Express Employment Professionals celebrates its 10th year

CRYSTAL LAKE – Dominick Zera, 24, of Wauconda, recently walked out of Express Employment Professionals in Crystal Lake with a job in his pocket.

It was a temporary job for a week or two, but he hoped it would become
full-time.

“I’m going to show them what I’m made of,” he said.

Inside the office at 829 Virginia Road, front office coordinator Kendra Goldsand was busy answering phones. “We have two opportunities for you,” she said on the phone to a temporary employee. “One that starts today for 12 hours. ... It’s a guaranteed paycheck.”

Over the past 10 years, Express Employment Professionals in Crystal Lake has filled “tens of thousands” of positions, said co-owner Terri Greeno of Algoquin.

Opportunities like the one Zera was pursuing “allows them to leverage their efforts because we work with hundreds of companies in McHenry County,” she said.

“When a person comes in to interview with us, they may be a candidate for any number of companies,” she said. “We can talk to them about what they’re looking for and discuss their opportunities, and then they can decide what they want to pursue.”

“It’s not just a temporary job,” added co-owner Tom Greeno. “We expect the people to do a great job, and a lot of them then get eventually hired.”

Getting a job through Express Employment involves much more than handing in a résumé. “We follow a certain process. We do what we say we do,” Terri Greeno said. “When people come in, they go through an interview. We find out their continuity, their work history, covering any gaps. We ask them what they can, will and want to do, their availability, their mobility. We check their references and skills test them. Sometimes drug tests and background tests,” she said.

Express Employment Professionals provides temporary help and direct-hire employees in a variety of fields, including administrative, commercial, data processing, technical, sales and marketing.

Terri Greeno said one of the biggest demands is for flexible staffing. “Companies, especially industrial and commercial, manufacturing, want their payroll expense to variable rather than fixed.”

And manufacturers have long complained about the shortage of skilled labor.

“There has been a labor shortage in CNC (computer numerical control) since we opened,” Terri Greeno said. “That’s one of the first things that we worked to address.”

“We do a lot in industrial, but we have really turned in the last year to a big focus into professional and office services,” Tom Greeno said. “We’ve dedicated people to office services and it’s a big thrust for us. We don’t want to be labeled as only doing industrial.”

To meet the demand for professional services, the office started the Specialized Recruiting Group division a couple years ago.

“Professional and contract positions are very resource intensive to recruit because of the skill and the small labor pools – very low unemployment,” Terri Greeno said. “The SRG team has to do a lot of passive recruiting, networking, referrals and build an expertise in the areas they recruit in.”

“We do use the Workforce Network out Woodstock as a resource, too,” Tom Greeno added.

Terri Greeno said the staffing agency can have between 60 and 80 jobs available at any one time. “It’s constantly turning,” she said.

She said the Crystal Lake office is ranked 14th out of 660 Express Employment offices around the world. She said location has a lot to do with her company’s success.

“We have such a well-educated, reliable workforce, with a lot of businesses in McHenry County,” she said. “So many things are manufactured here. That has a lot to do with our success.”

The company, which employs 14, plans to continue to expand. “which may mean finding a new home in the future,” Terri Greeno said.

Express Employment Professionals will have a 10-year anniversary party from noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 14 at the office, 829 Virginia Road, Suite D, Crystal Lake. For information, call 815-788-8556.