business, and that allows me to market and bring in new business,” Bauman said. “We work closely with many venture capitalist firms and help them bring an executive team together to form new companies.”

Being a registered nurse, Bauman has had extensive experience in the health care field. Before becoming an independent businesswoman, she worked seven years for two health care firms. Prior to that she spent 14 years working in various nursing roles for hospitals and corporations.

“We have been fortunate to have maintained a brisk business through all of 2002, in part because of the expertise in our specialty,” Bauman said.

“We still have numerous retained contracts to fill with specialized candidates. I will be leaving Monday for San Diego to interview a candidate to fill a specialized skill. Today, companies hire to fill a need rather than filling a slot.”

Bauman said the present trend is for national companies to consolidate, and those larger companies are looking to smaller biotech companies to fill their pipelines with new products. Many biotech companies are pooling their resources in order to survive.

“There is plenty of money to invest from the venture community, but each investment receives more scrutiny than before,” Bauman said. “Like the stock market, there is lots of money on the side just waiting for the proper opportunity.”

Bauman has lived in Los Altos 17 years and maintains her nationwide business by conducting interviews locally in her downtown office on Main Street.

Bauman said she enjoys the local restaurants and coffee shops and often takes candidates and clients to breakfast in Los Altos.

“This is a word-of-mouth business, plus you have to knock on a few doors. I have a database of over 15,700 people nationwide that represent the majority of research and development people in the pharmaceutical and biotech field,” Bauman said. “This business has been incredibly good to me, and I try to give back locally. I always take the time to help several people find jobs every month on a pro bono basis. I try to volunteer my time in the community and am currently on the board of directors of Congregation Beth Am.”

Bauman recently joined the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce.