It's one of those ideas that makes you want to slap your forehead and say, "Why didn't I think of that?" Jane Seibel often hears that when talking about her one-year-old staffing firm Employmoms. Her firm specializes in helping mothers get back into the workforce by connecting them with companies with family-friendly policies. It also helps companies connect with an untapped pool of talent.
Employmoms' job candidates have 10 to 15 years of experience. "They [job candidates] say, 'Finally, someone understands what I'm going through.' We advocate for them," Seibel says. "We're one of the few in this space."
The impetus for starting the company came when Seibel's youngest of three daughters went to kindergarten, and she decided to head back to work. She previously held several executive director positions at nonprofits prior to taking time off to raise her daughters. But, like other mothers, Seibel found it difficult to re-enter the workforce.
During her panel interview for a part-time job at Dartmouth College, she realized the hours required by the position wouldn't work with family demands. It was after that she had her "Aha!" moment that led to starting Employmoms. While on vacation in Canada, she was sitting in a pool with other mothers and talk turned to women wanting to find part-time work with flexible hours. "It hit me that this is universal, that I'm having this discussion that I've had for the past 12 years. My entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and I started looking at the problem from a business perspective," Seibel says. She spent a year auditing classes at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and worked on a business plan. What emerged is Employ-moms, which she launched in June 2007 in Hanover. The company places mothers re-entering the workforce in part-time and full-time positions with flexible schedules in a variety of industries and career levels.
tive," Seibel says. She spent a year auditing classes at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and worked on a business plan. What emerged is Employ-moms, which she launched in June 2007 in Hanover. The company places mothers re-entering the workforce in part-time and full-time positions with flexible schedules in a variety of industries and career levels.
While she knew the client base was there, she wasn't sure how businesses would react. She found them hungry to tap into this underutilized pool of talent, she says. Word about the agency spread among women in the Upper Valley, and businesses and the media soon came knocking. In just a year, Employmoms is profitable and has opened two more offices in Portsmouth (in January) and Bedford (in June). It now has a national job listings board, and Working Mother Magazine selected Employmoms as one of its "25 Best Women Owned Businesses."
Candidates at Employmoms run the full gamut, from attorneys to accountants," says CEO Seibel. "What differentiates us is these are candidates who are untapped." The Upper Valley office has already cultivated 250 job candidates, the Portsmouth office 100 candidates and within a week of opening the Bedford office, Employmoms had already recruited 45 candidates there. She has placed candidates at law offices, Hypertherm and Dartmouth College, among others."Companies get it and want to tap into our workforce," Seibel says.
She has eight employees of her own and says she is ready to ramp up to the next level, including opening offices in Burlington, Vt. and Portland, ME in the fall. She's been approached about investing in the company and franchise opportunities. She is holding off on both for now, having grown the company with her own finances. "It's important to me to build a sound business model," Seibel says. For more information, visit www.employmoms.com.
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