WAUKESHA, Wis. – Blink too long and you may miss George Dalton make another acquisition. Dalton, a co-founder of Fiserv and a big believer in acquiring companies to grow a company, has taken his acquisitive style to the call center industry. Just eight months since forming Call_Solutions, Dalton has led the call center company through eight acquisitions with no signs of letting up. At press time, the latest acquisition was that of Heartland Marketing Group, Milwaukee, a firm specializing in database telemarketing for non-profits. "We're doing the same thing we did over at Fiserv. It's not like I just picked these eight companies out of the sky, I've looked at hundreds of them," said Dalton. So what kind of company makes it to Dalton's hit list? "I know it sounds hokey, but there has to be the right culture, the right kind of people," said Dalton. In the spirit of the Midwest, Dalton also looks for companies that are driven by hard-working, do-what-it-takes leaders. "These were all home-spun companies. People that started them with their spouses, almost not making payroll, almost collapsing at times, but they are passionate people who want to progress beyond where they are," said Dalton. He doesn't subscribe to the theory of growing too fast. "I don't believe in that. That's the important part of finding the right culture. If you find companies where you have to fix things and teach people, it slows you down. A lot of what I do is go through all the companies and find the ones that are looking for a tremendous opportunity and are right for growth." Dalton, now 72, said he chose the call center industry because he believes it is too fragmented. He estimates that there are roughly 3,000 or so call centers in the country, many of them small mom and pop firms. But Dalton is still very much a numbers guy. Revenue, expenses, growth potential are all factored in before a deal is made. Call_Solutions now employs in the neighborhood of 3,100 people and generates $90 million in revenue. A key stat for any call center company is workstations, of which Call_Solutions has about 1,700. Dalton expects to hit $120 million in revenue by year-end. Keeping up with Web-based call center technology is going to be vital in the coming years, said Dalton. Call_Solutions has already acquired firms that feature Web-based customer support solutions. When Call_Solutions acquired Waukesha, Wis.-based All City Call Center, Call_Solutions added an important ingredient, said Dalton. "That group is here in our headquarters, so we're right in the middle of a call center in action. I want to live and breathe the call center business everyday so I can understand it." Of late, some ex-Fiserv execs have joined Call_Solutions. Frank R. Martire has come on-board as Call_Solutions' new Corporate Executive Vice President-Strategic Planning, Business Development and Chief Administrative Officer. Martire was President and Chief Operating Officer for Fiserv's Financial Institution Systems and Services Group before leaving the company in July of 2000 to start a firm focusing on integrated financial service applications. Martire was working to form that company with another ex-Fiserv exec, Paul Danola. Danola is well-known in the CU processing arena, as he once led Fiserv's credit union processing group. Danola joins Call_Solutions as president of business development. The plans for their new company have been halted. "Some people from Fiserv have joined me, but I'm not going after Fiserv people, they are people I've known for a long time," said Dalton. Dalton said he'll always be interested in how Fiserv is doing, but admits that he hasn't been following it closely of late. "I created the company, it's my baby, but I have to focus here. My focus is right here." [email protected]