Cory's comments, customer visits, and things going on at TempWorks in general

My last post

2010-02-08T12:26:00.002-06:00

I wanted to make others aware that is my last post at Coryscomments.blogspot.com. Thank you for those who have followed my comments, visits and experiences at TempWorks over the last couple years.

You can find me in the future at my new site: http://coryscomments.com/

In addition, you can connect with me at:

Linkedin: coryhintz
Twitter: @coryhintz
Facebook: coryhintz

Four TempWorks Anniversaries in last couple weeks

2010-01-14T08:03:00.004-06:00

Congratulations to these four men who have had anniversaries at TempWorks recently:

David Dourgarian - President, nine years
Nguyen Tran - Sr. Programmer, eight years
Musa Zaidi- Sr. Implementation Specialist, five years
Jared Gebhard - Web Services Specialist, two years

Thank you for your dedication and experience you bring to our team.

New TempWorks Press Release

2010-01-07T13:39:00.003-06:00

TempWorks Software Adds Fifty-Four New Customers in 2009

By diversifying, investing in technology, and providing immediate improvement to a staffing agency’s bottom line, TempWorks increased sales by 45% in 2009.

Saint Paul, MN (PRWEB) January 7, 2010 -- Staffing Software and Financing Provider, TempWorks, is proud to announce fifty-four new relationships with temporary staffing businesses in 2009.

Staffing, CRM and Recruitment Software

This is not only exciting for TempWorks but for the economy as well, comments TempWorks Funding VP, Jack Terrana.

TempWorks succeeded in increasing market-share by focusing its development energy on products that allow customers to increase market share, reduce overhead, and improve profitability. The TempWorks Time-Card Linker, an application which enables staffing firms to display the digital image of scanned time cards with their corresponding transactions, relieves the customer of having to collate paper timecards with printed invoices, saving the user nearly one man-hour per $10,000 of weekly billings.

“Bringing on so many new business partners in 2009 really sets the tone for the new year” said TempWorks EVP, Mark Baratto, “Success in today’s challenging economic climate demands that recruiting and staffing companies increase their focus on speed, efficiency and accuracy in delivering well-qualified candidates to their customers. Our success is based on adapting our software to the business needs of the customer, rather than forcing the customer to adapt their processes to our software” concludes Baratto.

The payroll processing and funding business also showed significant growth. “This is not only exciting for TempWorks but for the economy as well, comments TempWorks Funding VP, Jack Terrana. “New contracts are a positive sign of economic recovery.”

Other noteworthy accomplishments include:

A software licensing agreement with a professional employment organization with volume in excess of $100 million per year.
A payroll and invoice processing agreement with a ten-branch organization with volume in excess of $35 million per year.

TempWorks anticipates release of key new products in 2010, including the new version of TempWorks Enterprise, 14R2.

About TempWorks Software
TempWorks Software incorporated in Minnesota in 1997 and provides a full suite of enterprise staffing solutions. Designed to automate and streamline all facets of a staffing firm's daily operation, TempWorks Software offers fully integrated front and back-office staffing software, web portals for customers, employees, applicants and vendor management, and many additional modules. From recruiting to payroll and everything in between, TempWorks Software puts technology to work for staffing firms and their clients. For more information about TempWorks, please visit http://www.tempworks.com or contact Director of Public Relations, Laura Baratto, at 651-452-0366, or by email.

The TempWorks Implementation Team

2010-01-06T09:55:00.015-06:00

Happy New Year everybody! I thought I would start the year by giving you a little more background to our implementation team at TempWorks. Each of these individuals are working very hard this week on new software installations. This team has over 30 years of staffing software implementation experience.

I tip my cap to each of these team members. I know it is no easy task to install enterprise level staffing software, conduct data conversions, manage their time, as well as manage many different projects.

Below is our team, as well as a brief description about each of them:

Sairah Tran - Manager of Consulting & Technical Services:

Sairah came to TempWorks in October 2002 as a support center specialist. During that time she displayed exceptional skills in providing quality customer service while thoroughly learning the system from both a technical and end user perspective. She moved into the implementation department where she has continued to thrive. She is currently the Manager of our implementation team.

Prior to TempWorks, Sairah was with a mortgage company in Chicago where she worked as a web designer and loan processor. She brings with her a bachelor’s degree in computer science and electronic commerce from DePaul University in Chicago.

Her friendly nature and willingness to jump into any project where help is needed is what makes her well liked. When asked what she enjoys most about her affiliation with TempWorks, Sairah cites the people and day-to-day challenges of her position.

Sairah and her cat, Zoha, reside in Inver Grove Heights, MN where she enjoys reading, traveling, and researching different cultures and traditions.

Musa Zaidi - Sr. Implementation Specialist:

Musa first came to TempWorks as an intern in July of 2004; six months later, he was hired on as a full-time employee. Starting in our support department, Musa worked his way up to our Implementation Team. Musa enjoys working at TempWorks because of the friendly atmosphere and pleasant work environment.

Prior to joining the TempWorks crew, Musa worked for the Database Research Group (DBRG). His primary responsibilities included conducting research on their active database and presenting his findings to the group. Musa obtained his skills by attending Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he graduated with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science.
Musa keeps active by regularly running and working out. Other favorite pastimes include listening to music, watching movies, and participating in good-natured debates with friends on a variety of topics. Musa originally came to the United States from Pakistan; he currently resides in Eagan, MN.

Ali Virani - Sr. Implementation Specialist:

Starting as a Support Center Specialist for TempWorks in January of 2005, Ali Virani has worked his way up to his current role as a Sr. Analyst on our Implementation Team. Ali’s skills and experience range to a variety of projects and he has extensive knowledge working with our General Ledger application. He is also an expert when it comes to time card implementation, both in-house and client development requests, delivering daily software support, the Accounts Payable application, performing system upgrades and initiating implementations.

Ali earned a Bachelors of Science degree from Minnesota State University in Mankato, majoring in Computer Science. He is currently continuing his education at the University of St. Thomas, where he is working towards his Masters in Business Administration, with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Operations Management.

Ali may be quiet and laid back in nature when at TempWorks, but outside of work, he likes to have fun and remain active. Ali enjoys working-out, both watching and playing cricket, playing pool and taking in a good movie.

Jathan Moline - Sr. Implementation Specialist:

Jathan is known around the office for his humor and good nature that always make him a joy to work with. Since starting at TempWorks in April of 2005, he has not only been a great asset, but has managed to keep the staff at TempWorks chuckling at his witty comments. He attests his good mood to the great co-workers and customers he has the privilege to work with everyday.

Initially working as a member of our Support Center team, his talent and great customer relations skills quickly moved Jathan into his current role as an Account Manager. Wearing many hats that produce an exhaustive list of duties, Jathan’s main responsibilities include Project Management, Implementation, Sales, Development and Support.

A foundation for his skills, Jathan completed his education at the Minnesota School of Business, where he achieved an AAS Software Development degree.

Prior to joining TempWorks, Jathan worked for Trumed Technologies, a medical manufacturing firm. He held positions as Distribution Manager, Quality Manager and Materials Manager, each requiring the talent for various skills.

In his personal time, Jathan enjoys writing modules for video games, cooking on the grill, spending time with friends and tirelessly honing his golf game.

A native Minnesotan, Jathan spent part of his childhood in the southern part of the state, then moved north to the Iron Range. He is one of the rare individuals that worked outside in Towers, Minn., back in the winter of 1996, when the temperature dipped to a state record low of a daunting sixty degrees below zero! Jathan now calls Farmington, MN, home.

Michael Bracy - Implementation Specialist:

Michael Bracy, who works in the TempWorks support center. He’s been working with our company for since 2007; prior to coming to TempWorks, Mike ran a soccer warehouse in Wisconsin, where he grew up.

Mike graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2004 with three degrees: in international business, marketing and real estate. “But I was always into computers and IT stuff, and when I got the opportunity to TempWorks and work in IT, I was pretty excited,” He says.

Mike recently commented on a significant challenge he needed to overcome at one of our customers. “I was sent to a customer office and their payroll department had just quit,” he remembers. “And their IT guy quit, too. I was originally there to just do general support, but ended up training them through their payroll process. It was one of the most difficult positions I’ve been in. “But working through that situation helped me learn more about the staffing industry and the payroll department.”

One of the reasons Mike was interested in joining the Implementation team was to assist current customers. “One aspect of the implementation department is to perform upgrades to existing client systems, so the company has the newest and greatest things that TempWorks has to offer,” he explains. “That is a great accomplishment.”

Todd Glander - Implementation Specialist:

With TempWorks for almost four years now, Todd Glander is known for his good humor and is a valued member of the TempWorks team. Originally he started in our Support Center, but Todd is now a part of the implementation division where he is responsible for support, implementations, data conversions and development for these solutions.

Todds skills come from self-taught disciplined learning; following a CCNA course taken during high school, Todd taught himself about SQL, Access, VB and other technologies. Todd's previous employment record shows a strong background in a variety of positions within the technology field. Though he has an impressive job history, Todd proclaims TempWorks to be the best place he has ever worked. "We have very talented people working here and I feel honored to be able to be on the TempWorks team," says Todd.

A resident of Lake City, Minn., Todd shares his love and talent with technology. As the founding President of a non-profit organization that assists in growing the interest and knowledge of technology in people, Todd's group offers hardware and resources to participants and organizes LAN parties that provide computers to those who can't afford one. Donations are collected to provide computers to underprivileged teens for use in their own homes.

When Todd isn't working at his non-profit, he focuses on running his wireless ISP company and enjoying time spent with robotics, trap and target shooting and brewing his own beer.

Korey VanDeWalker - Implementation Specialist:

Korey VanDewalker, a TempWorks employee since August of 2007. He began as a Support Specialist and quickly moved his way up to the Implementation Team.

Prior to TempWorks Korey had quite the adventure. After graduating from Lake City high school he began College in Dallas, Texas. He spent a year there before moving back to his grassroots location in SE Minnesota, where he attended college in Rochester.

He soon took a job at Hilton Tool and Die, where he designed plastic injection mold machines. He took on many projects there, including the design for the Wizard toilet bowel cleaner handle. Korey was also a member of the United States Navy, where he spent most of his time at the Lake Naval Hospital in Chicago.

Thanks to Todd Glander, Korey heard to TempWorks and began his career here. When asked what makes him happy to call TempWorks home, Korey expressed his love of the great work environment , “Everyone I work with is cool” says VandeWalker. Korey also enjoys the opportunities for advancement here at TempWorks. Starting off as a Support Specialist, Korey was about to move into implementation in less than a year.

Korey currently lives in Inver Grove Heights. When Korey isn’t at work, you can find him rebuilding computers, playing world war craft or his personal favorite, knitting.

Staffing tip for 2010, on-line application

2009-12-27T16:02:00.009-06:00

If your staffing firm is not using an applicant portal, I would strongly recommend it. Your staffing firm does not make money entering in application information...your team gets paid to qualify applicants and put them to work.

A button can be added to your website, so applicants can apply from home, a friend's house, the library, or anywhere there is a computer:

If applicants are not able to apply before they get to your office, your team can set up a few kiosks for walk-in traffic. Laptops can also be used for applications at job fairs.

The applicant will be able to create their applicant file using a resume, or without:

Make sure you talk with your software installation team to customize (add/hide) your application to include/exclude the information most important to you. Not every staffing firm asks the same questions, so make sure you are storing the information your team needs.

Below are a few sections from TempWorks' applicant portal so you can see what is available:

Interview:

Work Experience:

Education:

Skills (Experience, Language, Software, and more):

Once this information is entered, it can be reviewed by your staff. After the information has been reviewed, the applicant can be contacted. When the applicant comes to your office for an interview all of the information can be edited, or more information can be added.

If you have any questions about adding an application portal to your website in 2010, please let me know (Cory@TempWorks.com).

A few videos from TempWorks CEO, Gregg Dourgarian

2009-12-24T10:51:00.002-06:00

Over the last couple weeks, Gregg Dourgarian has posted a few a few different videos on his Staffing Talk blog. I encourage you to read the blog posts, as well as watch the videos regarding:

My favorite office to visit

2009-12-22T10:37:00.002-06:00

I know making a statement like this is going to get me in trouble. TempWorks has hundreds of customers, so making a statement "this is my favorite office to visit" is like saying "xxx" is my favorite child.

A few weeks ago I was able to stop in at the Manpower franchise in San Diego. I have been there a few different times, but every time I walk out of their office I think to myself, "man it would be fun to come to work here."

I like visiting the office because of the great people who work there. But what makes it my favorite office to visit is the how the office is designed, how it looks, and how it makes you feel when you are there.

In my opinion the owners, Mel Katz and Phil Blair, have done a phenomenal job in decorating the office. There is art work throughout the whole office. Many different colors, shapes and sizes. I even saw a multi-colored bicycle in the conference room.

I encourage any of our staff to stop by next time they are in the area.

A few more additions to the TempWorks staff

2009-12-22T10:10:00.003-06:00

Joining the team at TempWorks in the last few weeks are Brian Bartell and Isaac Ishaque. Both Brian and Isaac will be working in our support department.

Also, TempWorks is happy to announce Dalyce Brell has rejoined our team. Dalyce has over fifteen years of staffing knowledge and experience. Dalyce will be working with our training department. Welcome back, Dalyce.

