Topic: PEO PROFILES

A few weeks ago, nearly 1,000 industry members gathered in Orlando for our 2024 Annual Conference and Marketplace. We celebrated NAPEO’s 40th anniversary and welcomed new association leadership. David Feinberg, Justworks’ senior vice president of risk and insurance programs, officially took the reins as NAPEO’s new Board of Directors Chair. He’s been active within NAPEO for several years, participating on numerous committees. ​​​​He most recently served as vice chair. Feinberg joined the PEO industry after a career on Wall Street as an equity research analyst. He also worked to build national, small group health plans as the Executive Vice President of Health Plan at WellNet before joining Justworks in 2015.

He spoke with PEO Insider ® about his background, plans for the year and why his first impression of PEOs turned out to be wrong.

PEO Insider ®: How did you first learn about PEOs?

David Feinberg: In 2005 I worked as an equity research analyst for Goldman Sachs, and I was assigned to cover HR stocks. I keyed in on temporary staffing companies, and when I prepared to put out a report, my supervisor thought we needed more companies in the analysis. I mentioned that I had found two other companies that were sort of like staffing companies but called PEOs. He told me throw them in, so we added them to the report. I thought they were confusing and bad businesses, basically insurance arbitrage businesses. That was my first exposure to PEOs.

PI: How did you end up working for a PEO?

DF: After 10 years behind an Excel spreadsheet telling people how to run a business, I realized I wanted to be a part of the operational side of a business. I got my MBA and then had an opportunity to build a small group self-funded health plan which I did for a few years.

While looking for my next opportunity, I met a network connection who set up a meeting with a venture capital firm. The person I met with told me the firm had invested in PEOs. My reaction was to say, ​​“it’s just an arbitrage play.” He told me that I had to meet Isaac [Isaac Oates, Justworks’ founder]. By June of 2015 I had a job offer to join Justworks.

PI: What had changed? Why were you interested in working for Justworks?

DF: I found Isaac to be an incredibly thoughtful person. Three things about Justworks stood out to me that made the company unique compared to other PEOs. First, I thought the company had a modern go-to-market strategy. Second, Justworks owned its own technology. Third, it was a mission and values-driven company.

​​​PI: What are Justworks’ core principles?

DF: Justworks’ mission is to help entrepreneurs and businesses grow with confidence. If you talked with 100 of my teammates, you would sense an incredible alignment to this mission. Many people at Justworks have had a small business owner in their family or previously had their own small business, and they see how challenging and honorable small business ownership is. It gives us a visceral drive to help our customers, and we aspire to be the partner that they have always needed and deserved but never before had access to. Justworks is committed to being this true partner where we believe the market needs are greatest, which is among companies with under 100 employees.

PI: How did you get involved with NAPEO?

DF: In September of 2015, I attended my first NAPEO conference, and it changed my point of view on the entire industry. I learned we paid a large sum in member dues, but we were not engaged with NAPEO. That seemed silly to me, and I thought someone should go to evaluate the ROI. I realized we were not taking advantage of our membership and underutilizing the education resources. I met people like Dale Hageman, Bob Cerone, Barron Guss and Andy Lubash. They were all incredibly generous in helping me learn about the industry and sharing their knowledge. I realized that the PEO industry is unique in that, yes we are competitors, but we also rely on each other to do the right thing in terms of compliance for ourselves and our customers.

In a startup there’s your job description and then there’s your job. I saw white space where we had an opportunity to have someone engage at the leadership level with NAPEO. I took on that role and eventually joined the board and executive committee.

PI: How do you see your role as chair of the board?

DF: My role is role to support the NAPEO staff. Our biggest deliverable next year is our new strategic plan, but I’m focused on supporting the staff to make your jobs easier.

PI: What are your goals for the year?

DF: There are three things I’d like to achieve this year. First, let’s end the ERTC saga and get money in the hands of our customers. Second, I want to see increased participation with NAPEO’s PAC. The PAC is one of our top tools to engage with policymakers and achieve our advocacy goals. We need to increase participation throughout all levels of our members. Third, I’d like to see more participation with programs like Next Gen and WIN (Women in NAPEO). We need a more diverse talent pool to lead the industry going forward.

PI: Do you have ideas for any new initiatives or programs?

