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July 13, 2015 Executive Profile

New leader, same philosophy guides Merry Employment Group

HBJ PHOTO | John Stearns Sally Merry (sitting) has transitioned control of her company, Merry Employment Group, to her daughter (standing) Kelly Merry.
By John Stearns

Sally Merry still regrets losing one of her staffing agency's largest clients in the 1970s for not dropping her rate to match a competing agency's price.

“I have never said 'no' to a client again,” said Merry, owner of Merry Employment Group Inc. in West Hartford. “That was a big lesson and it breaks my heart to this day. We never say 'no'.”

Added Merry, “You just can't give clients what they ask for, you have to give them more.” It's that hard-working, leave-your-ego-at-the-door philosophy that has worked well for Merry and her business over the years.

Merry Employment Group offers temporary and direct hire employment services and includes several subsidiaries: AAA Industrial Temporaries Inc., AAA Staffing Co., and Accounting Futures Inc. It ranks as the second-largest woman-owned business in the Hartford region, with more than 2,000 employees, according to the Hartford Business Journal's 2014 Book of Lists.

Its specialties include aerospace, industrial, clerical, IT and financial placements.

Targeted Solutions USA LLC, a separate company owned by one of Merry's daughters, Kelly Merry, provides commercial drivers for tractor-trailers.

Sally Merry, who founded the business in 1963, has transitioned control of her company to Kelly, 41, who returned to the Merry Group in January to ease her mother's workload. The transition happened quickly in April when Sally had a hip replaced. She hasn't returned to the office as she rehabs from surgery and works from home.

Kelly Merry said she has worked in the business on and off for about 17 years, including in-between running several businesses of her own. She sold her share of an equestrian business to rejoin her mom and head Targeted Solutions USA and is now running Merry Group businesses.

“I've always felt, even when I was in high school, that I would be taking over the business,” Kelly said. “It wasn't a straight road to get there. I had a few businesses, but always working with mom and her business and learning the things I needed to learn I feel like I can bring a broad spectrum of experiences to what I'm doing today.”

She credits her mom for teaching her about business, saying her mother's integrity stands out most.

“Don't sacrifice who you are to be on top, just work harder,” Kelly said of her mom's philosophy. “And having the right team. You can't be in business alone and be successful.”

As a leader, Sally Merry said, you must “teach staff everything you know so that they can know as much as you and become better.” Also, she said don't run a company with an ego.

“Never think because you did a great job on Monday the world is going to love you and Tuesday you can coast,” Sally said.

Kelly said her mother always preached the importance of team-based problem solving that incorporates everyone's views, from the receptionist to the payroll person, to derive the best solution.

Kelly said she also shares a clients-first philosophy.

“We want clients who want a relationship with us,” Kelly said. “There are no quick fixes to the perfect employee being in the perfect job and not everybody understands that. We understand it and my staff understands it. And we need our clients to understand that. And the ones that do, we go to the ends of the earth for.”

With Kelly Merry now steering the company, Sally said she is focusing on a new business she plans to start by year's end. She's not sharing details, but said it's unrelated to the staffing industry.

“I'll never retire,” said Sally, who temped as a legal secretary in her teens before starting her own legal secretaries business to help pay for college. She planned to become a psychiatrist but stayed in business instead. It was the right call, she said, knowing psychiatry would not have suited her.

Instead, she ended up helping people in a different way -- to find jobs and fill them.

Sally Merry
Founder, owner, CEO, Merry Employment Group Inc.
Highest education: Three years of college, did not finish; started business instead.
Executive insights: "Integrity, credibility, everything we do has to be win-win — it has to be as good for our clients as it is for us. We're leaders and as leaders, we aren't going to win, be successful, if we don't have credibility and integrity, period."

Kelly Merry
Owner, president, Targeted Solutions USA LLC
Highest education: Bachelor's degrees in psychology and criminology, University of Connecticut

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