As we near the end of the year, TempWorks continues to hire. Please visit our career page if you are interested in applying for any of our current openings.

Maybe Gregg Dourgarian, CEO of TempWorks, will be buying you Lattes or taking you to lunch soon.

The Green Team from TempWorks

2009-12-21T16:06:00.005-06:00

I have to admit the TempWorks' staff has been beating the "go green" drum loudly and often lately. Quite a bit of it has focused around our DocCenter product. I wanted to take a moment to make others aware that we have many products which add efficiency and convenience, help the environment, and help cut costs.

Below is a list of a few more members of our "green" team:

Application Portal - from your website or a kiosk in your office applicants can enter their contact information, past jobs, education, and interests.

Job Board - allows employees and applicants to view current job openings within your organization

DocCenter -W-4's, I-9's and other forms that require data entry, signatures and storage are automatically completed and stored on secure servers.

Pay Cards/Direct Deposit - TempWorks has partnered with a few different pay card providers. Thus eliminating the cost of printing and mailing out paychecks.

Employee Assignment information - through the employee WebCenter assignment information can be seen (start time, first day, who to report to, address, not to mention the ability to map out how to get to the customer site).

Electronic pay stubs - employees can log in and get payroll information from any time period they have worked for your staffing firm.

Electronic W2's - Employees can opt in or opt out of getting their w2's for current or past years from the employee WebCenter

Electronic employee time sheets - Employee can enter in their hours per day (including time for breaks, adjustments, cost codes, as well as different pay codes).

Electronic time card approval - Client supervisor receives notification time cards are waiting for approval. Supervisor can approve or reject time. Everything in one system. Everything is documented in the system, no more billing disputes.

Electronic invoices - invoices can be emailed to your customers. But customers can also log into the WebCenter to see current and previous invoices (below is a list of invoices, but customers have the option of viewing/printing individual invoices).

Time clocks - The online time clock posts information immediately. The supervisor will know if an employee is late for a shift, and you can respond quickly to the unplanned absence.

Customer On-demand Reports - your customers are able to see real-time information any time of the day or night, when it is convenient for your customer.

TempWorks Mobile - all of your customer contact information at your fingertips. Phone numbers, email addresses, maps to their office location.

TempWorks would like to congratulate Hire Dynamics and Nelson Family of Companies

2009-12-13T07:31:00.000-06:00

Both of these companies were listed in the top 10 staffing companies to work for in 2009 published by Staffing Industry Analysts.

Quite the accomplishment. Again, congratulations.

Click here to see the complete list.

TempWorks: Another example of why I like working here

2009-12-11T09:27:00.004-06:00

As most of you probably know the CEO of TempWorks, Gregg Dourgarian, is pretty excited about social media. He encourages our team (every chance he gets) to create (or make comments on) a blog or twitter account.

Yesterday was a good example of this. I posted a message on Twitter welcoming two new people to our support department, Brian Bartell and Isaac Ishaque. Neither of these guys has been with our team a week, and here is Gregg's retweet:

RT @coryhintz: #TempWorks welcomes Brian Bartell and Isaac Ishaque to our support team...hi guys...hope to c u here on twitter as well

Encouragement to start up a twitter account from the CEO the first week on the job. Thanks Gregg for making TempWorks a fun place to work.

Welcome Brian and Isaac to our team.

New TempWorks customer gives rave review of a few of our team memebers

2009-12-08T07:08:00.004-06:00

Recently we received the below comments from Mike Mayo, President of Snelling Staffing:

I had contacted several companies to find the best software that fit our needs. Your account executive, Casey Kraus went over in detail how your system worked and the benefits that your system had that would fit our company's needs, he was excellent and gave me the best presentation of all the companies that I had contacted. I would also like to personally thank Todd Glander for his patience in explaining the Tempworks program to our office staff. He was superb and it made all the difference in getting our staff started in a positive way.

Thank you Mike for your comments about our team.

Nice job Casey and Todd!

TempWorks Press Release

2009-11-30T12:32:00.003-06:00

Temporary Staffing Firm Finds Profits in Going Green

Professional Employment Group eliminated paper employment forms with TempWorks DocCenter and finds that helping the environment reduces expense and saves time.

Whatever platform you are on including no platform at all, we can deliver improved profitability immediately by eliminating paper and reducing headcount.

Saint Paul, MN (PRWEB) November 30, 2009 -- Professional Employment Group (PEG), an innovative, full-service staffing solution provider based in St. Louis, reported increased efficiency, and cost-savings since implementing paperless form management software.

Katie Baker, Operations Manager at PEG, is always looking out for ways to improve processes for her clients. When she realized that the many paper application forms slowed down the process of getting great candidates to her clients, she began researching a variety of electronic document products. After a careful review she chose TempWorks DocCenter and quickly found success.

DocCenter electronically captures form data and signatures electronically and stores them on secure servers. Out of the box, DocCenter handles W-4s, I-9s and other standard documents, but end-users can make the solution work with any document that requires data entry, signatures and storage.

The improved process takes the drudgery out off the application and interview process. Candidates like it because it saves them time. Recruiters like it because they can focus more on the candidate during the interview since. That means candidates find the right job faster, and customers of PEG get best-matching candidates sooner.

Baker says that going green makes her company faster and more profitable: “Because DocCenter works seamlessly with our core products, it has noticeably improved our efficiency. It saves time for everyone from our internal employees to our job candidates to our customers.”

The security offered by paperless processing also figures into Baker’s analysis. Auditing credentials and verifying employment eligibility no longer require laborious movement of paper documents. “It’s been a convenience to have all of our documentation stored safely and securely in one central location. We can now access hundreds of thousands of candidate forms for our clients at the click of mouse.”

“Some staffing companies still have entire rooms dedicated to document storage, making it a hassle to retrieve any of the data, overall very inefficient. TempWorks DocCenter is another addition to the family of products dedicated to the “Green” Paperless Staffing Initiative” concludes TempWorks Director of Operations, Kevin Prow.

“DocCenter has been a hugely successful product for us,” says TempWorks president David Dourgarian. Dourgarian is quick to add that it markets the solution to all larger employers, especially those with Peoplesoft, VCG, Paychex or ADP installations. “Whatever platform you are on including no platform at all, we can deliver improved profitability immediately by eliminating paper and reducing headcount.”

About TempWorks Software
Founded in 1994, TempWorks provides a full suite of enterprise staffing solutions, payroll funding and processing, and merger and acquisition services.

For more information about TempWorks, please visit http://www.tempworks.com or contact Director of Public Relations, Laura Baratto, at 651-452-0366.

About Professional Employment Group:
Since 1984 PEG has been a driving force in the staffing business and has helped thousands of job seekers find successful careers. PEG’s service stands out in its tightness with customers and employees - by carefully developing an understanding of client resource requirements and then matching them with ideal candidates, PEG achieves the right fit the first time around. For more information please check out www.pegstaff.com.

TempWorks November newsletter

2009-11-25T12:18:00.003-06:00

Laura Baratto has assembled our November newsletter. In it you will find articles from TempWorks CEO, Gregg Dourgarain. Also contributing are Vice President Jack Terrana, social media expert Andrew Bomett, and DocCenter guru Brandon Johnson.

There are also articles discussing our new mobile phone application, our W2 printing service, as well a little information about EVP, Mark Baratto.

Just click the link here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Switch from Northwest to Delta

2009-11-19T10:17:00.003-06:00

By now everyone knows Northwest airlines has been sold to Delta. Recently I was informed my Northwest frequent flier number has been ported over to a new Delta FF#.

Honestly I didn't think much about it.

Now when I make a flight reservation I make sure to use my Delta FF#.

Again, no big deal.

The thing I didn't take into consideration is the partnerships with the rental car agencies, hotel chains, etc. I learned about this fact when I checked into my hotel this week. The receptionist told me she had my Northwest number on my reservation.

I don't know for sure, but I am fairly confident anything associated or added to my old Northwest FF# will be lost somewhere in cyberspace.

I took about 20-30 minutes after I checked in to my hotel room to log into the different travel sites and update my accounts with my Delta frequent flier number. It was kind of a pain, but I don't want to loose my points.

TempWorks DocCenter: Client Testimonial

2009-11-19T08:50:00.003-06:00

Over the past year I have been tooting the TempWorks DocCenter horn, in-person at client sites, phone calls, emails, twitter, you get the picture. It works. It saves time. It is efficient. That is the reason it is our fastest growing ancillary product.

But don't take my word for it. Here is a quote from Katie Baker, from Professional Employment Group:

Professional Employment Group can’t say enough great things about DocCenter. Because the program works seamlessly with Enterprise, it has noticeably improved our efficiency. Not only does DocCenter save our internal employees time, it saves our candidates time from having to fill out redundant forms. It’s also been a convenience to have all of our documentation stored safely and securely in one central location. It is an easy installation process, and requires very little training as the program is very user-friendly. We received outstanding support and customer service throughout our setup and implementation. Another great product in the TempWorks arsenal!

Thanks Katie for your feedback!

Speaking of Christmas...

2009-11-18T10:55:00.003-06:00

If you are looking for a present for someone who is a frequent traveler, I recommend the Skyroll bag. I love it. I use it on all my trips.

It works well for suits and dress shirts.

My wife picked up my Skyroll bag at the Men's Wearhouse. Thanks, honey!

Only 36 days until Christmas...

2009-11-18T10:42:00.005-06:00

Maybe you should give your staff a present. Let TempWorks process, print, and mail your W2's.

If you have questions, please give me a call or shoot me an email (651.452.0366, cory@tempworks.com).

TempWorks Press Release - Iphone Sales Application

2009-11-12T10:02:00.002-06:00

TempWorks Releases Sales App for iphone

TempWorks Software upgrades their mobile product for the sales and recruiting communities.

Saint Paul, Minn. (PRWEB) November 12, 2009 --TempWorks Software, a provider of technology solutions to the recruiting and staffing industry recently launched an iphone application this week, turning the iconic device into both a recruitment and sales platform.

TempWorks Recruitment for the iPhone

Preparation is everything when it comes to creating trust, and one reason our clients have done well throughout the recession is that tools like Tempworks mobile have kept their sales prepared and effective.

The most utilized feature gives sales professionals quick access to contacts and messages, allowing them to walk into client meetings well prepared and log meeting notes with action items during and after the meeting.

Recruiters are also able to view their action items, including a hot-list of candidates and a placement pipeline. All the data synchronizes in real-time with the TempWorks Enterprise database that everyone in the organization from support personnel to back-office staff can access.

Based on Microsoft’s MVC application architecture, the product also supports devices ranging from the Palm-Pre to the new Google Android. TempWorks has been providing mobile applications since 2003 to staffing companies like Manpower, Select Staffing, and Michael Page. Previous versions of the mobile systems used text that displays plainly on the older smart phone devices.

TempWorks CTO, Paul Czywczynski comments, “For many years TempWorks Mobile product has been very successful with people on the go, who want quick access to their TempWorks data. With the arrival of the iPhone, HTC handsets, Android, and Palm Pre phones, we are able to do so much more.”
David Dourgarian, TempWorks president, commented on the adaptability of the platform to new devices. “The mobile landscape is evolving rapidly, and our clients want the best app for each new generation of devices. Our MVC platform does just that. Whether you choose Iphone or Andriod or the next great device to come along, we’ll have an interface that leverages the best of that device.”

Mark Baratto, EVP with TempWorks, focused on how the new mobile technology is impacting staffing sales performance. “Preparation is everything when it comes to creating trust, and one reason our clients have done well throughout the recession is that tools like Tempworks mobile have kept their sales prepared and effective.”

Tip of the cap to Derek and the TempWorks web service team

2009-11-05T15:33:00.002-06:00

I received an email today from one of our customers who recently installed our time clock solution at one of their customers:

It was easy to get installed at the client and easy to partner to our database so the client was very impressed. The client was also very impressed that a specialist from TempWorks would take the time to sit in on a conference call with them a couple of weeks ago. They had a lot of questions on the conference call so I think having Derek in on the call made them feel more secure with the whole process.

Nice job team.

Anniversary and a few new hires at TempWorks

2009-10-30T13:01:00.002-05:00

Last week Hassan Hemani celebrated his 2nd anniversary at TempWorks. Hassan is a key member of our Support team. Thanks Hassan for your commitment to our team.

TempWorks welcomed Dan Laska and Michael Tran to our support team yesterday. We are excited to add these new members to our team.

We are still hiring for a number of positions. If you are interested in applying, please check out the TempWorks career page.

Staffing World 2009

2009-10-28T10:16:00.015-05:00

While the attendees for this years show were less in volume from past years, the TempWorks team had great visits with current customers, as well as prospects. I thought the show was very well organized, the speakers and sessions were good, and the venue was very nice.

Below are some pictures from the week:

Staffing World Entrance

TempWorks' guys Rich Peterson and Jathan Moline

The ASA booth in the convention hall

A few people meeting/eating at the first evening's reception

In my opinion the best booth at the show. They also had a very good magician.

Joe Calloway's session: Building a Staffing and Recruiting Company from the inside out: The People Behind the Promise. Joe was the keynote speaker for the opening ceremony. His recent book can be found here.

Kenneth and Kathy from Temporary Resources

For more pictures of the show please check out Jack Terrana's blog.

Tempworks Releases Twitter-Integrated Social Media Suite

2009-10-21T05:58:00.003-05:00

Tempworks Releases Twitter-Integrated Social Media Suite

Enterprise software company Tempworks introduces web 2.0 based social media suite.

