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16 Worcester Business Journal | Fact Book 2017 | wbjournal.com N o r t h C o u n t y R E G I O N S Membership to SCU requires a one-time dividend-earning deposit of $5.00 in a prime share account. Equal Housing Lender. Equal Opportunity Employer. Federally insured by NCUA. Let's talk. 888.599.2265 | southbridgecu.com BUILDING FOR SUCCESS We've got you. SMART BUSINESS BANKING WITH SCU 15799_Generic_commercial_ad_WBJ_9x5.5.indd 1 9/8/17 10:33 AM F or many smaller companies, hav- ing a full-time human relations staff might not make the most sense. Retirement and health insurance benefits might not be as strong if there isn't purchasing power to go along with those plans. Resource Management Inc. in Fitchburg works to solve those prob- lems. The company, known as RMI, pro- vides HR, accounting, benefits manage- ment, legal expertise and payroll work for nearly 500 clients. Most are smaller companies, but several have more than 700 employees, said CEO Reinaldo Lopez, who started the company in Fitchburg in 1995. RMI has grown to include clients across the country. How do they find out about a Fitchburg company like you? Word-of-mouth is much of it, and from our website. We really don't advertise much. We're able to do things that smaller companies cannot do themselves. The industry has changed a lot. It wasn't really well-known when we started, especially not in New England. How much has RMI grown in recent years? Generating $172M in HR management We grew by 13 percent last year, and revenue hit $172 million. We have cli- ents in 38 states now, including California and Texas. Now that Rachel [Lopez, his daughter] has been promot- ed to president, I can focus on more expansion at our offices in the Orlando and Miami areas. We could have them in 50 states if we just had enough resources. Our ideal milestone is $200 million in revenue, and I think we could get there within two years. What is it like running a business in Fitchburg? We've been in the same building for 22 years, and there are a lot of advan- tages for us here. Massachusetts is an amazing place to do business, especial- ly with the highly educated demo- graphics. One disadvantage is that we depend highly on technology, and to pay for fiber-optic cable for fast inter- net access here is very expensive. This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by Grant Welker, WBJ news editor. CEO Reinaldo Lopez has grown his Fitchburg company to more than 500 clients in 22 years. Rachel Lopez, president, Resource Management, Inc. and the daughter of interviewee Reinaldo Lopez W