Solution. Number One. Odyssey One Source is part of a young and growing. Odyssey One Source

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1 This unique organization provides HR outsourcing solutions for small businesses, which Carl Kleimann said is an increasingly vital service. Number One Solution Odyssey One Source is part of a young and growing industry of professional employee organizations (PEOs) that empower small businesses by providing them with better employee benefits and human resource practices. PEOs also relieve business owners of time consuming and costly administrative back-office tasks. The goal is to allow business owners to spend more time on their business while reducing their risk of non-compliance. But even in this unique industry, Odyssey is in a class by itself. PEOs are a type of employer service provider but with a twist: they actually become the employer-of-record for the employees of their clients. This system, called co-employment, allows PEOs to not only assume administrative responsibilities but to aggregate employees to create purchasing power for healthcare and other employee benefits. Instead of an entrepreneur trying to buy a healthcare plan for 15 employees, a PEO approaches the insurance market with the purchasing power of thousands of employees. PEOs also handle workers compensation and unemployment claims and assume much of the employer liability that goes along with having employees. PEOs help small business owners focus on their core business and increase revenue, as well as reduce their employer liabilities. Some of our clients say that they are able to spend more time with their families since they are no longer burdened with employer paperwork, said Carl Kleimann, president of Odyssey. He explained that while PEOs typically target companies with between five and 200 employees, Odyssey focuses on businesses with high-value, skilled employees. Kleimann said November

2 employer-related administration. Worse still, small business owners don t understand the liabilities associated with non-compliance in an increasingly unfriendly regulatory environment. Delivering the message Odyssey takes a unique approach to this challenge. Kleimann explained that his company targets trusted business advisors, such as accountants, bankers, and financial planners, as advocates. The company holds events, more than 25 in the last year, that educate these advisors on its offerings and how to recognize a need. that these businesses, which are often competing with much larger companies for talent, have a greater need for the quality employee benefits and HR best practices that Odyssey offers. We give our clients a competitive edge in recruiting and retaining the best talent by giving them to opportunity to offer great benefits and great HR practices, he said. IMPERIAL CASUALTY & INDEMNITY Imperial Casualty & Indemnity is proud of its five-year partnership with Odyssey One Source. That partnership is part of our commitment to the entire PEO and staffing industry. Imperial s risk management and loss control program is uniquely tailored to each client s workers compensation needs, a key factor for success in today s competitive environment. An Imperial employee recently summed it up this way: My job is simply to help clients find new ways to be more successful. Odyssey is a member of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), the industry s national trade association that Kleimann has presided over. Thanks to efforts by Odyssey, many of its competitors, and NAPEO, more than 30 states have enacted laws that address co-employment, which Kleimann says have made it much easier to offer PEO services than it was in 1990 when he first joined the industry. He admits that the primary challenge for PEOs today is educating small business owners about the benefits of co-employment, explaining that entrepreneurs seldom have HR expertise and are largely unaware of the money and time they are spending on These advisors work closely with the small businesses that we target and recognize the need for our services. They typically find that our services improve their outcomes as well. For example, a banker who refers Odyssey to one of his clients gains the assurance that payroll tax and other compliance issues won t threaten the business s ability to repay outstanding loans, Kleimann explained. As part of its marketing strategy, the firm educates small business owners about employment regulations and what is required to comply. Companies that opt into Odyssey s marketing database receive a wealth of useful information that larger firms obtain from their HR department. There is no shortage of content available to HR professionals and labor attorneys to help them understand the countless employer regulations flowing out of Washington, DC. Our goal is to provide content that breaks employment regulations down in a way that makes sense to the entrepreneur, Kleimann explained. Of course, the recession has impacted the PEO industry: many small businesses were forced to lay-off employees, and some have gone out of business altogether. This reduces the fees that PEOs collect for their services, since they typically charge on a per-employee basis. But Kleimann said that the explosion of new federal employment regulations, such as the COBRA subsidy provisions of the recent stimulus bill and the recent overhaul of the Americans with Disabilities Act, have proven to be too much for many small business owners to handle alone. 144 American Executive November 2009

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4 The need for our services is greater today than at any time in our 19-year history, and we re working harder than ever to get our message out to small business owners, he said. DATAMAX OF TEXAS Datamax congratulates Carl Kleimann, president of Odyssey OneSource, on his role in pioneering groundbreaking strategic human resource administration and management solutions. We are greatly appreciative of our six-year relationship and look forward to ongoing collaborative technology engagements in the future. Datamax provides a powerful portfolio of business, process-based services and solutions focused on document management, IT consulting, managed print services, and digital printing. Technology brings progress In addition to enabling Odyssey to better target and reach those businesses most in need of its services, technology has helped the company simplify the delivery of those services. For example, most clients use its Web Time electronic attendance system, which automatically captures timeclock data, manages requests for time off, and automatically transmits that data to Odyssey for payroll processing. This can save clients hours in processing payroll and allows business owners to access their payroll information and approve time-off requests from the Internet. Odyssey also uses a document management system that helped the company eliminate hundreds of thousands of paper documents. Through a partnership with DataMax, Odyssey was able to not only reduce the costs associated with maintaining employee files but provide greater value for its clients by making these files available online through the implementation of LaserFiche. 146 American Executive November 2009

5 The more accessible we can make our information, the better for our clients, many of whom are working from home or on the road, said Kleimann. Odyssey continues to make big investments in technology that will give its clients even more access to key business intelligence. This includes everything from how long it takes to fill an empty position to their employee turnover rate. Another key differentiator for Odyssey is our customized approach to our clients needs. We believe no two small businesses are alike; they take on the values and vision of the entrepreneurs who run them. Our goal is to accentuate those elements in everything we do, said Kleimann. Small businesses have provided the majority of job growth in the US over the past two decades, and our goal at Odyssey is to help perpetuate that trend, one small business at a time. E Meghan Flynn WEAVER AND TIDWELL Weaver and Tidwell provides accounting and consulting services to publicly and privately held enterprises, public sector entities, and highnet-worth individuals. Weaver and Tidwell has been in continuous professional practice for more than 50 years. We were ranked the largest regional independent accounting firm in the Southwest by Practical Accountant Magazine and among the top 100 firms in the nation by Public Accounting Report. corporate spotlight November