Command Center Inc., a Post Falls-based temporary staffing company with more than 50 U.S. locations, has acquired the assets of a former competitor, DR Services of Louisiana LLC, which provides job placements for disaster relief and recovery.

DR Services will continue to operate as a wholly-owned Command Center subsidiary under the name Disaster Recovery Services Inc. and will be based in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, La., Command Center says in a news release about the acquisition.

Separately, Command Center has reported fourth-quarter revenue of $20.3 million, up 8 percent from $18.8 million in the year-earlier quarter. As with past releases, it didn't disclose its net income for the quarter. For all of 2011, it said had revenue of $81.9 million, up 18 percent from $69.4 million in 2010.

The acquisition of the Louisiana company was finalized early this month, says Glenn Welstad, Command Center's chairman and CEO. He says DR Services owners and principals Gerald Avery, Howard Rush, and Edward Schmidt Jr. will be retained to manage the subsidiary. Additionally, DR Services' previous owners will receive a total of $300,000 and 1.5 million shares of Command Center stock.

Welstad says he expects that the deal will boost Command Center's visibility and growth.

"These guys are well connected in the Gulf Coast, and with their connections and our financial support and proprietary software, we should see a considerable amount of growth in the next couple of years," he says.

Welstad adds that he expects Disaster Recovery Services to grow next year by about 35 percent from the $5 million in revenue DR Services reported for 2011. Founded in 2007, the Louisiana office has provided disaster and recovery workers throughout the U.S. after floods, hurricanes, tornados, fires, and oil spills. Command Center, as one of its staffing focuses, also has placed employees at different U.S. disaster locations.

Welstad says the Louisiana office has strong management in place, with a total of five on staff, including the three principals. Another factor that made DR Services attractive was its model of rapid response, he adds.

"We'll incorporate that model," he says. "We'll give it legs and grow it."

Previously, both companies had separately hired workers for recovery projects in the Gulf Coast oil spill region, as well as after several fires and floods along the East Coast, Welstad says.

Meanwhile, regarding to its reported fourth-quarter rise in revenue, Command Center attributed much of its growth to national accounts and promising markets such as the disaster relief and recovery work. Last fall, Command Center also launched a wholly-owned division, doing business as Bakken Staffing, to fill expanding employment needs in North Dakota's western oil drilling region.

"We're continuing to expand the business and grow it," Welstad says about Command Center, adding that the Bakken division is expected to grow considerably as one of the bright spots in the U.S. for jobs.

Overall for 2011, Welstad says Command Center employed more than 32,000 workers nationally to provide more than 5 million man hours of assistance.

Command Center provides workers for manual labor, light-industrial jobs, and skilled-trade positions mostly for small- to mid-sized businesses, including those in construction, transportation, warehousing, landscaping, light manufacturing, retail, and wholesale.

Locally, along with its headquarters at 3773 W. Fifth in Post Falls, the company has offices at 8 W. Indiana, in Spokane, and at 1323 E. Sherman, in Coeur d'Alene.