Saint Paul, Minnesota (PRWEB) October 21, 2009 -- TempWorks Software announces introduction of their web 2.0 social media suite that integrates the best of lead generation, web analytics, CRM, Twitter, email marketing and content management systems. The suite has underscored success both for Tempworks own marketing and sales and that of key clients.

In 2007 Tempworks Software CEO Gregg Dourgarian saw rapid changes in how buyers were making decisions. Trade show booths and industry journal ads were becoming less effective each year. Telemarketing, cold-calling and direct mail were suffering the same fate.

The writing was on the wall. Interruptive selling no longer worked

"The writing was on the wall. Interruptive selling no longer worked," says Dourgarian. "Prospects didn't want to listen when sales wanted to talk. And sales didn't know when prospects were ready to talk."

Now instead of cold calling, the sales staff wakes up each morning with a stack of sales ready leads harvested off of the Social Media Suite.

In response, Tempworks deployed various web 2.0 lead generation techniques and quietly built its own suite of web 2.0 sales tools for its internal purposes. "The results were astounding," says Dourgarian. "New business started coming, and now we have our implementation schedule booked out to the middle of next year. Because of our success, we're using the same tools to drive recruitment."

Too Good Not to Share with Clients

The internal tools got so good at driving sales ready leads that the company decided in 2008 to make the system work for clients and re-architected them into an offering called the Social Media Software Suite. "We had to take this to our customers. It's in our DNA."
The Social Mediate Suite includes:

Social CRM. Social CRM integrates social media into the core Tempworks end-user applications. Social CRM includes powerful Twitter, Facebook and email marketing features that make social media a first class citizen of Tempworks flagship Enterprise application.
Web2Lead. Web2Lead allows sales people to monitor website visitors real-time and plan sales activities accordingly. Instead of spending their day making interruptive sales calls, sales professionals can identify sales ready prospects and provide instant, consultative support.
Content Management System (CMS). CMS allows organizations to dynamically manage its website without ongoing IT involvement. Each practice area can have control over its own content. CMS integrates the best practices of web 2.0 tactics including search engine optimization, landing page templates, and CRM system integration.
LandingPageMaster. LandingPageMaster gets visitors to raise their hands, identify themselves and to announce their needs. Combining elements of web design with carefully prepared pay-per-click and search engine optimization programs, LandingPageMaster drives buyers and candidates in large numbers to the appropriate web pages and makes their visits worthwhile, reducing bounce rates and maximizing conversions.

Already one Tempworks client, Dantemps has taken components of the package which helped it drive tremendous growth during the last 12 months. According to Dantemps CEO Jarrod Daniel "We implemented Tempworks Software in October of 2006 [… As a result, Dan Temps' new friends have been transformed into new employees and clients, allowing the company to grow and expand at a time when most competitors are struggling."

Unlike the many individual web 2.0 lead generation packages out there, Tempworks integrates all the components into a seamless offering. "There are great tools out there like Google Analytics that allow you to do charts and other summary reporting on your web visitors," says Dourgarian. "But they don't identify who those visitors are, and don't lead you with a single click from a web visit to a contact record like Tempworks."
People think internet browsing is anonymous. Nothing can be further from the truth.

Once the company cracked the code of identifying web visitors, it was a snap to integrate it with the core Tempworks CRM/ERP package. Now email, Twitter and Facebook are first class citizens in the Tempworks end-user application.

About TempWorks Software
Founded in 1994, TempWorks provides a full suite of enterprise staffing solutions. Designed to automate and streamline all facets of a staffing firm's daily operation, TempWorks Software offers fully integrated front and back-office staffing software, web portals for customers, employees, applicants and vendor management, and many additional modules. From recruiting to payroll and everything in between, TempWorks Software puts technology to work for staffing firms and their clients.

For more information about TempWorks, please visit or contact Director of Public Relations, Laura Baratto, at 651-452-0366, or by email at laurab(at)tempworks(dot)com

TempWorks - very busy the last few weeks

2009-10-16T09:46:00.005-05:00

Last week we had three customers go live on our latest version of our software. We had our implementation members on-site for these customers. Nice job to the training department and implementation team.
Casey Kraus from our sales department got married.
We celebrated anniversaries for Melanie Kramer (8 years), Sairah Tran (7 years), Stephanie Sparby (1 year), and Andrew Larson (2 years).
Our Sales and Marketing teams have been getting ready for the Staffing World conference in Orlando next week.
Our Sales team has brought in new contracts. Nice job team. Continue to bring those customers in!
Our development team received new computers in order to create new features for our Enterprise product, as well as a new version of TwMobile.
The TempWorks website has changed to show you TempWorks news via the new twitter stream.
You can follow us on Twitter, here are some of our team who "Tweet" @tempworks, @greggdourgarian, @staffing, @tempworksjack, @coryhintz, @kevinprow, @richp24, @lbaratto, and @melaniedkramer.
Also in the last few days I have personally had a customers raving about our support team. One customer said, "Your group has been great when we have needs." Hats off to our support team. They all do a great job.
Lastly we have been very busy recruiting. Please check out our website if you would like to work with some amazing people.

If you are at the Staffing World conference next week, I hope to see you there. Also check out the TempWorks website, as members of our team will be sending updates from Orlando.

The fourth quarter of '09 is going to be great. Shoot me an email or give me a call if you have any comments regarding our software or our team, cory@tempworks.com 651.287.8346.

Happy TempWorks Anniversary to Melanie, Stephanie, and Sairah

2009-10-07T15:41:00.002-05:00

It is only Wednesday and we have celebrated 3 different TempWorks' anniversaries this week.

Melanie Kramer, our support center manager, celebrated her eight year anniversary over the weekend.

Stephanie Sparby, our HR expert, had her one year anniversary yesterday.

And Sairah Tran celebrates her seven year anniversary today. Sairah manages our implementation and upgrade team.

Thank you ladies for all that you do for our team.

Most impressive sports feat of the weekend comes from former TempWorks employee

2009-10-04T20:13:00.004-05:00

On Friday I mentioned how I was looking forward to a great weekend of sports.

I was able to catch a couple of the Twins games on television. The Twins were able to sweep the Royals and force game 163 on Tuesday afternoon.

Yesterday, I was able to go to the St. John's homecoming football game. St. John's won in the last few seconds with a 49 yard field goal.

Unfortunately the Minnesota Wild started off their season with a loss to the Blue Jackets.

But this evening while I was checking Facebook, I saw former TempWorks' employee Chris Heyer was able to finish his first marathon. Apparently his time was around 4:45. Very impressive Chris! Congratulations on your accomplishment.

Great weekend to be a sports fan in Minnesota

2009-10-02T09:15:00.004-05:00

The Twins continue to hang onto a thread of hope and might just squeak into the playoffs, two down with three to play. At least the last three games of the season are at the homer dome. These will be the last three regular season games at the Metrodome for the Twins. I recall quite a few great memories over the last twenty-eight years for the Twins at the Metrodome (or should I say newly named "Mall of America Field"). The twin cities are buzzing about outdoor baseball next year at the new Target Field.

The Minnesota Wild kick off their season on the road on Saturday at Columbus. I am not a huge hockey fan, but hopefully the Wild will have a good year.

I will be spending Saturday afternoon in Collegeville, MN for Saint John's homecoming football game. I look forward to seeing (82 year-young) coach John Gagliardi in his 57th season at SJU (61st season coaching). Coach Gagliardiis one of the most successful college coaches ever and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

I know the Vikings/Packer football game isn't this weekend, but certainly Monday night won't come soon enough for many fans. With all of the Brett Farve drama as the backdrop, it will be interesting to see if this game sets a record for viewers. Bring your earplugs as "the Dome" won't need any outside noise pumped in for this one.

Paperless...Smaperless

2009-09-29T10:01:00.008-05:00

Go Green. Go Paperless. Help save trees. Save the environment.

I have worked for the leading staffing software company for over eleven years. I have mentioned all of the above statments when talking to TempWorks customers. I love technology and all the efficiencies it offers. I have told many people it's a great time to be alive because of all of the technological advancements which are happening every day. So much information at your fingertips (or all around you for that matter).

Just last week when visiting some of our customers, I showed a few people my iPhone. We then discussed how it allows me to send twitter updates, take pictures of my paper receipts, save the location of my car at the airport, and find the nearest Starbucks.

For many years TempWorks has developed paperless technologies which many of our customers use on a daily basis:

WebCenter - Allows applicants, employees, and clients the ability to apply, find, as well as post jobs. Enter in time, approve time, look up a pay stub or last years w2, find out the amount of an invoice from six months ago, just to name a few.

Time Clocks - allows a worker to punch in and out of an assignment via a computer instead of a paper ticket.

DocCenter - saves all of the applicant on-boarding documents electronically. No paper, no filing or mis-filing (in some cases), no hassel.

Scanning of timecards and emailing invoices - allows all of the time card documentation to be saved in our database and emailed to the client with the invoice.

Direct Deposit/Pay Cards

All great products, right.

Again, Go Green! Go Paperless! Help save trees! Save the environment!

To some this is just...Blah, Blah, Blah. Maybe these products aren't in the plans for all.

I stopped in at a customer last week and was told, all of those paperless products are nice, but our staff won't be using them.

To which I said, "huh."

Excuse me Ms. Customer but you just got done telling me these products are "nice." And earlier you mentioned you could see some of the advantages. And before that, you mentioned "everyone else is jumping on the paperless bandwagon."

To which I was told:

All of these things take away from the human part of our business. There is very little customer service to these products, and we are a customers service business.

We don't want to go solely to direct deposit and pay cards because we enjoy the time we spend with our employees when they come into the office for their check. We can talk to them about their current assignment and find out how things are going with their families.

We don't want our customers entering in all of their orders on-line because then we don't get to talk to them to find out what their needs might be in the up-coming weeks.

We would prefer if our applicants came into the office to apply. We are able to get to know them, find out more about their needs, and discuss what the applicant is looking for, rather than using an applicant portal.

Honestly I didn't have a comeback for any of these. It wasn't what I expected. All were good and valid points. It was just a different philosophy than I am used to or what I have been hearing from other customers.

This is exactly the reason I enjoy visiting our customers in person. Different perspective.

TempWorks Customer Spotlight: Dan Temps

2009-09-28T14:30:00.001-05:00

Dan Temps Helps the Unemployed Find Jobs Faster

While some companies are pinching pennies, downsizing or even shutting down, Dan Temps continues to hire new employees and bring on new clients by utilizing the social media and cutting-edge technology.

Saint Paul, MN (PRWEB) September 28, 2009 -- Dan Temps, a Houston based executive search firm, announced that they are recruiting more candidates than ever before, through the use of technology and the social media.

Jarrod Daniel, president of Dan Temps, has been making a lot of new friends recently. Just check out the Wall..While many in the staffing or recruiting community search diligently for the next "Killer App," and the pages of Fortune and Forbes are dominated by discussions on how corporations can incorporate social media into their business models, Daniel and his colleagues at Dan Temps have actually found a way to make social networks work.

We implemented Tempworks Software in October of 2006 and since then have been able to service our clients more effectively and expand our reach to serve their needs

Staffing, CRM and Recruitment Software

As a result, Dan Temps' new friends have been transformed into new employees and clients, allowing the company to grow and expand at a time when most competitors are struggling. Taking the Beatles one step further, Dan Temps is not just getting by with a little help from their friends, but rather, thriving. Founded in 1994, Dan Temps is a pretty typical 18 year old: Facebook has become an integral part of their existence.

But DanTemps is able to offer its friends something more than the usual status updates, tagged pictures and wall postings: DanTemps is utilizing the social network to advertise an extensive and diverse list of employment opportunities. Turns out, Dan Temps is a pretty good friend to have. Candidates and clients alike are taking notice.

"Our Facebook recruiting project has increased our visibility to the job postings that we have," says Daniel. "We used to get an average of 30 applications per posting before we created the Facebook Page. Since that page was created, the applications have gone up to an average of 150 applications per posting. That is a 500% increase in applications per posting in only three months."

While conventional wisdom holds that Facebook is the internet equivalent to a shopping mall, filled with rambunctious teens, soccer moms and those who see visiting as a necessary evil, the success of Dan Temps Facebook recruiting project proves that the paradigm of social networks, and more importantly, how Americans look for work, is being inexorably altered.
Potential employees, in turn, are finding it easier to find available positions due to the presence of Dan Temps on Facebook. According to one temporary worker, "A lot of my down time is spent on Facebook catching up with old friends. It's nice to see updates on job openings through the news feed. That way, I can log on to the website and quickly apply to be considered for that position."

Dan Temps' recent success in leveraging social networks evidences the firm's commitment to technological innovation, which lies at the heart of the company's strategic development. Helping Dan Temps remain at the technological forefront of the staffing industry is Tempworks Software, with whom they enjoy a long term strategic partnership.

"We implemented Tempworks Software in October of 2006 and since then have been able to service our clients more effectively and expand our reach to serve their needs," said Daniel. "In order to grow with our clients requests, we have had to be very nimble and flexible in our services. One way we can accomplish this is through Tempworks. Tempworks has offered Dan Temps the ability to create a smooth and efficient recruiting process."