DF: No new initiatives. We have a lot of good things in flight with different levels of maturity. We don’t need more, we need to continue investing in what’s already there. I want to focus on improving our existing resources to make them even better.

​​​PI: How do you think the industry will evolve?

DF: The only constant is increased regulation and complexity. Even though there are more tools and resources available, it’s becoming harder to start a PEO. Many of the new entrants now are well-funded players leveraging the model as opposed to traditional start-ups. Consolidation will also continue playing a role, but I’m not concerned about PEOs going away. The industry has seen different eras from its infancy to the workers’ comp. focus of the 1990s to the health insurance focus of the 2010s. I think we’re entering a new era now that’s focused more on HR and remote work. The business of how and where people work is where a lot of PEOs are focused, and we provide incredible value to our customers in this area.

​​​PI: What’s life like outside of work and PEO?

DF: There’s a lot of demands at the office, so my main focus outside of work is the Feinberg family. I’m also a diehard Duke and New York sports fan (Yankees, Giants and Rangers).

40 years ago this November, a small group of industry pioneers forged a new path that all of us would follow. The group voted to establish the National Staff Leasing Association to protect, support and grow their businesses. None knew for sure what the future would bring, but they took the risk.

If you’re in the PEO industry, you know there is no greater honor than winning the Michaeline A. Doyle Award.

Created in 1995, it’s an accolade bestowed upon someone who has provided exemplary leadership and service to NAPEO and our industry and whose business philosophy is to improve the industry while simultaneously improving his or her own PEO.

But if you do any digging on the award namesake, little appears.

There’s good reason to not find much about Michaeline. As anyone who knew her would tell you, she thrived working behind the scenes. The spotlight was not for her.

Still, she couldn’t shake a legacy that has made her name synonymous with dedication to the PEO industry — especially in the Midwest.

Born in September 1941 to Michael Colangelo and Londa Powell, Michaeline was raised in the suburbs of Chicago with her siblings, Richard, Robert, and Lenora. Archives from the May 3, 1959, issue of the Chicago Tribune tell you that Doyle was a student librarian president, honor student, and the winner of an Illinois state scholarship to Loyola University.

A Chicago Tribune article from 1959 written by Michaeline Powell (later Doyle). She advocates for the voting age to remain 21, while raising the age to serve in the armed forces to 21, too.

Mission-driven, she went on to operate her own employee leasing company alongside early female industry pioneers like Fran Morrissey, the co-owner of Rockford, Illinois-based Morrissey Family Businesses.

Morrissey first met Doyle in the mid-1980s. They quickly bonded over both having small businesses from outside of Chicago and the desire to organize an industry dealing with pension issues, some bad actors, and federal and state government bodies that weren’t keen on PEO growth.

Employee leasing companies faced an uphill battle of acceptance in the Midwest during this time and were frequently challenged by the IRS, state insurance commissioners, and unemployment agencies. The Department of Labor “laughed” at Morrissey when she educated officials on the PEO model.

“We hit roadblocks everywhere we turned,” Morrissey said.

The National Staff Leasing Association (NSLA), later to become NAPEO, at the time had roughly 50-60 members with a heavy concentration of them from Florida, Texas, or California. Annual meetings would be held in one of those three states, which posed a challenge to the many smaller, entrepreneur-led PEOs from the Midwest. With no investors and a lack of accessible capital, many couldn’t afford to make the trip to the annual convention. Communication and PEO owner engagement was fragmented. Doyle talked with Morrissey about the need to have chapter and regional meetings with startups and fellow smaller companies.

Before Morrissey could blink, Doyle had single-handedly gathered everything she could find relative to bylaws and established a prototype for state and regional chapters. This chapter system became the basis for the NAPEO of today.

“She just did it,” Morrissey said. “It definitely took a lot of her time. She cared about the industry and wanted to see NAPEO grow to what it deserved to be. And she wanted it done right.”

Doyle phoned AccessPoint CEO Greg Packer and said she needed him and Dick Light of Vincam Group —an industry competitor but also a friend of Packer’s— to meet in Chicago the following weekend. Short notice, but it was important: she had organized the inaugural meeting of the NSLA’s Midwest chapter. She’d get the two of them early in the morning from O’Hare International Airport and have them out by the end of the day.

