Pam Medlin believes she gives clients more personal treatment

By LINDA B. GRETTON

Triad Business News

GREENSBORO - Visit the offices of Key Resources Inc and you'll find a treadmill right in the middle of their kitchen. Look closer and you might find a little dust on it.

"The cappuccino machine gets more use," admits Pam Medlin, company president.

Medlin can be forgiven for not jogging in place since her job keeps her running all day long. She gets into the office around 7 a.m. and usually doesn't quit until after six. It's not unusual to find her or her staff in the office in the evening or a weekend, especially if there's a special project going on.

Key Resources, founded by Medlin in 1997, provides clerical and manufacturing staffing services to clients in the Triad area. The company has an office in Greensboro, with a staff of 15, and an office in Kernersville, with a staff of two.

The company specializes in long-term projects (with assignments up to two years) and seasonal work, rather than daily placements.

Lowered turnover rates

That's not to say that Key Resources won't handle shorter assignments. In fact, Medlin is particularly proud of one project that required her to supply 140 workers to clean up a fire-damaged furniture distribution center in Greensboro. The company wanted all the work done in three days, so it could begin shipping furniture again. Medlin assembled the crew needed to do the job -- in fact, she sent over 165 workers to guarantee the project's success.

Other clients have asked Key Resources to place up to 300 workers on a single project or assignment.

"We're truly labor experts," said Medlin, who claims that she's been able to reduce employee turnover rates from nearly 60 percent to under 10 percent.

Although some temporary jobs are not very desirable hot, sweaty conditions or fastpaced, repetitious work - they can serve as a springboard to better opportunities. An entry-level jot) can be a steppingstone to a h igher-level job, particularly if a company has a policy of promoting from within.

''People have to start somewhere," Medlin said.

Medlin herself knows a little something about opportunity, or lack of it, Twelve years ago, she started out with a large national staffing company in Greensboro, Frustrated by lack of advancement, she left after six years. She worked with a partner to begin a new staffing business, with the idea that ownership would move solely to her after a few years. Medlin became sole owner of the business in 1997 and at that time changed the name to Key Resources Inc.

As owner, Medlin was able to implement her business vision of being a partner with the client

Pam Medlin decided it was better to work long hours for herself than be stalled on the corporate ladder.

It bothers her that people sometimes think a large national service can do a better job than a local company By being a Triad-based business, Medlin says she can better understand a client's needs within the local market and provide "boutique-style" services.

Award from chamber

In May, the Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Medlin's success in competIng against the large national franchises by naming her "Small Business Person of the Year"

David Jameson, chamber president, said, "I'm impressed with the entrepreneurial spirit she has. She has a positive, how-do-we-get-this-done attitude. That comes across to the clients she has, and that's aided her success,"

Matching the right people with the right job is important, Medlin said.

"We don't send people over just to get a job filled," she said.

Instead, the company spends a good deal of time training and assessing applicants. Key Resources interviews all applicants, does background checks and, depending on the particular job, administers a profile test that reveals an applicant's work ethic and integrity

Medlin said that Guilford County's unemployment rate is 2.8 percent, lower than the nation average. With fewer people looking for work and with around 100 other staffing services in the Triad, Medlin has to work hard to stay competitive.

Key Resources employs about 600 temporary employees, with many of them referred by relocation groups such as Lutheran Family Services and leaders in the African, Asian and Hispanic commun ities.

About 200 of Key Resources' temporary employees are green card holders. To overcome the language barrier, the company assigns translators to help employees ease into their new jobs.

"We can come up with a translator at a moment's notice,'' Medlin said.

The company recently sent a Spanish translator to a company at no charge to help the company communicate updated employee benefits.

"It's all part of the service. It's relationship building."

Paddling the extra mile

The company also helps ernployees through specialized training, such as forklift certification, and advances money to help employees buy required work equipment, such as steeltood slices and safety glasses.

A wall-mounted display case in the Key Resources lobby is evidence that the company's temporary employees appreciate the help they're given. The case, filled with medals symbolizing the regions of South Africa, was a gift from an employee who got a job as a machine operator in the Triad.

"It was a thank-you that he was pleased with his assignment," said Medlin,

On the home front, Medlin takes the concept of "going the extra mile" for her employees and applies it to her kids. Her hobbies, she says, consist of "doing whatever the kids want to do." To support her youngest daughter, a senior Girl Scout, Medlin pursued a canoeing certificate from the Red Cross. The program required Medlin to work three full days and nights, learning to paddle and deliberately capsize a canoe.

''You're in the water, and you've got to get back in with a lifejacket on," said Medlin. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life."

Medlin has still more challenges ahead, After opening the Kernersville office in March, she began planning a new office in Winston-Salem to give the company a bigger regional presence.

Her advice to others seeking to pursue' their own dream?

"Stay focused on what you want to do and build a good team. Don't do these things alone."

Name: Pamela D. Medlin Age: 44 Occupation: president, Key Resources Inc Birthplace: Bluefield, W.Va. Family; husband, Luke; daughter, Angle Freeman, 22; son, Jack Freeman, 20; daughter, Natalie Freeman, 14; stepson, Luke Medlin 111, 24; stepson, John Medlin, 21 Hobbles: doing whatever her kids want to do Wheels: 1999 silver BMW convertible

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