In an industry whose key metric is "time to fill" a position, Dan Temps is gaining a competitive edge in the speed and immediacy afforded by Facebook, populating their "Fan Site" with all new openings, which are advertised to their fans and network in real time. Furthermore, the five branch, privately held firm can now advertise their business and opportunities to a much wider audience than was conceivable only a few years before: Facebook recently announced it had over 300 million active users.

With 50 million new Facebook users in July 2009 alone, Dan Temps is able to draw upon a constantly growing group of potential employees, whose skill sets, experience and soft skills are immediately apparent; rather than conduct a time and labor intensive prescreening process, Dan Temps recruiters need only to check out the profiles of their applicants to do their due diligence.
A fully integrated recruitment advertising, employment branding, business development tool and candidate assessment solution, Facebook seems perfectly tailored for the demands of staffing industry. Additionally, Facebook's demographics align closely with those seeking temporary opportunities. All this for a price that's pretty hard to beat: free.

About TempWorks Software

Founded in 1994, TempWorks provides a full suite of enterprise staffing solutions. Designed to automate and streamline all facets of a staffing firm's daily operation, TempWorks Software offers fully integrated front and back-office staffing software, web portals for customers, employees, applicants and vendor management, and many additional modules. From recruiting to payroll and everything in between, TempWorks Software puts technology to work for staffing firms and their clients.

For more information about TempWorks, please visit http://www.tempworks.com or contact Director of Public Relations, Laura Baratto, at 651-452-0366, or by email at laurab (at) tempworks (dot) com.

Most enjoyable rental car shuttle driver

2009-09-26T11:04:00.003-05:00

Typically after a long week of traveling, I am looking forward to getting home. I normally drop my rental car off at Hertz, Avis, Budget, etc and then take a shuttle to the airport. Yesterday afternoon was no exception.

What made it exceptional was the Hertz shuttle driver, Archie. I had the most enjoyable ride to the airport in Atlanta (or anywhere else for that matter) I had ever had. Below is a clip I found on YouTube from earlier this year which highlights my experience more than I could express in words.

I was disappointed to hear though that I won't get to have this experience again. Archie had mentioned he has been driving the shuttle bus for over ten years, but in the next few weeks he will be unemployed. There will be no more shuttle buses used at the ATL airport for rental cars. They are switching to an electric rail system.

Thank you Archie for the entertaining ride to the airport. I enjoyed your enthusiasm. I wish you all the best in the future.

Happy 4th Anniversary at TempWorks, Alisha

2009-09-23T09:15:00.005-05:00

Earlier this week Alisha Arnold celebrated her 4th anniversary at TempWorks.

Alisha is our corporate trainer. She spends quite a bit of her time on the road visiting our customers. She also helps out the sales team with product demonstrations.

Thanks Alisha for all of your contributions to our team over the past four years.

Newest TempWorks Press Release

2009-09-23T08:46:00.002-05:00

This press release features Link Staffing, a client I was able to spend a few hours with earlier this week.

Staffing Firm Wins Big by Paying Faster

Paying quickly helps attract and retain top quality temporary workers, and one staffing company has emerged with a digitized time card system that makes that process faster than ever before. Employees get paid faster and clients invoiced sooner with digitized time cards attached thus reducing errors and expense, saving time and avoiding lost time cards!

St. Paul, MN (PRWEB) September 23, 2009 -- Link Staffing has built an impressive track record over its three decades, emerging as one of the nation's top providers of temporary staffing solutions, something of an anomaly in an industry where seemingly few firms survive longer than the candidates they place.

When we can't find a time card, we are unable to bill the client for the service provided; since we work mostly on commission, this hugely affects not only our paycheck, but the company's overall sales. Now that the time card automatically links to the invoice, we can be at ease that we will get paid.

Founded in 1980 as a single branch office in Houston, Texas, Link Staffing quickly found a niche in a city just emerging as an industrial and manufacturing powerhouse; today the city ranks behind only New York City for the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered within city limits.

Specializing in industrial, skilled labor and general administrative positions, Link Staffing's spectacular growth mirrored that of the city it calls home, becoming Houston's temporary labor solution of choice. While Houston's largest employer, Enron, imploded due to its pervading lack of ethics, Link, by contrast, has grown in large part due to its focus on core values, succeeding in its stated mission of "making each client an advocate."

Exemplified by its commitment to employees and clients alike, dedication to exceeding expectations, and focus on continuous improvement, Link's unique value proposition and proven operating model led the firm to begin franchising in 1994; the company has since grown to over 60 offices in 12 states, 80% of which are owned and operated by franchisees.

With a cadre of entrepreneurs and small business owners relying on Link's ability to respond to the demands of the market through continued innovation, Link Staffing Services has built an impressive support system, providing the infrastructure for its franchisees to continue to grow their businesses. The company's newest offering, a pioneering digitized time card system designed to make the payroll process faster and more convenient than ever, does just that.

It's a solution that has helped Link Staffing remain at the forefront of the temporary staffing industry, and one that is quickly being replicated by other firms eager to simplify their payroll and back office processes.

The innovation could not have come at a better time for the temporary industry, which has been particularly hard hit by the recession. Many firms have been forced to dramatically scale back their products and services due to the marked decline in job orders and revenues, affecting their ability to service both clients and candidates.

These agencies, however, are among the lucky ones; a record number of temporary staffing firms nationwide have shut down due to both decreased demand and an inability to adjust their operating and cash flow models to the new realities of American business.

With job orders and revenues declining, however, a handful of temporary staffing and contingent labor firms are busier than ever with a record influx of candidates lining up to utilize their services, part of the swelling ranks of American workers who, by choice or circumstance, are commonly referred to as "underemployed."

As the ranks of the underemployed swell, millions are turning to temporary staffing firms for help, many for the first time; according to a branch manager at a Glendale, CA based staffing firm, who declined to be identified by name, "We're seeing dozens of new candidates every day, many who would not have considered temp work in the past. These are college educated; skilled professionals who want to go back to work. Even when a job order does come in, we have to do a lot more hand-holding: this is how you get your time card approved; this is how you call in for assignments. It's overwhelming."

Fortunately, staffing agencies are feeling a little less overwhelmed with the introduction of TempWorks Timecard Linking, an application which enables staffing firms to display the digital image of scanned time cards with their corresponding transactions. By digitizing and automating these processes, staffing companies are able to speed up their week-end processes with a faster audit of transactions prior to payroll. Tempworks Timecard Linking also enables staffing agencies to increase operating efficiencies while reducing human error by attaching the digital copies of the timecards directly to their corresponding invoices.

According to Tempworks EVP Mark Baratto, "Tempworks Timecard Linking is a timely offering for our clients. Staffing Executives and HR Professionals are working harder than ever to cut costs and improve productivity without reducing customer expectations."

Digitizing timecards, Baratto says, gives staffing firms the ability to increase internal controls around back-office processes. "Handling time cards electronically eliminates man-hours within the payroll process and protects agencies from branch level fraud. It can be used to prevent a payroll check from being cut without the presence of an authentic timecard, and can be used to quickly reference documentation supporting invoices to speed collections."

In short, Tempworks Time Card Linking Service eliminates the error of lost time cards, one of the most common challenges confronting temporary staffing firms. This is good news not only for internal recruiters, for whom lost time cards can affect when and how much an internal staff is paid, but also for the workers themselves, who can be assured that they will be paid accurately and on time for their hours worked.

To the millions of underutilized American workers turning to temporary work to stay afloat, this consistency means that bills and mortgages, like their paychecks, will be paid accurately and on time. It's a peace of mind that comes as welcome relief to many recruiters, and the workers they place, who have had to deal with the repercussions of a lost time card.

"Lost time cards have always been a big issue for us," reported a satisfied recruiter whose firm recently adopted Tempworks Time Card Linking. "When we can't find a time card, we are unable to bill the client for the service provided; since we work mostly on commission, this hugely affects not only our paycheck, but the company's overall sales. Now that the time card automatically links to the invoice, we can be at ease that we will get paid."

Link Staffing Services IT Manager and Tempworks Time Card Linking customer Diem Nguyen reports that the product has increased operational efficiencies while creating bottom line savings.

"Tempworks Time Card Linking allows us readily produce invoices in a format verifiable by the AP department because timecards are attached to the actual invoice, preventing fraud and billing mistakes," Nguyen says. "Because an electronic copy of the timecard is created and stored in the Tempworks database, we are saving both time and money."

The Tempworks Time Card Linking application can be deployed as a licensed feature to TempWorks Enterprise Software customers, as a standalone application to staffing industry lenders, or as part of an integrated business process outsourcing package managed directly by Tempworks.

The Timecard Linking service is a natural addition to the Tempworks Paperless Staffing initiative, automating all aspects of a staffing firm's internal operations, and many clients report that the time and cost savings represented by Tempworks' solutions aligns with their overall business plans and strategic direction.

By eliminating paperwork, staffing firms are free to focus on their core business, matching candidates with opportunities. With unemployment at historic levels, there might not be a more important business to be in.

About TempWorks Software

For more information about TempWorks, please visit http://www.tempworks.com or contact Director of Public Relations, Laura Baratto, at 651-452-0366.

Tip of the cap to TempWorks System Admin, Dan Brandel

2009-09-18T14:11:00.003-05:00

Most offices are a busy place. There are things going on everywhere all day long. Most of the things which happen at the office require technology. Our company is no different, being we are a software company.

There are new computers to set up and install. Old printers to figure out why they aren't working. Email. The phone system. Fax machines. Servers to maintain. Microsoft patches to install. Off-site back-ups. Spam filters.

That is a short list, and already I am wondering why anyone applies for a job like this?

Maybe because it's always changing. Maybe because it's challenging. Maybe because it's never the same day two days in a row.

Pictured, is Dan Brandel. TempWorks System Administrator. He has worked here for four years, and he does a great job. Forgive the quality of the photo as it was a walk-by with my iPhone.

Anyway, in addition to the list of things I mentioned earlier. Dan is also responsible for TempWorks' hosted network which we maintain for many of our customers. At any given time throughout the day we may have 600-800 users logging in. These customers connect to our servers from all over the U.S.

It's a big job. And it is day or night, 365 days a year.

Thanks Dan for your commitment to our team, as well as our customers.

Congratulations Patti Penny on recent award

2009-09-15T16:42:00.005-05:00

Patti Penny founder of Penmac Personnel Services recently was given the lifetime achievement award by the Springfield Business Journal. Patti is the first woman to receive this award.

In this recent Springfield Business Journal article, Patti mentions how "family is key to success for Penmac." Currently there are 13 family members who work for Penmac, including President Paula Adams and COO John Penny. The article also mentions the many other accolades which Patti Penny has been awarded over the years.

Penmac places over 4,000 people every week to jobs throughout the U.S. from their 35 office locations. TempWorks has been a technology partner with Penmac Personnel Services for over four years.

Again, congratulations Patti Penny on this award, as well as your many achievements over the past twenty-one years.

TempWorks employee helping the world to be a better place

2009-09-15T10:03:00.008-05:00

In a few weeks Brandon Johnson, of the Web Service team here at TempWorks, will be taking a trip.

He isn't planning a car ride down the street, or a plane ride to visit a friend a few states away. Brandon and a group from his church will traveling to Peru.

On their journey to Peru they will be traveling by plane, bus, and 8-13 hours by boat.

The group will be building a new church, like the one you see in the picture, in a community which hasn't had one before. They will also be digging a drinking well for the local community (which currently has to walk miles to the nearest drinking facility).

Brandon, I hope you and your team have a great trip. I look forward to hearing more about it. As well as seeing pictures, when you return.

A loss for the staffing community

2009-09-14T17:31:00.004-05:00

Recently Roberta "Bobbie" Ruch passed away. I didn't know her well. But I did have the opportunity to meet and talk with her at various times (as Acloche has been a customer of TempWorks since 1998).

Over the last couple hours I have been reading more about her life, as well as her unexpected passing.

I found an article which was published in 2006 of which Bobbie was asked "How do you find the right employees to grow your company?" To which she replied, "We have a saying that our employees live our brand. I need staff members who embrace this concept and take pride in representing Acloche. I don’t apologize for the fact our standards are quite high. For every five people we interview for a job, we hire one."

While another Women in Business article mentioned her view on customer intimacy in the age of technology:

"We want to be the best; to exhibit excellence in everything we do," says Ruch. "We think that customer intimacy in the age of technology is very important. And we believe in doing what you say you're going to do, following through, and keeping commitments and promises. We go in every day with the idea dot we're all going to do our best, and generally, I think that human nature is such that everyone wants to do a good job.

I urge you to take a look at the Acloche website which details many of Bobbie Ruch's accomplishments from a staffing standpoint, as well as from a civic leadership standpoint.

TempWorks press release - Bright Spot for the Rust Belt

2009-09-14T11:14:00.003-05:00

The Reserves Network Creates Bright Spot for the Rust Belt

Despite recession, staffing industry leader The Reserves Network experiences dramatic increase in revenue while keeping workers working; strategic partnership with Tempworks credited with positioning company to increase revenues 200% over the next five years.

Saint Paul, MN (PRWEB) September 14, 2009 -- The recession has not been kind to Cleveland. A longtime leader in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, Northeast Ohio has been particularly hard hit, with the sixth highest unemployment rate in the country. Like the winds whipping in from Lake Erie, the economic downturn has left a chilling path in its wake, with few bright spots on an otherwise bleak horizon.