“She pulls up in this gangster-looking car puffing away at a cigarette in a cloud of smoke,” Packer said. “I said to myself, ‘God, I don’t want to sit in the car with this gal.’”

It’s a good thing he did.

True to her no-nonsense, blunt personality, she quickly outlined a vision for a six-state Midwest chapter that included Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Unbeknownst to them, Packer and Light were already assigned to the new chapter’s board as its Michigan delegates before they even stepped foot in the car. Florida-based Vincam Group didn’t even have a Michigan presence, but Doyle quickly persuaded Light to open an office in the Wolverine State.

With Doyle as the first chair, the Midwest chapter was a well-oiled machine. Information flowed freely, members were engaged, and the group of 10-12 met several times a year for formal meetings. While other chapters faced financial hardships and organizational hurdles, Doyle’s chapter thrived.

“Our chapter functioned well because Michaeline set the tone early,” Packer said. “She was the biggest cheerleader of our industry and a champion of us against the world. Michaeline was a tireless worker behind the scenes.”

Doyle never had aspirations of becoming the president of the NSLA, though she reluctantly served on the board for two years. And in meetings with legislators and regulators, she didn’t want to lead the discussions. She wanted to make sure the chapter had the best spokesperson do the talking. Her job was to pull the strings to make the meetings happen and better spread awareness and acceptance of the PEO industry. She embraced the gritty, often thankless work that served as the foundation for industry expansion and unification.

“If we met as a group and something needed to be done, Michaeline did it,” Morrissey said. “She talked to anyone. She went above and beyond.”

But as fate would have it, Doyle died of cancer in April 1993 at just 51 years old, shortly after an industry gathering in Orlando. It was a blow to lose someone who cared deeply about uniting competitors for the greater good of the industry. But her legacy would not be lost.

Morrissey led a group that included Packer to create the Michaeline A. Doyle Award to recognize industry members who possess a workhorse spirit like its namesake did. Nearly 30 years later, Doyle’s impact still resonates with the most recent winner of the award, Propel HR President Lee Yarborough.

“Although I never knew Michaeline, I like to think she would be proud of our industry and how her early influence created space for today’s female PEO leaders,” Yarborough said. “She left a lasting legacy on the PEO industry through her advocacy, leadership, and influence in our space.”

Even though Doyle likely wouldn’t be thrilled with a multi-page magazine article written about her legacy, Morrissey said it is important to recognize her contributions and selfless efforts to help create the landscape we operate in today. Though some industry challenges remain, they pale in comparison to what they once were.

“She was an icon for us to do the best we could for our industry,” Morrissey said. “She forever spent her time helping people and doing what needed to be done. She truly made such a difference”

Dave Lawrence grew up insisting he would never join the family business. He wasn’t interested. It wasn’t for him. After graduating from college with an economics and business degree, he found a sales job with a Connecticut-based company. The company sold awards programs, and Dave ran the Gulf South region out of his native New Orleans. Not much later, Dave and his wife Teresa married. The young couple both had solid, good paying sales jobs they each loved. Life was on the right track.

Educating and empowering the future workforce is a cause that’s become something of a second full-time job for Britt Landrum III, LandrumHR’s president and CEO. Staying true to the company’s core values of “learn, share, and grow,” Landrum has instituted a culture of charitable giving to provide the next generation the tools they need to live healthy and professionally fulfilling lives.

Over the last 35 years, Nelson’s company has grown and evolved quite a bit—night and day as she describes it. Perhaps it’s one reason she’s remained successful through so many different economic and business cycles. She’s assembled a strong team of professionals who she relies on and considers the true force behind her success.

Over the years, the PEO industry has evolved quite a bit. From the industry’s early days focused on workers’ comp. and payroll, to the complex, sophisticated HR services of today, the core value proposition of the PEO has endured, however.

Frank W. Crum, Jr. has seen and experienced quite a bit over his business career; he’s learned many lessons and met many people. He’s a humble man who eschews the spotlight, preferring to heap praise on others. The hard work, dedication, intelligence, and passion of his employees has led to his success, he says. Over the last 40 years or so, Frank has quietly helped pioneer the PEO industry. Today his company employs about 500 people and serves clients in nearly every state.

