Newspaper Features Equity Trust's                           Growth and New Hiring

The following appeared in the April 8, 2010 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.

Equity Trust to Hire 63
By Cindy Leise, The Chronicle-Telegram

Elyria – Equity Trust Company, which assists clients with self-directed retirement accounts, is hiring 63 people at its headquarters in Elyria and a second office in Berea, according to company officials.

Jobs include client service representatives, data entry and operational team members, sale representatives, marketing channel managers and information technology developers, according to company CEO Jeffrey Desich and human resources director Michelle Lee.

Equity Trust is a passive custodian of self-directed retirement accounts that operates similar to TD Ameritrade in helping clients control their own investments, Desich said.

Lee said entry-level jobs start at about $23,000 a year and Desich said some jobs pay in the six figures.

“We value creativity and innovation in our employees,” Desich said. “It’s a fast-paced, work-hard environment.”

Lee said the best way to inquire about jobs is to go to www.trustetc.com/careers.

The company’s corporate office is 225 Burns Road in Lorain County Community College’s Technology Park, which is home to its operational teams.

It has about 330 employees with about 120 to 130 working in Elyria and 60 to 70 employees at its facility in Berea, which is home to sales, marketing and client service teams.

The company, which has been in business 35 years, specializes in allowing its clients to self-direct and invest their individual retirement accounts into nontraditional assets, with the most common investments being real estate and private placements.

Its Web site state that Equity Trust is the nation’s leading provider of self-directed IRAs and 401(k)s, with more than $8 billion of retirement plan assets under management.

As a passive custodian, Equity Trust does not offer investments or investment advice, company officials said.