Kim McDonald, Elite Resources

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Position: owner and operations manager,
Elite Resources

Lives in: Tega Cay, S.C.

Family: husband, Jonathan;
children, Hunter, 15, Tyler, 9

Kim McDonald playfully blames her mother, but she also thanks her, for her 20-year career in the staffing industry.

“My mom said I had to get a part-time job in high school, so I said, ‘OK, I’ll work for you,’ and went to work for her at the staffing agency she owned, and I loved it from day one,” McDonald said. “I grew up around it, and I’m now fully in it, and I am thankful she brought me into this business.”

In 1997, McDonald teamed up with her mother, Jan Meyer, and her stepfather, Pete Meyer, to open the family-owned business, Elite Resources, which has become one of the largest woman-owned staffing companies in Charlotte.

Jan, who has more than 30 years of staffing industry experience, owned Carolina Temporaries from 1990 to 1993, where McDonald worked through high school and college. McDonald then worked with Creative Staffing in Charlotte from 1993 to 1996 before the company decided to merge with another business.

“So we decided to venture out on our own,” McDonald said. “We had enough experience in the industry that we figured it would work.”

McDonald, who in 1996 earned her certified temporary-staffing specialist degree, became the owner and operations manager, while Jan was in charge of sales and marketing and Pete handled information technology, networking operations and accounting.
McDonald recalls the three of them working out of a one-room office for the first year before growing enough to hire more people.

“We each did our thing that we were good at, and we made it work. The challenge was the first two years pouring our money into the business and going without a paycheck, so I was very thankful to finally get a paycheck in our third year,” McDonald said.

In 15 years, the company has grown to 17 full-time employees in three locations: Charlotte, High Point and Charleston, S.C. The High Point office opened in 2010 following the acquisition of At Work Personnel, while Charleston opened as a new office in 2011. McDonald said they are also looking to open an office in Nashville, Tenn.

McDonald estimates Elite Resources works with about 300 clients, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses. Elite Resources is certified as a small business enterprise and a minority and women business enterprise

Elite Resources offers full benefits to all their part- and full-time employees. McDonald said that helps the company retain quality employees.

In the community, McDonald serves as vice president of the Arrowood Business Association and will serve as president next year of the more than 100-member nonprofit that serves as the voice for businesses in southwest Mecklenburg County.

“We work with the local chambers, the City Council and other development organizations to help these businesses meet whatever needs they may have,” she said. “We’re equivalent to a chamber of commerce, and it’s rewarding to see the progress we have made in the area.”