As the second-sunniest city in the U.S., it may seem hard to make Redding, California, even brighter. But O2 Employment Services has found a way. What sets Give Redding apart is that O2 has taken it upon itself to rally participation from all across the local business community to elevate the drive to greater heights.

In December, Casey Clark officially joined the NAPEO team as the association’s new president and CEO. He brings 25 years of experience to the role with a background in strategy and communication consulting and association management. He spoke with PEO Insider ® about his past experiences, lessons he has learned, and what excites him about the PEO industry.

For NEMR Total HR, volunteering has created a stronger South Jersey community — and a stronger team. Giving back at the local level is a cause personal to NEMR Total HR President Steve Sweeney, who grew up within earshot of the company’s Marlton headquarters and is a lifelong resident of the greater Philadelphia area.

In the end, I know that it’s much more important to Pat to have left his mark on the world by being a good person rather than by being a good CEO. Lucky for us, he’s been both.  

Not long after co-founding OMS Group in 1997, Partner Bob Cleghorn decided that giving back during the holiday season would be a key component of the Florida PEO.

Steve Politis officially took the reins as NAPEO’s new Board of Directors Chair in October. The CEO of Alcott HR, Politis brings 25 years of PEO and leadership experience to the role. He’s excited to pursue new goals and initiatives for this year.

The Denver, Colorado metro area has enjoyed a surge of newcomers in recent years; young Americans in particular have flocked to the Centennial State. Count InTANDEM HR President and CEO Monica Denler as one who sees an upside to this trend. The population growth means more small business owners and more potential worksite employees (WSEs) her PEO can service. 

InTANDEM HR prides itself of being the premier Colorado-based PEO committed to providing exceptional service and expertise to clients. The leadership team behind the operation is a close-knit group of professionals who work well together as a team. You’ll never hear someone utter the phrase “not my job” at InTANDEM. This formula for success has worked well, as the company celebrates 14 years in business this year. 

The journey began when Denler decided to set on her own. 

EARLY DAYS

Having just graduated college with a sociology degree, Denler set out looking for a job in 1998. She landed an entry level sales job with a PEO. Immediately she enjoyed the role and the opportunity for growth it brought. 

“I found that working in a PEO, we were able to change employees lives for the better by helping them gain health insurance and other benefits,” she recalls.  

Denler excelled in her role and when her company was acquired by a larger PEO, she became the youngest sales rep in the class and one of only two females. This brought its own challenges, but she jokes that being a Colorado Avalanche fan at a Detroit-based company was the toughest obstacle to overcome.  

She continued her PEO sales career, eventually rising to VP of sales and operations. Around 2010, a private equity company had purchased the PEO she worked for. She was privy to much of the discussions and process.  

“I felt that some of the decisions that were made didn’t align with what I thought was most important to our clients: providing local service at a local level,” Denler says, “They wanted me to open sales offices all over the country and oversee it all.” 

“I also had two young children and was concerned about being gone much of the time, so I did the next craziest thing and started my own PEO,” Denler adds.  

She began by raising capital. Luckily, her older brother offered to help so long as she agreed to recruit two business partners.  

“He did not charge me a low interest rate,” Denler jokes.  

But nonetheless her brother’s investment helped get the new PEO off the ground. Denler’s husband is a software engineer by trade and agreed to attend HR Pyramid (later to become Prism HR) training with her. She explains that in previous PEO roles she never dealt with the software, so this was not exactly an enjoyable experience.  

She also leaned on other friends and fellow entrepreneurs for advice and assistance. A web designer friend agreed to build her website for only a small fee; a marketing and graphic designer friend helped create a logo and develop marketing materials. She was also able to secure office space from another friend who had extra room.  

“Employees take for granted that someone has set up the internet, and phone system, and copiers, and computers. Being able to office share was a big help with basic needs,” Denler says.  

Plus, a few months later she was even able to convince them to come on board as a client.   

Simply getting to market and securing benefits plans was a hard challenge, too, but nothing was more important than assembling a strong team to work alongside her.  One of Denler’s first hires was a friend and former colleague, Stacy Jensen.  Jensen began her career in the staffing industry and soon landed a job in HR at a PEO where Denler started working shortly after..  

