Computers get faster, better, and engineering advancements are wonderful—but we have to apply them to everyday, practical issues.

 

Since 1986 William Canfield has been president, CEO, and director of TALX Corporation—an application service company based in St. Louis that provides human resource and employee self-service solutions for approximately one-fourth of the U.S. workforce. He has chaired the TALX board of directors since 1988.

Listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, TALX has enjoyed several recognitions:

• Forbes 200 Best Small Companies (ranked No. 20)
• Fortune 100 Fastest-Growing Companies (No. 35)
• Fortune Small Business 100 (No. 63)
• Business 2.0 100 Fastest-Growing Technology Companies (No. 14)
• BusinessWeek 100 Best Small Companies (No. 92)

Mr. Canfield has been an entrepreneur since 1968, after working seven years at IBM. He has started or purchased an interest in several computer-related companies and was one of the founders of Financial Data Systems, Inc. in 1968. In 1980 Citicorp purchased the company, which provided services and turnkey systems to banks. In 1983 Mr. Canfield founded and was president of Intech Group, Inc., a computer-related venture capital firm. He then founded and was chairman of Noetic Technologies Corporation, an engineering software company purchased by MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation in 1989. He served as a director of Jefferson Savings Bancorp, Inc. from 1990 until February 2001.

A native St. Louisan, Mr. Canfield holds a BSEE from Purdue (1961) and an MBA from Washington University (1962). He serves on the board of The Magic House, a children’s museum ranked among the top five in the nation.