Staffing, CRM and Recruitment Software

One major reason we went with Tempworks was because of all the custom changes that Tempworks was able to make for us

Fortunately, staffing industry leader The Reserves Network (TRN), headquartered in Fairview Park, OH, has weathered the trend, experiencing the kind of success in 2009 rivaling that of local legend LeBron James. While many of its competitors have experienced dramatic declines in job orders, leading to major layoffs and balance sheets dripping in more red ink than Indians' mascot Chief Wahoo, TRN forecasts approximately a 10% year-to-year growth in revenue, from $73 million in 2008 to a projected $80 million in 2009. Of course, this is not only good news for TRN, but also for the hundreds of job seekers they have helped place, ensuring a workforce that keeps working.

It's all par for the course for TRN, which has a 25 year track record of success based on a single, fundamental principle of customer satisfaction, providing unfaltering customer service that keeps its clients coming back, even during the recent economic downturn. It's a recipe that has led to its growth from a single branch office founded in 1983 to a regional powerhouse with 35 offices throughout the Upper Midwest and Southeast.

TRN recently announced its five year forecast, with anticipated revenues growing approximately 200%; should TRN meet its projections, by 2014, the firm will net between $150-200 million annually. For most privately held, small cap companies, this sort of explosive growth would seem to come as a mixed blessing. TRN, however, is unlikely to experience growing pains due in large part to their partnership with Minnesota-based Tempworks Software.

Since becoming a Tempworks client in 2003, TRN has placed its integrated suite of staffing solutions at the crux of its front and back office operations, which TRN leadership credits as an integral part of their astounding growth.
"Partnering with Tempworks has contributed to our current success," says Chief Operating Officer Neil Stallard. "It has given us a competitive edge through the ability to adapt our software to the business process."

For a company founded on the principal of outstanding service, TRN has managed to retain its client-centric orientation, and Stallard believes that Tempworks has allowed TRN to utilize the same high touch approach it enjoyed as a single branch office.

"One major reason we went with Tempworks was because of all the custom changes that Tempworks was able to make for us," Stallard said. "This has given us the chance to work with a variety of clients, and keep them as customers for many years."

Tempworks EVP Cory Hintz reports that the growth of TRN is a shared success, and one on which the staffing software leader prides itself upon. "When we see long standing customers that are not just stable, but growing, we feel like we've done our job by providing the necessary tools," Hintz said.

About Tempworks Software
Tempworks Software, incorporated in Minnesota in 1997, provides a full suite of enterprise staffing solutions. Designed to automate and streamline all facets of a staffing firm's daily operations, Tempworks Software offers fully integrated front and back-office staffing software, allowing turn-key service for customers, employees, applicants and vendors. With its offerings including recruiting, payroll, and everything in between, TempWorks Software puts technology to work for staffing firms and their clients.

Additional information about Tempworks can be found online at www.tempworks.com or by contacting Laura Baratto, Director of Operations, at 651-452-0366.

TempWorks Press Release - Staffing firms bury paperwork

2009-09-10T12:30:00.004-05:00

Staffing firms bury paperwork

St. Paul, Minn. (PRWEB): The concept of time cards is inexorably intertwined with human history, dating to crude animated drawings of homo erectus, sliding down the tail of a brontosaurus as a conveniently placed pterodactyl used its beak to bore a hole in a thin piece of ‘flintstone.’

Unfortunately, little progress has been made over the eons in terms of simplifying this basic but necessary back office process. Besides the movement from rock to paper (with brief, albeit unpopular trials involving papyrus and vellum), time management solutions have evolved very little over the course of human history.

Until now.

Tempworks Timecard Linking, a package which displays the digital image of scanned timecards with their corresponding transactions, has threatened to consign the old fashioned punch card to the dust-bin of business anachronisms, where it will assume a place of honor next to the Telex machine and the mimeograph.

Staffing firms are quickly adopting and championing this new application, enabling companies to speed up their week-end process with a faster audit of transactions prior to payroll, conveniently attaching all timecards to their corresponding invoices, which can then be e-mailed to clients. Indeed, invoicing is no longer just the fax.

Tempworks Timecard Linking allows staffing agencies to work more economically and efficiently, reducing the burden of the back office to the bottom line. The application can be deployed as a licensed feature to Tempworks Enterprise software customers, as a standalone application to staffing industry lenders, or as part of a business process outsourcing package (BPO) managed directly by Tempworks.

By digitizing the invoicing processes, companies are saving more than time and money: they are also dramatically reducing paper usage, a solution that aligns with corporate responsibility and Green initiative programs. Minimizing paper usage while decreasing reliance on ink cartridges, this eco-friendly application significantly reduces companies’ environmental footprint, as well as the frequency of paper cuts that, if infected, create a hazardous liability issue for all involved, particularly if gangrene sets in.

Tempworks EVP Mark Baratto states, “TW Timecard Linking is a timely offering for our clients. Staffing Executives and HR Professionals are working harder than ever to cut costs and improve productivity without reducing customer expectations.”

Applying Frederick Winslow Taylor’s theories of scientific management to the digital age, Baratto also maintains, “Handling timecards electronically eliminates man-hours within the payroll process and protects agencies from branch-level fraud. It can be used to prevent a payroll check from being cut without the presence of an authentic timecard, and can be used to quickly reference documentation supporting invoices to speed collections.”

Clients are quick to sing the praises of Tempworks Timecard Linking. Diem Nguyen, IT Manager at Link Staffing Services, reports that the solution, “allows us to readily produce invoices in a format verifiable by the AP department because timecards are attached to the actual invoice, preventing fraud and billing mistakes. Because an electronic copy of the timecard is created and stored in the Tempworks database, we are saving both time and money.”

The Timecard Linking service is a natural addition to the Tempworks Paperless Staffing initiative, automating all aspects of a staffing firm’s internal operations, and many clients report that saving time and money does, in fact, align with their overall business plans and strategic direction. By eliminating paperwork, staffing firms are now able to focus on work.

About Tempworks Software:
Founded in 1994, TempWorks provides a full suite of enterprise staffing solutions. Designed to automate and streamline all facets of a staffing firm’s daily operation, TempWorks Software offers fully integrated front and back-office staffing software, web portals for customers, employees, applicants and vendor management, and many additional modules. From recruiting to payroll and everything in between, TempWorks Software puts technology to work for staffing firms and their clients. For more information about TempWorks, please visit www.tempworks.com or contact Director of Public Relations, Laura Baratto, at 651-452-0366, or by email at laurab@tempworks.com.

TempWorks Tax Manager celebrates anniversary today

2009-09-10T11:50:00.003-05:00

Happy eight year anniversary, Jon Schachtele!

There are certainly positions in every company where there isn't enough recognition paid. There are jobs which aren't that much fun, or very exciting. I know when I think of excitement, the terms: IRS, tax deposits, FICA, and form 941 don't pop into my mind.

Having said that, Jon Schachtele has taken on the job of Payroll and Tax Research Manager at TempWorks and done a great job. (He reminded me earlier this week the end of year preparations have already begun.)

Thanks Jon for all that you do. I have enjoyed working with you the last eight years here at TempWorks, as well as the couple years before at Paychex.

Another Milestone

2009-09-09T21:40:00.003-05:00

Seems like just a few days ago when I started my blog, looking back it was almost a year ago. This is post #150.

Thanks to those of you who read, follow, and comment.

A few TempWorks road warriors

2009-09-09T21:08:00.008-05:00

I noticed this picture yesterday which I thought was somewhat relevant to a few of my traveling experiences.

I thought I would take a moment to thank a couple frequent travelers of TempWorks for their sacrifices when on the road for us:

Alisha Arnold, Corporate Trainer
Musa Zaidi, Senior Analyst
Ali Virani, Senior Analyst

Thank you for representing our team during your travels all over the United States.

TempWorks customer raises money for a good cause

2009-09-09T12:15:00.001-05:00

I would like to take a moment to congratulate Mike Loven from Staff-On-Site for recently raising almost $1000 (and over $3000 in the last two years) for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Mike got my attention when I got an email stating he needed "bail" for his recent "lock up" event. Mike was very gracious with his time in letting me know how he got involved with this event as well as helping the MDA in general.

Mike was very passionate about making sure the money raised goes to the kids. He also had nothing but great things to say about the MDA in how it is run and the people who work there.

Mike Loven is the District Manager of Staff-On-Site. Staff-On-Site has been a customer of TempWorks for almost three years.

Nice work Mike.

Hats off to the TempWorks sales team

2009-09-09T09:09:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to send out some recognition to our sales team: Rich Peterson, Casey Kraus, and Mark Baratto. They have been putting in the extra hours, hitting the road, making calls, and doing the necessary follow up to continue to bring in business here at TempWorks.

Just last week we got in a couple large software and payroll processing contracts. Thanks guys for all of your hard work.

TempWorks support member Sarmad Abbas receives customer compliment

2009-09-08T21:34:00.007-05:00

Last week I posted a compliment for the TempWorks payroll processing department. This week a compliment for a member of our support department.

This afternoon I received an email from Amir Mujahid, who is the Controller at Outsource Telecom. Mr. Mujahid emailed me to give me some great feedback concerning the job Sarmad Abbas has been doing for them. I was informed, "his work is impeccable." As well as, "he is fun to work with, and an asset to your company."

Thank you Amir for your nice comments of Sarmad. Thank you Sarmad for representing our company so well.

For the frequent traveler, a few helpful iPhone apps

2009-09-08T11:50:00.006-05:00

In the past, I have posted a couple things which help me from a technology standpoint on business trips. I just wanted to pass along a few iPhone apps which I have found helpful:

iSky Parking - very useful for the airport parking garage. That way you don't have to take a ticket in the blue section and write level 4, section P. iSky Parking allows you to take a picture of your location, enter in the spot information, or you can set alerts if you park at a meter so you know when it is about to expire, thus saving you money on a ticket. Very good app.

Mobile Receipt - I just downloaded this application over the weekend from Mitek systems. It allows you to take a photo of your receipts as well as enter information about what day, amount, category. It stores the information by month. So your receipts are very well organized. It also has a search facility which allows you to quickly find receipts by date, category, or notes. I am very excited to use this application. I hate keeping track of parking, hotel, rental car, meal, ok every type of receipt.

Camera Genius - this helps for the Mobile Receipt app which I just mentioned. The Camera Genius allows you to zoom in on objects when taking a picture.

Kayak - has an app which you can quickly find flights for multiple carriers pretty quickly. It also give you the airline phone numbers in case you don't have it on you when you need to change something to your current itinerary.

Chipotle - Lastly if you are a fan of Chipotle this app allows you to quickly find the closest Chipotle resturant using the GPS from your phone. It also gives you the option of entering in your order (somenthing I have not tried yet) so your order is ready when you get there.

Please let me know if these where helpful. I also appreciate knowing which applications you find useful during your travels.

Compliment for the TempWorks Payroll Processing department

2009-09-02T17:38:00.006-05:00

A few minutes ago I was sitting at my desk working on a project plan. I was interrupted by someone from FedEx. She asked, "Are you one of the Managers here?"

I said, "Yes, I am." I have to admit I was thinking during my answer, "I wonder what the issue is?"

Deb wanted to inform me she loves coming to our office. She said our people always seem so happy. She said, "Mari [Kautzman] and Kevin [Prow] always treat me so nice. It is truly a pleasure to stop by your office. I just wanted someone from your management team to know."

I thanked Deb for her comments, as well as seeking me out to let me know.

I have to admit this is a great compliment to our team, especially our payroll processing and funding department. When someone from outside the organization seeks out a manager to share how much they like your team, that is AWESOME!

Thank you Deb for your comments. Thank you team for showing our customers and vendors that TempWorks is a great place to work.

TempWorks Enterprise Split Screen application...will save huge amounts of time

2009-09-01T13:36:00.006-05:00

One of the feature of TempWorks Enterprise which I use almost on a daily basis is the spit screen or "tear-off" feature. This feature can be used anywhere in the application, but I use it the most when doing searches. It works for any search: employees, applicants, customers, contacts, etc.

As you can see in the picture above I have a list of customers (prospects) in the lower right hand corner. When I double click on the customer line I want to view from the lower right hand window, the information pops up in the window in the upper left for me. This is a huge time saver for me as I don't have to go back and forth between the search screen and the main customer record.

Three Anniversaries celebrated at TempWorks last week

2009-08-31T15:12:00.003-05:00

While I was on the road last week, TempWorks celebrated anniversaries for Korey VanDeWalker, Kyle Borgschatz, and Mark Baratto.

Each of these guys works in different departments for TempWorks. Korey is part of our implementation team. Kyle works in our support department, and Mark is Executive Vice President.

Congratulations gentlemen, and thank you for your dedication!

The TempWorks team continues to hit the road

2009-08-23T16:51:00.002-05:00

Rich Peterson and I have been on the road in recent weeks visiting customer throughout the United States.

A few weeks ago I was in New York visiting prospects and customers. Last week I put over 1000 miles on my rental car driving through Wisconsin and Illinois.

I continue to hear things getting better for the Staffing Industry.

Rich Peterson, Regional Manager of our sales team, was out in California last week visiting prospects of TempWorks as well.

A few more Anniversaries at TempWorks

2009-08-23T16:13:00.005-05:00

Jason McCord and Mari Kautzman each recently celebrated their three year anniversary with TempWorks. Both work very hard. Jason is one of our key Enterprise developers, while Mari is one of the key members of our paperless payroll processing and funding division.

