Penmac Staffing Services Inc. founder Patti Penny received the 2017 Springfieldian Award tonight during the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting.
Before a crowd of 1,000 at University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center, the chamber gave its highest honor to recognize Penny’s two-plus decades of work with Penmac.
Penny began the company in 1988 with one office in Springfield, and today it operates over 30 offices in nine states, providing employment, education and training opportunities to some 17,000 associates each year, according to a chamber news release.
Penmac is one of a handful of private staffing firms in the country with annual revenue of over $100 million, and it's held the mark in 2014 and 2015, which finished at $115 million, according to Springfield Business Journal reporting.
Penny
retired as CEO in 2012, when she passed the reins to her daughter, Paula Adams.
Two years earlier, Penny and family transferred ownership of Penmac to its employees through an employee stock ownership plan. Penny still serves as chairwoman of the board, according to the release.
In the community, chamber officials recognized Penny’s work as a board member for Council of Churches of the Ozarks and for her involvement in the creation of the Suit Yourself boutique. She also is a member of the Maple Park Cemetery and led the Voices from the Past fundraiser, which raised money for the cemetery’s historic gazebo restoration project, the release said.
Penny also has received a 2006 Missourian Award, SBJ’s 2009Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2010 Stevie Award given nationally to women entrepreneurs and executives.
The chamber began honoring Springfieldians annually in 1957, and last year named longtime BKD LLP executive Bill Kirkman as the 2016 recipient.
