In July 2005, I met Doug Nelson, owner of Showalter Construction, Inc. Doug’s company is an excavation business located in Plant City. We met while I was volunteering at The Children’s Cancer Center. At that time, Doug was his only employee with intentions of hiring additional people. But as we both agreed, it’s a challenge to grow a small business and handle all of the administrative tasks that must be performed, especially Workers Compensation insurance coverage and payroll. They are routine tasks that become more and more complicated as a company expands. Between State and Federal laws and tax rules and regulations, it’s real easy to spend a day or more each week just trying to manage these components of a business. Doug approached me because his primary need was to obtain Workers Compensation insurance. Payroll in general was of concern, but the most pressing issue to him was Workers Comp insurance since he discovered - as so many small business owners have – that it’s hard to get for just one person on payroll. And it’s also expensive. Doug knew he would be growing his business within a few months, and realized that he needed to find a solution since he would need Workers Compensation insurance just to get the work and expansion going. After some discussion, Doug and I decided that he would greatly benefit from looking into the Work Comp Co-op owned by Payroll Consultants Group. This program is designed to provide affordable Worker’s Comp insurance coverage for companies as small as one person on payroll. But coupled with that, I explained, is our company’s watchful eye over our clients’ business growth. After our conversation, Doug decided to enroll in the Work Comp Co-Op program. I called Doug at a later date and reminded him that when he started out with just himself, we were required to place him under a Workers Comp working code that indicated to the State he was actually performing his company’s labor himself. However, at this point - since his business had actually grown – and he was now performing more as a Supervisor – I told him we would promptly re-classify him from his past code. Our attention to his business and the new classification code we arranged for him immediately lowered his premiums. Doug was very happy about this. During this whole period of time, Doug also received payroll processing services under the Work Comp Co-Op program. This service helped Doug use what would have been time spent on payroll on actually growing his business. He now has six to seven employees on a regular basis, and is assured that his payroll is done on time, every week. Doug likes the ease of doing business with us, as he now has the coverage and assistance he needs to invest his time expanding and managing his business. He can go out to work, bid on more jobs, and know that his employees are getting paid every week. If any certificates need to go out, they get sent for him, and if changes need to be made, he knows we will make them in a timely manner. I appreciate the referrals that Doug has sent my way, and am always excited to help small companies grow. - Merle Trichon - Payroll Consultants Group