TempWorks Customer Spotlight: RuthiPostow Staffing

2009-08-12T16:33:00.006-05:00

The below article was done by Laura Baratto for TempWorks' August newsletter:

RuthiPostow Staffing, Inc. is a reputable and
successful staffing firm, holding relationship
building and equal treatment of others as one of its
trademarks. Founded by Ruthi Postow, she built her
staffing business in 2001 with a very specific belief of
how a staffing firm should work, how the employees
should treat sad, candidates and each other. With
a candidate motto of , “First do no harm” they treat
every candidate with respect and work diligently to
put them in the best career placements possible.

RuthiPostow Staffing, Inc. is a boutique staffing
firm committed to excellence and service. Serving
the high end professional offices in organizations
that place value on each individual employee.
Their placements fall into the professional services,
business and trade associations, venture capital,
commercial real estate, non-profits, government
affairs firms, and architectural, engineering and
environmental firm categories. RuthiPostow Staffing’s
objective is to assist their clients in reaching their
goals for their organizations.

Through the years, the firm has encountered
the evolution of this unique industry. The internal
staff doubled in the first year and revenues have
continued to double every year since they opened,
Ruthi’s concept worked! “Exceptional service
and commitment to excellence, and the value
we maintain with clients and candidates have
contributed to our success and kept us in business
during this tough economic time” comments Owner,
Postow.

RuthiPostow Staffing goes above and beyond its
call of duty when it comes to service. Back in 2008
they began a “Green Initiative” stemming from the
personal interest of Partner, Jenni O’toole. “One of
our biggest goals was to help the environment, so
we began creating incentive for our employees and
clients to go green” states O’Toole. “Every month
we educate our staff with tips on how to go green
and roll out an initiative.” The Office no longer uses
paper cups for water, and they now have recycling
bins all over their office. O’Toole goes on, “ We’ve
encouraged our employees to adopt this concept by
purchasing a brand new pair of walking shoes for all
employees and temporaries who walk to work.”

RuthiPostow Staffing takes advantage of many of
TempWorks products and services. O’toole conveys,

“TempWorks has helped us achieve our goal of going
paperless with the use of their applicant portal. We
are excited that TempWorks products are really in
line with our values here at Ruthipostow.
All of the paperless products have not only made our
lives easier, but helped us towards “going green.”

Sneak Peak - TempWorks Development

2009-08-11T21:08:00.003-05:00

I am not sure if the development team at TempWorks ever sleeps. They seem to crank out new features for our current (and future) customers on a very frequent basis. Recently I mentioned a new text messaging service which TempWorks now offers.

And now...the ability to link time card images to individual transactions...then print or email the invoices with the scanned images included!!!!!!!

Think of the time savings. Then again, think of the cost savings for your organization.

Nice work Enterprise development team. You just hit another home run for our team.

Customer comment regarding Todd Glander

2009-07-31T15:45:00.004-05:00

This afternoon I received an email from the Vice President at Bonney Staffing, Annette Lefebvre. Bonney Staffing recently upgraded to our latest Enterprise version of TempWorks.

Annette stated "Todd did a great job and it was a pleasure working with him."

Bonney Staffing was established in 1976 and is located in Maine and New Hampshire. They have eight offices and have been a customer of TempWorks for over six years.

Atta Boy, Todd. Nice job!

Thank you Annette for your comments, as well as your business.

The last few weeks at TempWorks

2009-07-30T21:18:00.006-05:00

It has very busy at TempWorks the last couple weeks. We have received large contracts for staffing software, payroll funding, and customer upgrades.

In addition to the contracts, the TempWorks implementation team brought three current customers live on our latest Enterprise version this week.

Yesterday, TempWorks CEO Gregg Dourgarian announced we would be hiring more people to help our team keep up with demand. Please check out our career page for details.

Besides the new business we have been getting in, I would also like to mention another anniversary at TempWorks. Last week Enterprise software developer Eric Rodewald celebrated his second anniversary. Thanks Eric for your contributions to our team.

Customer of TempWorks mentioned on CNN.com

2009-07-28T18:11:00.002-05:00

Dan Temps out of Houston was mentioned in this article discussing "Five jobs for Facebook addicts."

TempWorks Anniversary for Maria Dourgarian

2009-07-22T10:16:00.004-05:00

Last weekend marked the three year anniversary at TempWorks for Maria Dourgarian.

Maria seems to do it all. She started off in our support center. Currently she assists our customers with conversions, time clock imports, feeds to ADP, and the list goes on and on.

Congratulations Maria! Thank you for all of your contributions to our team over the years.

The Best Advice I Ever Got

2009-07-17T12:50:00.010-05:00

Last night I was reading the July 6th, 2009 issue of Fortune magazine. In the magazine it had quotes from Bill Gates, Colin Powell, Tiger Woods and many others regarding "The Best Advice I Ever Got."

Certainly there is good information in the magazine. I like taking tips from people who certainly are wiser than myself. But it got me to think, what is the best advice I have ever received? Would this advice have come from my father, mother, or family? Or my spouse? Or my friends? Or maybe just some random stranger?

This question honestly is a tough one for me to answer.

From a business standpoint I would have to say it came from John Rupchich III, who is the President of Life Style Staffing in Madison, Wisconsin.

Life Style Staffing has been a customer of TempWorks for seven years. I was on-site at their Madison location for many weeks during their initial software installation. I noticed John was always dressed up in a suit, tie, nice dress shirt, you get the idea. I on the other hand was used to wearing jeans with some sort of t-shirt while at the TempWorks office. But when I was on-site at a customer location I would wear a dress shirt and tie (or TempWorks polo) with a nice pair of Dockers.

One day I asked John why he always wore a suit, when he didn't need to. He told me, "It's my uniform." And then he mentioned the phrase, "You want to dress for the job you want...not the job you have."

Whenever I go out to visit our customers I always wear a suit. When I am at the office, I typically wear a nice dress shirt and tie with a pair of dress pants. Not because I have to, but it's my uniform...and I dress for the job I want.

Thanks John for the advice.

What is the best advice you have received?

Pepsi Max - Job interview commercial

2009-07-16T09:56:00.004-05:00

Being there is high unemployment you need connections as well as friends to help get a job...check out this Pepsi Max commercial.

Recent TempWorks Press Release

2009-07-15T16:23:00.007-05:00

Action Staffing and TempWorks Reverse Unemployment Trends in Colorado

Using Funds from President Obama's Stimulus Package, Action Staffing, in Partnership with TempWorks Financial Services, will Return Hundreds to Work on Colorado's Roads and Highways.

Loveland, CO (PRWEB) June 25, 2009 -- Action Staffing of Loveland, CO has secured a seven figure contract with the Colorado Department of Transportation to provide classroom and on-the-job training as well as job placement in highway and road repair positions to the unemployed. The On-the-Job-Training program was established using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 17, 2009.

On-the-Job-Training is a free six-week training program aimed at providing workers with the skills and resources necessary to secure long term employment in highway maintenance and construction positions. Targeted towards women and minorities, the program is funded by the Federal Highway Administration through a competitive grant process. Robin Aragon, CEO of Action Staffing commented that "having opened our doors only a year ago, winning this valuable public-sector business is a leap forward for us."

Entrepreneurial endeavors within the employment industry have been the focus of our services for years, and as the billions of dollars of government spending trickle down to projects like this we will constantly be looking for ways to put our capital and our technical expertise to work helping people jump-start their businesses.

Founded in 2008, Action Staffing services the skilled and semi-skilled workforce of Larimer County and the surrounding area by building relationships with local employers and connecting them with qualified job-seekers. Aragon continues, "We want to stand above other staffing companies, and be able to make a difference for everyone we come into contact with." Winning this contract will allow Action staffing to help put people back to work in a tough labor market, improve employment conditions, and make strategic improvements to local infrastructure.

Action Staffing employed capital provided by TempWorks to accommodate upfront education and payroll costs. With regards to the TempWorks package of Services, Aragon states that, "TempWorks provided us with the comprehensive software, payroll processing and financing package that we needed to secure this deal."

Federal funds earmarked for projects of this nature have been a key tool in the attempt to reduce unemployment rolls over the past six months. Staffing firms such as Action are critical in reaching out to underemployed segments of the community by providing compelling career advice and valuable training to job seekers. Behind those firms are factors and hard-money lenders such as TempWorks who provide expertise and financing to newly found entrepreneurial initiatives.

"We're pleased to be able to furnish the financial and technical support necessary to help Robin and Action Staffing put people to work in meaningful long-term careers," comments TempWorks CEO and Founder Gregg Dourgarian. "Entrepreneurial endeavors within the employment industry have been the focus of our services for years, and as the billions of dollars of government spending trickle down to projects like this we will constantly be looking for ways to put our capital and our technical expertise to work helping people jump-start their businesses."

About Action Staffing:
Action Staffing Solution is a family owned staffing agency based out of Loveland Colorado. Their mission is to offer "Quality and Service Driven Results." They pride themselves on, "Building Diversified Relationships through Integrity, Ethics, and Value to ALL of our clients and associates." For more information on Action Staffing Solutions please call (970) 667-4202 or visit myactionstaffing.com

About TempWorks Software:
TempWorks Software incorporated in Minnesota in 1997 and provides a full suite of enterprise staffing solutions. Designed to automate and streamline all facets of a staffing firm's daily operation, TempWorks Software offers fully integrated front and back-office staffing software, web portals for customers, employees, applicants and vendor management, and many additional modules. From recruiting to payroll and everything in between, TempWorks Software puts technology to work for staffing firms and their clients. For more information about TempWorks, please visit tempworks.com or contact Director of Public Relations, Laura Baratto, at 651-452-0366, or by email.

On the rebound

2009-07-14T20:46:00.004-05:00

I was reading the July/August issue of Inc. magazine. The article I was reading was in reference to strategies which companies are taking now to prepare for an upturn in the economy.

Many of the things listed below (page 100 of the article) I have seen/discussed with many of TempWorks customers in recent months:

Invest in Technology
Snap up talent on the cheap
Ramp up training (could also be part of investing in Technology)
Form strategic partnerships
Get to know prospective customers (I have mentioned to many of our customers TempWorks will provide marketing material, get on conference calls, or conduct webinars for any of their customers or prospects who are interested in how our technologies will benefit in their processes or help them to get information)
Cut costs strategically

I love technology...especially on trips out to see our customers

2009-07-13T13:58:00.009-05:00

Earlier this year I wrote a post about three business travel essentials. This is an updated list based off of my recent purchases and recent trips:

1. TempWorks Mobile - allows you to look up contact information, addresses, phone numbers, leave messages, see recent messages, etc. All very quickly and easily.

2. Garmin Nuvi GPS - I put on over 1000 miles on my rental car last week on a trip out to California. It found every customer location, hotel, and restaurant. Nice screen display, and easy to use.

3. Apple Iphone - Phone, podcasts, email, camera, twitter, facebook, text messaging, iSky Parking app (so I know where my car is when I get back to the airport).

I was a little hesitant to get the Iphone because of AT & T's cell phone service compared with Verizon. So far I have not had any complaints.

4. Plantronic Voyager Pro - As many states add laws for talking on your phone while driving a car, a Bluetooth headset is always a good idea. I have tried many different headsets, and this one from Plantronic is the one I have had the best success with so far. It is a little acquard looking, but it is suprizing light for its size.

Nice job TempWorks Marketing Department

2009-07-02T10:59:00.009-05:00

We have been very busy at TempWorks.

This week:

we had prospects in the office
customers going live with our payroll processing
customers going live on our Enterprise software
consultants doing a scope analysis for a customer who signed up recently

As Gregg Dourgarian mentioned in a recent post on staffingtalk, our recent website upgrade has helped to bring in 200+ inbound leads a month.

But, I must also give a pat on the back to those involved in creating our marketing calateral, case studies, press releases, and so on.

In the past few weeks I have gotten quite a few compliments from current customers and prospects. They have mentioning words like "very professional" and "great presentation of your information."

Nice work Gregg, Paul, and Laura on continuing to get the word out about TempWorks!

TempWorks Anniversary: Derek Nicholls celebrates 5th Anniversary

2009-06-30T12:30:00.005-05:00

Yesterday marked the five year anniversary at TempWorks for Derek Nicholls.

Derek is currently our Web Services Manager. He has been involved in the development and support of many of our ancillary products: WebCenter (Applicant portal, Employee portal, and Customer portal), Vendor Management, and Time Clock module.

Thanks Derek for your many contributions to our team over the years.

Good artcile today in NY Times regarding why car rentals are so expensive these days

2009-06-26T11:30:00.005-05:00

During my travels recently I noticed car rentals have been fairly expensive, while other things like airfare and hotel prices have gone down.

I ran across this article today by Michelle Higgins which explains why this has happened, as well as giving a few different options. Here is the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/travel/28prac.html

TempWorks support

2009-06-25T16:36:00.008-05:00

Many times during trips to see our customers have I heard, "we think your support department does a great job." Or "your support department is very quick to help us when we need it."

It never gets old hearing comments like these.

In fact, we got an email today from a customer who stated, "Support just walked me through it. You guys rock..."

I love getting emails (and phone calls) like this, so please keep them coming in.

