| Interview with | Kate Chinn |
| photos by | Steven Hertzog & Jeff Burkhead |
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Kate Chinn
What is your organization’s most important commodity or service?
Express Employment Professionals provides staffing and recruitment services to all sectors of business in Lawrence and surrounding communities. Express focuses on building relationships with businesses to provide solutions to recruiting, productivity, turnover, quality and overall profitability for our clients.
What is your organization’s most important priority?
Express’ most important priority is respecting people and impacting business within our community. We are a powerful ally in maintaining an efficient workforce in Lawrence. We are plugged into the local job market and what is happening in the Lawrence business community. Building relationships with businesses is the key to our success.
What have been some of the most important aspects of your success?
Having a strong team that believes in our mission of helping individuals succeed has been the most important part of our success. Without this passion for helping others, we would not be where we are today. We change lives, while at the same time helping businesses be able to perform at their highest capacity.
How many people does Express Employment employ? Serve, interact with on a daily basis and are responsible to?
With the combination of our associates and the businesses we provide service to, we interact with at least 100 people on a daily basis. Our clients’ needs change daily; the number of touches we make daily is ever-changing.
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Our Local Advertisers – Making a Positive Impact
How do you and your organization make a positive impact on the Lawrence community? Board Member? Volunteer? Sponsorships? Apprenticeships?
Express Professionals are highly invested in the Lawrence community. Team members are actively involved in The Chamber of Commerce. As incoming Chair for The Chamber Board of Directors, I am actively involved in Chamber activities on a weekly basis. All team members are engaged in networking groups and well as volunteering in and around Lawrence.
What do you see as your personal responsibility and your organization’s responsibility to the community?
Our responsibility to our community is to help individuals find meaningful, fulfilling employment they are passionate about while at the same time providing employers with a strong, capable, engaged workforce that can make a positive impact within their organization. Simply put, we change lives and impact business.
Kate Chinn
What would you change about doing business in Lawrence?
Lawrence is a great city to do business in. We have had great success over the years. Lawrence businesses are friendly and welcoming. Lawrence has done a terrific job of supporting small business owners, as well. I would not change a thing about doing business in Lawrence. I would encourage anyone who is looking to start a business in Lawrence or relocate to Lawrence to talk to local business owners to meet with The Chamber of Lawrence, get to know your elected officials and just get involved in the wonderful town!
Why did you become involved in your chosen profession?
Simply put, I have a passion for helping people. I knew at a young age I would someday be in business for myself. At the time, I had no idea what this would look like. I made one of the best business decisions in 2010 when I bought the Express Employment Professionals franchise in Lawrence. Helping to change the trajectory of someone’s life is powerful. Knowing that we can give hope to individuals looking for employment, whether it be short term or a long-term professional career is tremendously rewarding. I try every day to clear up the misnomer that Express is simply a “staffing agency.” Express is so much more than this. On the surface, we provide jobs; but in reality, we provide hope, stability and partnerships not only our associates but to the business community we serve.
What is the biggest challenge you feel your organization faces?
Lawrence is a big promoter of keeping business local, but I would challenge every business in Lawrence to stand behind this. Use local businesses for your needs. Why look elsewhere when there are local businesses that we can all partner with. As a small business owner, we should all be supporting each other in our efforts to keep business local. It is discouraging when I hear of businesses seeking help outside of our city. Not only this is my challenge, I feel it is every small business owner’s challenge in Lawrence.
What do you foresee as being the biggest challenge for the future for Express Employment? And how are you addressing or preparing for it?
With business, especially manufacturing becoming more automated, Express will be expanding our reach into more skilled-trade careers as they relate to automation and robotics. We will partner with our local manufacturing companies and technical colleges to uncover the upcoming needs and trends of the future. I don’t see this as a challenge to Express but as a way to differentiate ourselves in our market. This will require asking questions and finding a solution. We need to realize that with change and challenges, there will be bumps along the way, but how we overcome these challenges will only make us more resilient.
