Primary Staffing, Inc.

About

Laura Diaz worked in the staffing industry for over nine years before establishing her own company – Primary Staffing, Inc. – in May 2000. Laura worked for Westaff, a national staffing company with over 300 offices. She was in charge of the most profitable office and was an excellent salesperson, landing some of the biggest clients. With her extensive staffing experience and C-suite contacts, she felt the need to go into business for herself. Primary Staffing, Inc. provides clerical and light industrial staffing to its clients. Her husband, Joe Cerda, worked for the Department of Forestry with the City of Chicago. After much consideration and planning, Laura established Primary Staffing, Inc. with Laura as President and 51% owner and Joe as Secretary and 49% owner. This has been the ownership structure from the beginning and remains the same today. They started off in their finished basement with a desk, phone and computer. Joe rearranged his work schedule so that he became Laura’s first assistant. She trained him on every aspect of staffing – from sales, client contact, recruiting and much more. Within three weeks, the operations moved out of the basement to a rented office. Laura reached out to her previous customers, including Clark Foam Products in Bolingbrook, and to her previous staffing resources and contacts. The initial capital contribution was from TCF bank for $10,000. After a year, Laura was able to get a more substantial capital contribution for Primary Staffing, Inc. - a $50,000 revolving line of credit from LaSalle Bank that was used strictly for payroll. After about 6 years, Laura and Joe bought a building nearby. Through Laura’s hard work, dedication, experience, salesmanship and drive, Primary Staffing has grown over nineteen years into a staffing company with three offices in the Chicagoland area, producing revenues of over $25 million annually.

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