Support of technical products is not easy as it has many different moving parts: software, hardware, third party applications, you get the picture. Most people don't care about that, they just need their data, their report, their quarterly mag media file. Just work baby!

We strive to get better everyday. Please keep your calls and emails coming in.

Nice work support team. Keep up the good work.

Life is a little better

2009-06-25T07:50:00.004-05:00

Last Friday I made the switch from the Motorola Q and Verizon to the apple iPhone 3GS and AT&T.

On Saturday, I got a text message from neighbor, Trevor, asking if my life was better now that I had the new iPhone (Trevor has had an iPhone for the last year or so). I responded "No, my life was pretty darn good before my iPhone purchase."

I have to admit I sent Trevor a follow up text message recently letting him know I was wrong. Life is a little better...now that I have a few days to use some of the features and have been able to find all kinds of different applications from the iTunes app store.

For those of you who aren't impressed with the iPhone but are looking for a new Smartphone, I had seen this PC World article on The Hottest Smartphones of Summer.

TempWorks Case Study: Chase Staffing cutting costs and increasing productivity with DocCenter

2009-06-24T12:01:00.008-05:00

Customer Background

CHASE was founded in Atlanta, GA in 1979 by Roy Abernethy, as a contingency recruiting firm. In 1983 CHASE began providing contract and temporary employees.

CHASE has over 30 full service branches that offer a broad range of candidates in mostly the Administrative and Light Industrial sectors. Additionally, CHASE has several specialty divisions specializing in Accounting and Finance, IT, Manufacturing and Technical placements.

During their 30 years, CHASE has received many awards for their excellent service. They’ve been identified as one of the top 100 staffing firms in the United Stated, and for several years have been one of the largest private staffing firms in Atlanta. CHASE will also celebrate their 30th anniversary this year.

“We invested in the DocCenter, even with the poor economy, because I thought that it would greatly improve staff productivity while making the process of registering with Chase much easier for candidates. DocCenter has certainly lived up to our expectations.”
-Roy Abernethy, CHASE Staffing

The Challenges

CHASE was dissatisfied with their applicant intake process, as it was time consuming, and they were incurring unnecessary costs. Instead of proactive recruiting, internal staff was spending numerous hours working on administrative tasks, and searching through filing cabinets to find employment documentation.

There were a number of issues with their previous process:

Tedious data entry. Candidates needed to manually complete documents like their application, I-9 and W-4, internal staff would then have to enter the information into the database.
The Hassle of filing and retrieving documents. Internal staff would separate and handle all forms accordingly (i.e. I-9’s were mailed to the corporate office on a monthly basis; applications were filed manually in filing cabinets). Recruiters spent time digging through filing cabinets to retrieve employee applications.
Money wasted on shipping. Employment application packets were printed in bulk at the corporate office and shipped to each branch location.

Solution

“We have always had an ongoing commitment to streamlining business processes and the application process was something we still hadn’t tackled” states Gabriela Cabezas, Systems Administrator for CHASE. “We needed something that would simplify our procedure, and hopefully save us money at the same time.”

CHASE had been a client of TempWorks for several years. After discussions with the TempWorks team, they decided that DocCenter would solve many of the complications surrounded by the applicant intake process. “CHASE takes advantage of almost every one of TempWorks ancillary products, and our DocCenter was exactly what CHASE needed to streamline their employment documentation process,” comments TempWorks Vice President Cory Hintz.

“Our goal was to increase efficiency by reducing data entry for recruiters and applicants. Ease of storage and retrieval of pertinent application documents was also a goal of ours. We wanted to create a standardized application process throughout all 35 of our branches” concludes Cabezas.

“DocCenter has reduced the time it takes to complete the application process by at least 50% and we have eliminated 90% of the printing and shipping costs.”
-Gabriela Cabezas, CHASE Staffing

Outcome

CHASE implemented TempWorks DocCenter at three pilot branch offices to establish an efficient workflow, now all 35 branches are using DocCenter.

Cabezas reports that, “DocCenter has reduced the time it takes to complete the application process by at least 50%” Cabezas continues, “We have eliminated 90% of the printing and shipping costs of forms to the branch locations.”

Other results:

Increased efficiency. Recruiters are no longer spending time looking for employee forms. If they need a copy of a certain form all they have to do is look in the employee record in TempWorks core, and there it is. It is a complete electronic document storage solution.
Reduced costs. DocCenter allows CHASE to get rid of wasted space used for paper storage. The filing cabinets are gone!
Increased speed of intake process. Employees are able to fill out their own forms electronically, which automatically streamline into TempWorks core database.

For more information about CHASE Staffing Services, please visit www.chasestaffing.com

TempWorks Software
3140 Neil Armstrong Blvd. Eagan, MN 55121
651-452-0366
www.tempworks.com

"All my stress has gone away."

2009-06-22T10:22:00.003-05:00

I just got off the phone with a current customer of TempWorks. I was speaking with the owner of the company. He said he was very happy with his decision to go with TempWorks ASP model almost three years ago.

"All my stress has gone away," he stated. Being he no longer has to be concerned about hardware and software related issues. He is able to focus on what they do best, staffing.

He also mentioned anytime there was bad weather in the past he would be concerned his servers wouldn't restart. He continued with his past anxiety that their data backup or battery backup would fail, thus leading workers not being paid on time. He stated, "all that worry has subsided."

We concluded the conversation with him thanking me for the many services we provide for him and his team.

Grab hold of social media, while your name is still available!

2009-06-17T17:09:00.005-05:00

Social media discussions are everywhere...literally.

Yesterday on staffingtalk, Gregg Dourgarian mentioned one of our customers who was featured on MSN regarding their social media strategy.

I saw a "tweet" today from Cheezhead featuring his blog. He mentions how CBC News reported "social media jobs are HOT!"

You can't listen to the radio or watch tv these days without someone mentioning their twitter page.

I read this morning on ESPN.com that Kevin McHale's departure from the Minnesota Timberwolves was reported from a Tweet by team forward Kevin Love. This story is was also confirmed in this blog by Haley Marketing which was also discusses how many people are getting their news from the internet.

If you haven't started, there is no time like the present. David Evans, from ClickZ, had an article recently describing how to get started with Social Media, in case you have time to check it out.

TempWorks Customer Spotlight: LK Jordan and Associates

2009-06-17T11:57:00.005-05:00

LK Jordan and Associates has been a customer of TempWorks since 2006. They have four offices which are located in Texas.

LK Jordan has won many awards over the years for being one of the "best places to work," as well as "outstanding business." In addition, LK Jordan has been near the top of many industry lists for temporary staffing and executive search firms in Texas. In recent years their owner, Linda Jordan, has been named to the Corpus Cristi business hall of fame. You can read more about their accolades here.

I had the pleasure of stopping in at one of LK Jordan's branches last week while I was in Houston. While I was leaving I noticed a table full of cookies. I was told they bake the cookies there each day and bring them out to their customers. I very unique way to build customer relationships. Who doesn't like freshly baked cookies?

Another anniversary at TempWorks, congratulations Aaron Nottestad on your six years!

2009-06-16T14:07:00.005-05:00

Happy Anniversary Aaron Nottestad.

Aaron joined the team at TempWorks six years ago. Since his arrival he has played a big part in the development of our Enterprise product.

To see some of Aaron's work and view how much our Enterprise product has evolved over the years you can read Paul Czywczynski's recent blog post.

Thanks Aaron for all you do for our team.

Only 4 more days until you can get your hands on the iPhone 3G S

2009-06-15T10:14:00.005-05:00

Even though TempWorks utilizes almost everything Microsoft, I have been an apple fan for years. Last week I mentioned I was considering moving off of the Verizon network...well friday will be the day. I reserved my iPhone 3G-S and will be picking it up from the MOA (Mall of America).

You can read about all of the new features, like voice control, compass, better camera and video from the apple website.

So this is what the anticipation of Christmas in June feels like...more to come.

Trip last week to Houston

2009-06-14T21:23:00.005-05:00

I was able to make a trip last week to Houston, Texas. I stopped in at nine different customers and prospects during my visit. Besides the near 100 degree weather, it was a very good trip. Most everyone said they had seen things picking up in the last six weeks or so.

I also stopped in at Minute Maid Park to catch a few innings of a baseball game between the Astros and Cubs.

Down the third base line at Minute Maid Park is a small scoreboard. This is certainly not unique, but between innings the scoreboard scrolls through all of the energy stock prices for the day. Obviously this is important to many companies, as well as individuals in the Houston area. Maybe I will see the stock ticker at other ballparks in the future.

Customer service

2009-06-12T09:57:00.005-05:00

Customer service is important. There is no doubt about it.

I have heard many times, we are all sales people. It doesn't matter who you are, or what it says on your business card, as long as you work for a company YOU ARE IN SALES!

Today I have had three different customer service experiences:

The card left on my desk at the hotel from the hotel manager stated, "We are all here to make your stay more enjoyable. Please feel free to contact any of us at any time. If there is anything I can do personaly, here is my extension...please call me directly." Very well done in my opinion.
I returned my rental car at the airport. While I was gathering my things, a lady asked if I had filled the tank with gas. I told her know as I had purchased the gas option before I left. She proceeded to tell me, "No you didn't." I said, "Yes, I did," and I grabbed the rental car agreement to show her. She said, "well that isn't my problem, you need to take it into the counter and have them fix it." At that point I wasn't very happy, as I felt it was her problem. I felt she didn't want to help me...very poor customer service.
I then walked up to the Northwest, I mean Delta, area to check a bag. I had asked the lady behind the counter if there was an earlier flight than the one I was on. She said, "no." Then she proceeded to tell me how much she didn't like her supervisor. She let me know how she didn't get paid enough to do some of the things required, and there were others who were getting paid more than she does who should be doing these things instead. Especially being she has a bad back. Quite honestly I couldn't get away from her fast enough. Again, very poor customer service.

To any customers and future customers of TempWorks:
If you have any questions, problems, requests, or suggestions please let us know. We are here to assist you and your team. Please call us at 651.452.0366. My email is cory@tempworks.com and my direct line is 651.287.8346 if there is anything I can do to assist.

Paperless technology

2009-06-12T09:30:00.003-05:00

Certainly the world is trying to go paperless, one direct deposit, cash card, or text message at a time.

TempWorks has been slammed this week from customers and prospects all excited about our new text messaging service and the endless possibilities it will now offer their employees.

I was excited this week when I was given the paperless boarding pass option when checking in for my Northwest Airlines flight. Okay it isn't Northwest anymore, it is Delta (it will be hard for me to get used to changing to Delta as I have been a long time traveler of NWA).

Anyway, when I checked in for my flight Delta sent an electronic boarding pass to my cell phone. Then when I went through security and boarded the airplane I just had to put my phone up to the reader. It was very cool...and no piece of paper! I recommend it if you are given the option next time you fly.

TempWorks CTO celebrates eight year anniversary

2009-06-12T06:27:00.004-05:00

Congratulations Paul Czywczynski!

Yesterday Paul celebrated the 8 year milestone at TempWorks. In this day and age it is quite the accomplishment to have an employee stay with a company for this long. When I wished Paul a Happy Anniversary yesterday he replied back to me, "thanks, but you have two years on me." I replied, "actually almost three," but who is counting?

Please check out Paul's development blog, as well as a recent post where I discuss Paul Czywczynski being one of the key contributors to TempWorks success.

Thanks Paul for all you have done, and all you continue to do for our team.

IAH airport turns 40 today, and I was there to take in the festivities

2009-06-08T21:59:00.003-05:00

I have flown into the Houston airport many times. When I arrived in Houston this afternoon I saw a few people dressed up in clothes and glasses from the 1960's. At the time I thought it was a little strange, but didn't ask any questions. This evening as I was watching the local news they mentioned the clothes and festivities were due to the IAH 40th anniversary.

The following link describes more about the airport and how it has changed over the years.

TempWorks customer, new product, CTO, and VP all mentioned in following article...

2009-06-08T21:07:00.008-05:00

Texting for temps:
http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/06/08/jc-texting-for-temps/

When will Verizon have something comparable to the iPhone or Palm Pre?

2009-06-08T20:33:00.002-05:00

I have been a Verizon customer for ten to fifteen years. I have been using the Motorola Q for the last two or three years, the longest I have kept a phone (mainly because there has not been a better Smartphone from Verizon).

For the last few weeks all I have heard about is the Apple conference which kicked off today which unveiled new features and bigger hardware for its iPhone. In addition, Sprint has been promoting their "iPhone Killer," their Palm Pre which had a huge weekend...its first on the market.

Anything from Verizon, not recently. Maybe it is time to switch to a different provider...

Congratulations Anthony Iannarino

2009-06-05T13:45:00.004-05:00

A few months ago I mentioned reading Anthony Iannarino's Sales Blog on a regular basis. Well apparently I am not the only one reading it. He recently posted he was on the list of the top 15 blogger and twitter users.

Congratulations Anthony!

A few hours off

2009-06-05T13:21:00.003-05:00

Last month I mentioned I stopped by the Ranger's ballpark in Arlington to enjoy a few innings of a baseball game. Last night I took a few hours off from work, my phone, my email, my social networking, you get the idea.

I spent a few hours at a water park with my family. It was our youngest daughter's 7th birthday party. It was a lot of fun. I would recommend it to any working parent. Take the kiddos and some of their friends to the water park, get your suit on, go down the water slide a few times, and just have fun. You will be glad you did it...I sure did.