“I was working in HR for the Colorado Judicial Branch which was a great experience, but perhaps not the best match for my personality,” Jensen says.  

“We had lunch on her birthday,” Denler recalls, “and I convinced her to come work for me as my HR Director.”  

Next to join Denler’s team was Pete Sartoris as Chief Financial Officer. Sartoris brought many years of accounting and financial experience to the role, but he’s the lone member of the leadership team who did not bring prior PEO experience.  

He started out on the self-described typical public accounting track which grew boring after a while. So, he switched gears and jumped into the start-up fray. The wild west of business, he calls it. After some years, the constant high energy needed to keep up with the CEOs became too much. 

“I was looking for something with more stability that was focused on the clients,” Sartoris says, “I didn’t know what at a PEO was at first, but I’ve loved it ever since.”  

The most recent member to join Denler’s team is Lisa Petrovich who heads up payroll and operations. She too brought years of prior PEO payroll experience to the role. What began as a temporary placement at a PEO grew into a career that she continues to love today.  

SUCCESS THROUGH TEAMWORK

InTANDEM has grown quite a bit since Denler first opened the company’s doors. Much of this success can be attributed to hard work and a united team working towards a common goal.  

During a leadership meeting, the team put pen to paper to flesh out their core mission.  

“We decided that our purpose is to help clients succeed, our cause is to provide HR and compliance solutions, and our passion is watching entrepreneurs succeed,” Petrovich explains.  

InTANDEM’s story represents the good that can happen when a group of professionals commits to a common goal and set of values.  

“I was in a meeting with Monica and a prospect once, and Monica mentioned that we are a diva free zone,” Jensen says, “You’ll never hear someone say, ‘that’s not my job’.”  

“From the top down we all walk that walk. We are all willing to chip in where needed,” Denler says. “Having started the company alone, I value every role because I know how difficult each one is.”  

The spirit of collaboration and support underpins a positive workplace culture, too.  

“In one word, our culture is wholesome. I feel more confident, more seen, and more valued than any other job I’ve had,” Sartoris says.  

While staying true to themselves, the InTANDEM team has grown the company into what they consider to be the top privately held PEO in Colorado. They remain loyal to service partners and have long standing relationships with insurance carriers. They only market to Colorado domiciled businesses, although they are licensed in more than 30 states. 

Over the years they have seen the PEO sale and service model evolve from a workers’ comp play to a sophisticated HR and technology partnership. Access to a team of experts is more and more important to small business owners, too, Denler explains. She describes Colorado’s legal and regulatory compliance landscape as one that’s beginning to resemble California’s. 

“It’s more challenging than ever to be a Colorado employer which increases our value proposition but we’re also pro-employer and aware of how these changes affect clients,” Denler says.  

Medical inflation is another issue really affecting small businesses. As the COVID pandemic raged a few years ago, many people decided to forego doctor’s visits and appointments. Now, there’s a bit of catchup phenomena going on as people seek medical care they had put off.  The economy overall is not inspiring much confidence among businesses either, Denler says. She’s seen apprehension among businesses to take on new projects or ventures amid economic uncertainty. 

That being said, Denver is still a very attractive market. Denler notes Colorado is a top state for young people to want to move to. There’s a great sense of community, too. With the PEO industry as whole being so strong, she’s confident the company is poised for growth.  

ACTIVE AND ENGAGED

Being active members of their community is big priority for the InTANDEM team, too. The company supports local charitable and non-profit organizations trough the InTANDEM HR Foundation. Their efforts focus mostly on advocating and supporting women, children, and healthcare organizations. Employees are encouraged to volunteer, and even receive paid days off per year to do so. The goal is to reinforce the company’s values of giving back and serving others. 

Denler and her team are also heavily involved in the industry and association. Denler serves on NAPEO’s Board of Directors and other committees. Her team regularly participates on committees and working groups, and attends many conferences and events.  

“Being on the Board is a huge honor,” Denler says.  

“I felt that it was time to give back more to the industry and help grow and promote PEOs.”  

If you have attended a recent Annual Conference & Marketplace then you witnessed the power of many. Former NAPEO Board Chair Barron Guss launched the NAPEO Gives Back initiative in 2019 to encourage NAPEO members to harness the power of many to leave our conference host cities better off than when we arrived.