Innovative Employer Solutions- Doing a Common Thing Uncommonly Well

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Innovative Employer Solutions- Doing a Common Thing Uncommonly Well

“Published in the Winter 2015 FAPEO Update Newsletter”

Originally from Pittsburgh (or “the burgh” as he likes to call it), Rick Kiracofe of Innovative Employer Solutions says he has always been impressed by Henry J. Heinz and uses this captain of industry’s “To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success” as a cornerstone of Innovative’s business philosophy and culture.

Now in another “burg,” St. Petersburg, the founder and president of Innovative Employer Solutions employs the Henry Heinz philosophy as a touchstone for customer service.

Rick Kiracofe, President
Innovative Employer Solutions

“Doing the little things well results in the big things turning out all right,” Rick says, adding, “A service attitude is another one of our building blocks. We have asked staff members in the past what their job is and invariably received ‘great’ answers such as ‘produce accurate payrolls’ or ‘return calls promptly.’ Their real mission is to build relationships with both our clients and with each other. There are a lot of places that can run payrolls, but there are very few that will go the extra mile and love doing it. It seems as though our clients understand that we are a sincere company with a straightforward vision.”

Rick Kiracofe is a Pennsylvania CPA who entered the PEO industry in a serendipitous way.

“In 1996, my wife had a casual conversation with an office suite mate who was starting a PEO and needed a CFO,” Rick recounts. “The CEO never really interviewed me for the job; we just had a conversation about it. I started going there now and then, and before long, I was all in—full-time at a PEO start-up.”

After four years with that first PEO, Rick decided to start his own, opening Innovative Employer Solutions in 2001. He describes that period of his career and personal life as “an interesting and pretty hectic time, but a valuable learning phase.”

The company’s first headquarters was the upstairs of the house the Kiracofes were renting while they built a new home. The young family included Rick’s wife, Lonnie, a regional vice president in health care who traveled three or four days a week, and two boys, Brian (10) and Jason (7). Hectic probably doesn’t begin to describe the young CEO’s life.

“The rental had a shortage of electrical outlets,” Rick says, “so we had big orange power cords all over the place leading to the server and workstations—upstairs, downstairs, out of the master bedroom!”

Still, Rick says he values the experiences of the early days of Innovative Employer Solutions.

“Although I’ve worked and managed in everything from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies,” he says, “nothing compares to starting a PEO in your spare bedroom. You learn more about the challenges and, more importantly, the mindset of small business. In fact, you could say you learn about the soul of business. It is this perspective and understanding that our clients are able to relate to as we approach them with an understanding of their needs. Ultimately, everything we do is with our clients in mind. They are the beneficiaries of our passion.”

Rick’s passion is apparent when he describes the PEO industry and the enjoyment he derives from his day-to-day work.

 “There is the saying that no two snowflakes are ever alike,” he says. “I believe the same could be said about the days working in a PEO. Each day brings new opportunities and challenges. It’s an exhilarating environment to work in, particularly when coupled with the thrill of helping business owners succeed. Our leadership team greets each day as a new opportunity to provide our very best, to be honest, to never say no and to work with passionate people who desire the best. At Innovative, we are never at rest and are constantly looking to identify newer, more efficient tools and opportunities to better the direction of the company. I like to think we are the calm ones, the proactive ones, the ones that run toward the fire.”

In addition to being his partner in life, Lonnie Kiracofe partners with Rick by providing needed insurance solutions to Innovative’s clients.

“Lonnie has been there every step of the way,” Rick says. “Through her insurance agency, she affords us the opportunity to provide clients with customized solutions. Having grown up working in a family-owned company, she innately understands business. With 33 years of experience, mostly in management, she has walked in our clients’ shoes. Her passion lies in articulating concepts and educating clients so they can make empowered and informed business decisions.”

Rick sees ever-increasing regulation as an opportunity for PEOs to support small- and medium-size businesses and to grow as a result of it.

“Be it the Affordable Care Act or the expansion of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act under EEOC, there has been an onward progression of laws and regulations with an accelerating trend,” he says. “We believe that within the current environment of increased regulation, we have produced some of our best work and have found our clients’ appreciation to be very rewarding.”

Rick says that with FAPEO and NAPEO behind him, he feels secure about the future. In particular he cites the support FAPEO provided during Florida’s troubled rollout of its new unemployment compensation system.

“FAPEO and NAPEO continuously anticipate and resolve challenges facing us,” he says. “During my last 19 years in the industry, those organizations have only gotten stronger and better in helping us to help our clients. It’s critical that they receive the full support of our industry. It seems to me the biggest industry threat is in becoming complacent and resting on our past achievements of regulatory relief and compliance.”

The Kiracofe family: Brian,
Lonnie, Rick and Jason

The Kiracofes have made Florida their home since 1989; that’s “BK” or “before kids,” Rick says with a smile. And what has become of those two boys tripping over extension cords in Innovative’s start-up home? Rick shares that Brian is a recent pharmacist graduate living in the Tampa area, and Jason is in his third year at Vanderbilt, studying engineering.

Now empty-nesters (except for Molly, their 10-year-old Bichon Frise), Rick and Lonnie have made Tampa Bay their home.

“Although I was born in Fargo, North Dakota, and yes, I think the movie was amazing, as is the weekly television series, I grew up in Pennsylvania,” Rick says. “It’s amazing how many of us from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan have settled in the Tampa Bay area. We have fallen completely for the beauty of the beaches, the water and the area’s laid-back life style.”

When they aren’t busy working, Rick and Lonnie enjoy taking trips out West or to the North Carolina Smoky Mountains, where they like to go on long hikes. Rick is expanding his interest in walking—as well as picking up the pace.

“When I was at the NAPEO annual meeting in Phoenix, one of the members got me interested in running a sprint triathlon, so I have been training for an hour or two a day, six days a week in preparation,” he says. “The challenge of pressing for increased physical performance on a daily basis really gets me going.”