Customer quote regarding TempWorks DocCenter

2009-06-02T12:51:00.007-05:00

I enjoy getting emails from our customers. This morning I received an email from a customer who installed our DocCenter product in the last few months. "Our branches absolutely LOVE DocCenter! That’s one of the best things ever."

Who am I to disagree.

Maybe that is the reason our DocCenter product has been our best selling ancillary product this year. Good bye paper on-boarding process. Hello efficiency and productivity!

Shannon Barger celebrates her first anniversary at TempWorks

2009-06-02T11:47:00.002-05:00

Today is the first anniversary for Shannon Barger at TempWorks. Shannon handles all of the billing for our team. She also helps out in our funding and payroll processing department.

Congratulations Shannon! Thanks for all of your hard work over the last year.

It is amazing what new carpet or a new coat of paint can do

2009-06-02T11:25:00.004-05:00

If you stop by our office in the next couple days you will notice there is some construction going on. Outside our office on the second floor of our Eagan location they are putting down new carpet.

Yesterday when I came off the elevator I noticed they had pulled up the carpet, and wow do the cement floors look terrible.

But step off the elevator today and they are probably a third of the way done already with the new carpet on the floor.

Amazing progress in a short time.

I was a little surprised at how much of a different things looked from last week, to yesterday, to today. It is also surprising to me how much of a mental difference this small change makes. The maintenance staff painted the walls a few weeks ago too, and it certainly seems to raise everyone's spirit.

Sometimes the small things, make a huge difference.

Something to help your team add content to your social media sites

2009-05-31T20:38:00.006-05:00

It seems everyone is talking about Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Linkedin these days. Here is a small, inexpensive device which might be able to help you add content to your websites, blogs, or social networking sites.

I picked one of these a few weeks ago and have been taking pictures with in on a recent trip. The device is a Kodak Zi6. You can pick one up at most electronic stores. It is very easy to use for taking pictures and videos. As you can see from the picture the Zi6 has a usb adapter built right into it.

Take a look at the following YouTube video which highlights all of its features.

Recent Tempworks trip

2009-05-31T19:53:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago I traveled eastward to Wisconsin. I was able to stop in at a few of TempWorks current customers as well as a few prospects. I wrote about one of my days during this post.

Anyway, during my trip I was able to try out a my new garment bag. It works great for a two or three day trip.

Another highlight, besides the customer visits, was my stop at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Even though I am a Vikings fan, I will post a few pictures (below). It will be interesting to see if one of the most famous Packers becomes a Viking here in the next few months.

Good job, Alisha

2009-05-29T11:03:00.005-05:00

I personally have been involved in many demos the last few weeks. These demos have been with new prospects, as well as current customers. Alisha Arnold, our corporate trainer, has been involved in many of these discussions.

The people involved have mentioned to me how well Alisha knows our products. They have also mentioned she does a great job of showing all of the different functionality TempWorks has to offer. She has been showing our Enterprise product, as well as WebCenter, DocCenter, Time Clock, just to name a few.

Alisha has been working with TempWorks since 2005.

Good job Alisha!

Recent Press Release About TempWorks Payroll Services

2009-05-27T10:50:00.005-05:00

Prime Industrial Recruiters Reduces Overhead and Improves Productivity by Outsourcing Payroll

Prime Industrial is operating at a faster and more efficient pace after streamlining their front and back office functions.

St. Paul, Minn. (PRWEB) May 23, 2009 -- Prime Industrial Recruiters of Tulsa, OK , recently implemented TempWorks Payroll Processing services, cutting their costs, saving time, and allowing them to focus on revenue generating tasks.

Oddie McClendon, from Prime Industrial Recruiters explains, "Previously, we utilized three different systems for our staffing software, payroll and billing so our data was not conveniently accessible. As we began to expand across Oklahoma we needed to merge all three systems so that everything was fluid." McClendon goes on to state that "we needed something that was integrated, so that we didn't have to pay three separate vendors. TempWorks Payroll processing seemed to be a great option, we've eliminated the extra steps and the process is now so simple."

Prime Industrial's Tulsa Branch Manager, Joy Moody conveys that "human error was forcing us to re-cut checks because the payroll process went through multiple back-office employees before it was complete. It was such a waste of time for everyone involved, and was costing us money." Moody continues to acknowledge that "Having TempWorks process our payroll has saved us time, money and grief because we have access to everything in one integrated system."

TempWorks has provided recruitment, payroll and billing systems to staffing firms since 1997, and added payroll processing, employer of record and payroll funding to its inventory in 2006. TempWorks currently processes payroll for customers in all 50 states, and has added several strategic, high-volume payroll accounts since the first of this year.

TempWorks Director of Operations, Kevin Prow acknowledges that, "Prime began using TempWorks in August of 2008 and quickly added payroll services in October. Since then, Prime has been able to speed up their day-to-day tasks and eliminate the worry that comes along with payroll processing. Now TempWorks handles all of it and Prime can focus on tasks that affect their bottom line instead." David Dourgarian, President of TempWorks Software, comments that "We are committed to providing our customers with solutions that will increase productivity and profitability, and are excited that we are helping Prime do just that."

About Prime Industrial Recruiters
Prime Industrial Recruiters began in 1996 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prime's focus is exclusively on industrial staffing, both temporary and long term. The goal at Prime Industrial is to continue to be the best industrial recruiting agency anywhere. For more information about Prime Industrial, please visit http://www.primerecruiting.com

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The story behind TempWorks Enterprise

2009-05-26T21:28:00.005-05:00

Paul Czywczynski, TempWorks CTO, does a great job of describing the journey of TempWorks Enterprise over the last few years in the following blog post. I enjoyed reading the story, as well as seeing the various screen shots of how Enterprise has progressed (for the better...first screen design below).

You can read other posts by Paul here.

Milestone

2009-05-26T20:51:00.004-05:00

My blog posting today is #100.

I know many others who have been blogging for years and have hundreds or thousands of postings. I hope to get there at some point.

I am a believer in celebrating the small things. As I have stated a few other times, sometimes you just need to start. Like the person in the picture, you might reach 100 at some point too.

Thank you readers. I look forward to writing my next 100 posts.

Rich Peterson celebrates his TempWorks Anniversary with another sale

2009-05-25T09:35:00.004-05:00

Last Friday was Rich Peterson's fourth anniversary with TempWorks. Rich has been a valuable member of our sales team during his many years at TempWorks.

Rich celebrated his anniversary by bringing in yet another sale before the holiday weekend started. I believe this latest sale brings the total up to nine in the last three weeks for our sales team.

Thanks Rich for your many years of service, as well as your many contributions to TempWorks success.

Great day for a 12K

2009-05-24T15:51:00.004-05:00

This morning I woke up early (before 5am). I tried talking my wife into staying home, but she wouldn't have any of it. I felt I had not been training as much as I needed to, and was not confident on how well I might do.

We got to Stillwater about quarter after six and the race started at seven. We arrived at the Stillwater High School and boarded the bus to take us downtown for the race. Surprisingly my brother, Matt, and his two brother-in-laws (Rob and Joe) were also on the same bus when we boarded.

Once we got downtown I also ran into TempWorks Revenue Machine, Casey Kraus. His wife-to-be was running in the 12K too.

It was a great morning. The weather was great. The view was awesome. Everything was perfect.

It was my first 12K (7.46 miles). The 10K I participated in last month, I wasn't able to run the whole way. This one I was able to run the entire time in an hour and twenty-two minutes. Mainly because my wife and my brother were pushing me most of the way.

I don't get to see my brother as much these days as we are both very busy. I felt very fortunate to spend this time with him, even if it was running the whole time. I also had fun spending time with Rob, Joe, and my wife. All of them are great people.

A day in the life...

2009-05-21T21:29:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I mentioned I hit the road this week to visit customers and prospects. Today I am going to discuss a little of what my day looks like when I am away from home on a business trip.

5am - my alarm goes off. I wasn't planning on getting up this early, but I forgot to change my alarm from the day before

6am - check email, write thank you's for meetings from the day before, listen to the news, read my favorite blogs

7am - run a couple miles on the treadmill, 12K coming up this weekend

8am - shower, shave, get ready for the day, have continental breakfast at the hotel, take vitamins

9am - follow up on emails, make phone calls, schedule a few product demos for next week, drop off thank you's at the front desk to be mailed, drive to first appt

10am - meeting with current customer, discuss how their current upgrade is progressing, discuss the new things TempWorks has come out with in the last few months, arrange demo for DocCenter

11am - drive to next appt, check email, make phone calls

12pm - grab lunch (fast food)

1pm - presentation with prospect, discussed core product software as well as all ancillary products, also interested in funding

2pm - drive to next appt, check email, return phone calls

3pm - meeting with current customer, very positive comments regarding our support team, especially Melanie Kramer our support center manager, also let me know TempWorks always has great marketing information/presentation

4pm - drive to hotel, check email, make phone calls

5pm - check into hotel, drop off bags, turn the tv on to ESPN's SportCenter

6pm - eat a decent dinner at the hotel

7pm - call home to talk to my wife, payton, and tatum to find out how their day had gone, find out how many days of school they have left, inquire on how the soccer game went this evening

8pm - turn on the lakers/nuggets game, catch up on email, news, surf the next

9pm - think of ideas to write about on my blog, write my blog, watch the game

10pm - decide to turn off the computer, and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.

Life on the road, all very glamorous...

Two more sales this week at TempWorks

2009-05-20T21:09:00.003-05:00

I know the week isn't over, but two more sales have come in this week. Earlier this week I mentioned we had quite a few contracts come in over the last few weeks.

Again, nice work sales team.

Not content with our recent successes, I am on the road this week visiting customers and prospects (500 miles in the car today).

Lunch anyone?

2009-05-19T20:54:00.005-05:00

Another thing which makes TempWorks unique, as well as a fun place to work are the spring and summer barbecues.

Pictured is the CEO of TempWorks, Gregg Dourgarian. As you can see he is serving up some burgers and brats. Stephanie Sparby and Jared Gebhard are also pictured here with Gregg.

Thanks Gregg for lunch, as well as making TempWorks a great place to work.

Lots going on at TempWorks the last couple weeks

2009-05-18T10:47:00.010-05:00

Last week I wrote it seemed like things are showing signs of picking up. Certainly that didn't stop last week either. The TempWorks sales team continues to hit the road discussing the many product offerings we have to prospects and current customers. As a result of pouding the pavement and putting many miles on the rental cars we are seeing results...six new contracts for payroll processing and software in the last two weeks!

In addition, we have had many of our current customers discussing upgrades. The web time keeping, Time clocks, and DocCenter being the key contributors...besides the new look and feel of TempWorks Enterprise.

Nice job sales team! Kudos also to our training team for doing such a great job in showing off products to these new customers.

Last week we also released a new product to help our customers be more productive, while giving their employees the ablity to text in availablity.

Gregg highlighted Andrew Larson in one of his blog posts.

And we had another 3 year anniversary last week. Tim Vossen celebrated this anniversary. Tim works in our Web Development department and has been working recently on some major applicant portal development for one of our biggest clients. Nice work on this last project, as well as all of the projects you have been involved in over the years.

Hello Windows 7

2009-05-17T20:14:00.009-05:00

I am pretty excited to be trying out the new release candidate for Windows 7. I was able to get it installed on my laptop on friday and have been downloading various applications back onto my computer over the weekend.

I also have been testing out version 8 of Internet Explorer. For the last few years I have been using the FireFox browser instead.

I look forward to testing out the new features.

TempWorks new text messaging capabilities...only the tip of the iceberg

2009-05-14T20:37:00.005-05:00

I had the privilege to sit in on a demo today with our Chief Technology Officer, Paul Czywczynski. Paul was showing a current customers one of our newest database integrations. TempWorks now has the ability for temporary employees to use their cell phones to text in their availability.

This new functionality frees up staff from numerous phone calls throughout the day. It also saves time from entering messages into the database.

Yet another option and more flexibility for the temporary employee to shoot off a text message whenever they want.

Stay tuned for additional features. TempWorks will be adding more text messaging capabilities in the weeks and months to come. Any customer feedback, wants, or needs is certainly welcome. Please feel free to call or email if you have any questions...651.452.0366 or cory@tempworks.com.

A great payroll training program

2009-05-13T16:46:00.005-05:00

I few months ago I stopped in at PeopleSource in Oklahoma. During my visit I spoke with Cheri Ridpath and David Bozalis. I learned that Cheri had worked at Paychex before she started at PeopleSource.

My resume also has a line item on there from Paychex. Before working at TempWorks I processed payroll as a Payroll Specialist for a year and a half.

My fellow co-worker, Jon Schachtele who is Manager of Payroll and Tax Research for TempWorks also worked at Paychex for a number of years.

Cheri, Jon, and I have all expressed how we thought Paychex does an excellent job of training their people about payroll.

TempWorks Customer Spotlight: The Premier Group

2009-05-12T18:13:00.005-05:00

The Premier Group has been in business over 20 years. They have been a customer of TempWorks for five years. I was out to visit them a few months ago and had a great time with their President, Paul Schwabe, and CFO, Frank Cagliostro.

Mr. Schwabe has been a very big supporter of TempWorks over the years. He has always had great things to say about the TempWorks WebCenter products. He also supplies the TempWorks team with feedback to help us improve our products.

Thanks Premier Group for your business.