The Orlando Sentinel - May 14, 1998

Excerpt from "All Business" column

By John Koenig

Most companies issue stock on the public market to gain capital. Administaff Inc., the Houston-based professional employee organization, did it to establish credibility.
That's what the company's president, Paul Sarvadi, told me while visiting Orlando recently.

Professional employee organizations, or PEOs, provide human-resources management services, primarily to small employers. By pooling groups of employees, they enable small businesses to gain many of the benefits available to larger companies.

The PEO industry is crowded, with an estimated 1,000 regional competitors scattered across the country. It also got a black eye early in its formation when a handful of the pioneer PEOs collapsed.

That was the situation Sarvadi faced in trying to make Administaff one of the first nationwide PEOs.

His solution: a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. He says the exchange listing helped Administaff land a joint marketing agreement with American Express.

John Koenig's column appears Sunday and Thursday in Business and Monday in CFB. Telephone: (407) 420-5352. E-mail: jkoenig@orlandosentinel.com.

Reprinted with permission of The Orlando Sentinel.