Sweet T -
I'm going to break from the other recommendations here and suggest outsourcing to a design company. Now note I said design company, not designer.
While an in-house guy brings advantages, I feel they are outweighed by the values and relationship with an outsourced team. With an in-house guy you will certainly save a few bucks, however you only have access to one designers talent, creativity and ideas. When outsourcing you have access to a TEAM of designers and programmers who can pool their talents, creativity and ideas for the betterment of your project. Not only that, but you may be assigned a project manager who will actually care about you and your company. His job is to learn EXACTLY what you want and to manage the different designers on the project, saving you time and headaches!
Moreover, there isn't as much of a learning curve. When hiring a new employee there is always an adjustment period. The designer has to set up his station, get compfortable within the company and really doesn't have top output for at least a few weeks. With outsourcing, you only pay for the final product, not the learning curve.
With that said, You have my number T! If I can be of any assistance, please let me know. I'd love to grab your ear for a second and give a few real world experiences to help make your decision a little easier
Happy Holidays!