Well, the (not so secret) secret is out! In June, I relocated to Dallas with my family to strategically align my location for KellyMitchell Group. San Diego will always have our hearts, and no doubt we will be back there someday in the future. However, the opportunity we see in front of us at KellyMitchell is simply too awesome to pass up. It puts me in the center of the ring for our growth strategy across Texas and the South, and allows me to be within close reach of many of our strategic customers. It’s our intent to build Dallas as our third major hub for KM, alongside Chicago, Saint Louis, and our markets across the Company. With all that said, there was a deeper reason that compelled me to move our family away.
Back in 2020, the employees of KellyMitchell received some surprising news. Since our inception, we had always been a privately held organization owned and led by Mark LoCigno and Cassandra Sanford They had successfully built KellyMitchell over the last 25 years into one of the largest and most respected firms in our industry. After years of hard work and sacrifice, they made the decision to do something that so few owners do. They transitioned KellyMitchell into a 100% employee-owned organization, or an ESOP.
This is rare air for companies; most entrepreneurs choose a different path. Private equity and acquisition are easier options for them, frankly. For those of you who don’t know, an ESOP is a company where a portion (in our case, 100%) of the ownership is gifted to the employees, who own individual shares of their employer. Think of companies like Publix, which remains my favorite grocery store.
Over the last few years, I’ve come to realize that being an owner of an ESOP is very different than being an employee. 99% of staffing firm employees either work for their founders if privately held, or work mostly for strangers if they are public or private equity-backed. That’s not us at KellyMitchell. They say to whom much is given, much is required. In my role, I have been given a lot, and I wanted to do all I could to ensure I am positioned to lead our organization for our shareholders. That’s why we moved. Because at KellyMitchell, we work for each other, and that just hits a little different.
KellyMitchell expands footprint in Southern Region with relocation of Executive Vice-President, Blaise Bussell to Dallas, TX.
KellyMitchell EVP, Blaise Bussell, Relocates to Dallas, TX: A Key Pivot in Solutions Strategy
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FinTech Chief Technology Officer | Electronic Payments | Software Engineering |
4moCongratulations on the new space! The Aurora team is looking forward to visiting.