Penmac was a 2007 honoree at SBJ's annual Dynamic Dozen awards event. The special publication profiling each of the 2007 honorees is available here.In 2005, Penmac CEO Patti Penny promoted her daughter, Paula Adams, to president of the company. Penny thought that the move would give her a chance to get out of day-to-day operations and focus on the big picture for the Springfield-based human resources and temporary employment firm.
Her plans, however, haven't exactly gone as expected.
"I'm traveling a lot more, and in fact, I'm gone about half the time," Penny said, noting that though she is spending less time these days at her Springfield office, it's likely because she's visiting one of Penmac's branches in seven states.
It's easy to see why that might keep Penny busy: Penmac now has 47 offices, up from 42 when Penmac topped the list of Springfield Business Journal's 2005 Dynamic Dozen.
The most recent addition was the Columbia office, opened in February.
Most of Penmac's operations - 27 of the branches - are in Missouri, but the company is keeping its options open for the future. Penny fully expects that there will be 50 branches by the end of this year.
"We're looking at the Springdale, Ark., area, and that's going to be our next move," she said. "There may be other opportunities for us in some other states that we're not now in."
Since 2004, Penmac has posted 30 percent revenue growth. Revenues were $97.7 million in 2006, up from $88.9 million in 2005 and $75.3 million.
Penmac's growth, however, won't just continue via new locations, as company officials have some ideas for expanding existing operations.
One plan is to boost client use of Penmac's products and services beyond staffing. Penmac places employees - many on a temporary-to-permanent basis - at companies in the manufacturing/light industrial, clerical, and transportation arenas. Each week, Penmac has an average of 4,000 on its payroll.
The company, however, also offers human resources services including third-party drug screenings, background checks, clerical testing and client-specific employee orientations, as well as software training and tutorials. Both Penny and Adams hope to boost the number of companies taking advantage of those services, regardless of whether they have staffing needs. The company places associates with more than 600 clients through all of its branch offices.
"We have many, many tools that would help employers to better ensure that they're getting the right person," Penny said. "If we can do the screening for them, that takes a lot of the burden off the recruitment and screening process."
That's not to say Penmac will cut back its staffing efforts, though. In the clerical sector, for example, Adams sees ample opportunity for growth.
"We're always going to have to have people in the United States to do data entry and to answer phones and to do those ... more professional jobs," Adams said. "If someone needed to brush up on their computer skills, we do have the tutorials. They can come in and practice and try to better themselves ... to get a better position."
Adams said Penmac offers bilingual services where needed, and has a rides-to work program for associates that costs $10 round-trip.
Penny said she'd also like more emphasis on employee-leasing services, which she said occur when associates come on board and are placed with client companies, but unlike temporary-to-permanent associates, they stay on Penmac payrolls long-term. Right now, Penny said, there are between 100 and 200 associates who are leased, but she noted that her son, John Penny, has rejoined Penmac to focus on that sector of the business.
One reason that companies might be attracted to leasing employees rather than hiring them outright is that as the employer of record, Penmac provides health coverage - the company offers two plans - and a 401(k).
"It's not the plan for everybody, but there's a good number of smaller manufacturers, people who cannot secure health coverage because ... they just don't have enough to get competitive pricing, and then we also have the 401(k), which is difficult sometimes for businesses to get going," Penny said.
Also on tap for Penmac is a celebration. On Jan. 2, 2008, the company will celebrate two decades in business, and Penny's planning to celebrate early.
"We'll have a 20-year celebration in December, which is going to be nice, to think that it's actually flown and that we were able to make it for 20 years and still grow," Penny said.
Information accurate at the time of the honor.
