Thousands of people in seven states depend on Springfield-based Penmac Personnel Services to put them to work. Given the fact that Penmac, founded in 1988, was ranked the No. 1 fastest-growing company among the 2005 Dynamic Dozen, the company seems to be doing just that. Companywide, Penmac ran 3,800 paychecks for the last week of February, said President Patti Penny. And just for the Springfield metropolitan statistical area, the company ran more than 6,000 W-2 forms for individuals who were employed by Penmac at some point last year. The recent growth comes after a bit of a lull in business. “At the end of first quarter 2003, things were still slow. It’s probably the lowest we’ve been since we opened,” Penny said. “About the third week in March, it was just like a light turned on. It was just almost immediate, and people started ordering (workers).” Penny said she’s not quite sure what led to the sudden boost in business for Penmac, which does 85 percent of its business in manufacturing. “Manufacturing had started declining before Sept. 11. It had really started in the second quarter of 2002, that we saw a lessening of manufacturing orders. And then it started to rebound a little bit in August, and then Sept. 11 hit,” Penny said. “I think that people just got so spooked that they pretty much had inventory and they weren’t going to anything. … They just came to kind of a halt.” But she thinks that as time passed, life began to return to normal – and that’s when business at Penmac started to grow. “Honestly, we’re back to well-ahead of the ‘90s. And it isn’t just in this area. We’re in seven states now, and we’re up everywhere,” she said. It doesn’t look like things will slow down for Penmac anytime soon. “We believe, from what we’re being told by our many business clients, that many of them have orders already booked through 2005,” Penny said. Penny said the demand for Penmac’s services is up possibly, she thinks, because some traditional human resources offices were downsized during the lull in manufacturing. “We now have 13 on-site operations, where we’re actually inside the plant, and that’s growing every day. It’s called vendor-on-premise … but it’s where a Penmac representative is inside the plant – and (clients) get immediate help if they’ve got an issue,” she said. While the company’s got plenty of orders for staffing services coming in, it does have a bit of a problem: There are more jobs out there than Penmac has the people to fill. “We’ve gone through that before,” she said. “I think the idea of importing immigrants has got to be addressed, for the good of our country. There’s going to be a need for labor that we just presently don’t have, for whatever reason.” There are probably many reasons why people don’t take jobs, Penny said, but one that she sees is that they just don’t want to work. Her company offers ways around such hurdles as transportation and job training, as both are offered to associates. Training is free, Penny said. Van rides to work – the company operates a fleet of six vans – is $4 one-way or $8 round-trip, or Penmac can help associates to get bus passes, which are cheaper. “There is not any reason a healthy adult – they have to be 18 to work for us – can’t work. They should be working,” Penny said. “We have daily work for those who maybe can’t work on a regular basis … for one reason or another. We have jobs for everybody if they would just get responsible.” The problem is societal, Penny said. “If you’re healthy – that is important – we’ve got to take care of those who aren’t able to take care of themselves, and we’ve got to take care of the children, of course. But there are too many people riding the dole that could work. And the only way you’re going to change that … is that the person wants to change.” The jobs Penmac offers are mostly full-time, and also offer benefits. The company also has a 401(k) that associates can join as soon as they go to work for Penmac. The company matches 50 cents on the dollar in the 401(k), Penny said, and workers can take it with them when they transition to other employment. When that happens, she’s fine with it. “Our goal is to get them started. We know that most of them … do not want to stay Penmac employees. We do keep about 400 (who) will be with us from now on,” Penny said. “There are different hiring arrangements, but the majority of (associates) are seeking a regular full-time job. Our goal and our mission is to get them started and help them be successful.” Penmac has 42 offices in seven states, including 26 in Missouri. The company opened seven offices in 2004, and Penny said that was the most the company had ever opened in a year. With the exception of offices in Springfield, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Ft. Smith, Ark., the company is in smaller, rural communities. “Out in those areas, what you have are manufacturers that have located out there for the labor supply. There’s going to be a limited number of clerical people that you could place,” Penny said. In Springfield, she added, there are strong numbers in clerical and in transportation – local haul truck drivers – but the same cannot be said for other markets. However, Penny’s not concerned about the company’s dependence on manufacturing, an industry that she said she loves. Her fondness likely dates back to the days when she worked at Lily Tulip, where her starting wages were $1 an hour. “There’s much more risk with (manufacturing),” Penny said. “We have a much heavier workers’ comp situation. In some ways, though, that’s helped me compete, because some of the national (staffing services companies) shied away from manufacturing.” Penny said she loves looking at her company’s big picture, but admittedly, she hasn’t had a lot of time for that. That’s changing, however. Her daughter, Paula Stringer, was recently promoted to CEO of the company, while Penny will retain the position of president. I just need to take a different role here,” Penny said. “I love helping people, but I no longer have the time … and that’s kind of set up some disappointment for people. I need desperately to be working on this business instead of in it.” Her daughter is just one of many family members who work at Penmac. Others include her grandsons, her sister-in-law and her brother, Paul Boring, who runs transportation services. And then there’s her husband, Al, whom Penny calls “my rock.” His many contributions to Penmac’s success include handling collections. While she’s excited about Penmac’s future, Penny is mindful of Springfield, where it all started. “I just can’t thank this community enough. They gave me opportunity after opportunity to supply their people, and you just don’t find that everywhere. They do support home-grown businesses.” [[In-content Ad]]
