Loading
When one private equity firm bought Manatee County-based Progressive Employer Management Co. from another private equity firm late last year, executives promised a deep investment in finding and executing on growth opportunities.
That investment has materialized.
The firm, which handles payroll, workers' compensation, employee benefits and human resource services for a variety of businesses, has hired and promoted multiple executives in 2016 and has also expanded geographically. New executives include Senior Vice President of Sales Scott Gordon, a former executive with HR giant Gevity and TriNet; Vice President of IT John Hale; and Kat Bush, a PEMCO employee since 2002 named vice president of payroll operations. New offices include locations in Jacksonville, Ocala and Coppell, Texas, outside Dallas.
“We want to be a super regional player with Florida being the foothold,” Progressive Employer CEO Clinton Burgess tells Coffee Talk.
Sarasota-area insurance entrepreneur Steve Herrig founded the company, originally named Progressive Employer Services, in 1999 in Clearwater. Also known as a Professional Employer Organization, PEMCO, through the growth initiatives, is closing in a significant milestone: a $1 billion in payroll under management.
Beyond new markets and executives, PEMCO is on a mission to go up-market in clients it covets. Two years ago, the focus was mostly on blue-collar companies with five to 25 employees. Now, Burgess says, the target is companies with double the amount of employees and $25 million in annual revenues. “We've expanded into middle markets with some gray and even white collar businesses,” Burgess says.
Burgess says the aggressive growth strategy can be traced back to the deal last year when New York-based Tenex Capital Partners acquired PEMCO from Palm Beach Capital. The announcement of that deal included another boost: An additional round of financing from investment bank Goldman Sachs. “We've had some big wins,” Burgess says. “We've evolved tremendously.”
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
