Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/539611
www.HartfordBusiness.com July 13, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 5 Sally Merry Founder, owner, CEO, Merry Employment Group Inc. Highest education: Three years of college, did not finish; started business instead. Kelly Merry Owner, president, Targeted Solutions USA LLC Highest education: Bachelor's degrees in psychology and criminology, University of Connecticut. Executive insights: Sally Merry: "Integrity, credibility, everything we do has to be win-win — it has to be as good for our clients as it is for us. We're leaders and as leaders, we aren't going to win, be successful, if we don't have credibility and integrity, period." PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. Valenti Cadillac | Hartford, Connecticut This project was a renovated Cadillac dealership which includes specialty finishes, high speed doors, custom millwork and was completed on time and within budget. The project was also completed as Construction Manager. Total Project Size: 10,000 SF 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS SPOTLIGHT ON: Automotive PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD 280 Trumbull Street - 280 Trumbull Street - 280 Trumbull Street - Hartford, Connecticut 06103 - www.whcpa.com Hartford, Connecticut 06103 - www.whcpa.com Hartford, Connecticut 06103 - www.whcpa.com for Healthcare hittlesey & Hadley accountants are dierent. We care about our clients, not just their numbers. Our insight and practical advice is original and has been etched into the region's business landscape for more than 50 years. Who wants ordinary out- comes? Our visionary approach to auditing, tax planning, business and technology consulting renders innovative outcomes that will change the way you do business. Put your trust in advisors with real solutions. Let our knowledge create your next masterpiece. W Real Solutions Real Solutions Real Solutions Real Advisors It's An Art H B J P H O T O | J O H N S T E A R N S EXECUTIVE PROFILE New leader, same philosophy guides Merry Employment Group By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com S ally Merry still regrets losing one of her staffing agency's largest clients in the 1970s for not dropping her rate to match a competing agency's price. "I have never said 'no' to a client again," said Merry, owner of Merry Employment Group Inc. in West Hartford. "That was a big lesson and it breaks my heart to this day. We never say 'no'." Added Merry, "You just can't give cli- ents what they ask for, you have to give them more." It's that hard-working, leave- your-ego-at-the-door philosophy that has worked well for Merry and her business over the years. Merry Employment Group offers tempo- rary and direct hire employment services and includes several subsidiaries: AAA Industrial Temporaries Inc., AAA Staffing Co., and Accounting Futures Inc. It ranks as the second-largest woman-owned business in the Hartford region, with more than 2,000 employees, according to the Hartford Busi- ness Journal's 2014 Book of Lists. Its specialties include aerospace, indus- trial, clerical, IT and financial placements. Targeted Solutions USA LLC, a separate company owned by one of Merry's daugh- ters, Kelly Merry, provides commercial driv- ers for tractor-trailers. Sally Merry, who founded the business in 1963, has transitioned control of her com- pany to Kelly, 41, who returned to the Merry Group in January to ease her mother's workload. The transition happened quickly in April when Sally had a hip replaced. She hasn't returned to the office as she rehabs from surgery and works from home. Kelly Merry said she has worked in the business on and off for about 17 years, including in-between running several busi- nesses of her own. She sold her share of an equestrian business to rejoin her mom and head Targeted Solutions USA and is now running Merry Group businesses. "I've always felt, even when I was in high school, that I would be taking over the business," Kelly said. "It wasn't a straight road to get there. I had a few businesses, but always working with mom and her business and learning the things I needed to learn I feel like I can bring a broad spectrum of experiences to what I'm doing today." She credits her mom for teaching her about business, saying her mother's integ- rity stands out most. "Don't sacrifice who you are to be on top, just work harder," Kelly said of her mom's philosophy. "And having the right team. You can't be in business alone and be successful." As a leader, Sally Merry said, you must "teach staff everything you know so that they can know as much as you and become better." Also, she said don't run a company with an ego. "Never think because you did a great job on Monday the world is going to love you and Tuesday you can coast," Sally said. Kelly said her mother always preached the importance of team-based problem solving that incorporates everyone's views, from the receptionist to the payroll person, to derive the best solution. Kelly said she also shares a clients-first philosophy. "We want clients who want a relation- ship with us," Kelly said. "There are no quick fixes to the perfect employee being in the perfect job and not everybody under- stands that. We understand it and my staff understands it. And we need our clients to understand that. And the ones that do, we go to the ends of the earth for." With Kelly Merry now steering the company, Sally said she is focusing on a new business she plans to start by year's end. She's not sharing details, but said it's unrelated to the staffing industry. "I'll never retire," said Sally, who temped as a legal secretary in her teens before start- ing her own legal secretaries business to help pay for college. She planned to become a psychiatrist but stayed in business instead. It was the right call, she said, knowing psy- chiatry would not have suited her. Instead, she ended up helping people in a different way -- to find jobs and fill them. n Sally Merry (sitting) has transitioned control of her company, Merry Employment Group, to her daughter (standing) Kelly Merry.