Keeping Her Tustin Business in the 'Family' : Employment placement: Abigail Abbott Staffing Services' self-made owner is retiring and selling shares to employees for a bargain.

By DAN MARGOLIS

Nov. 12, 1995 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

TUSTIN —

With its pastel carpets, chandeliers and ornate furnishings, Louise Pomeroy’s office resembles an intimate parlor at home rather than the executive suite of a multimillion-dollar business.

But the decor is part of her effort to maintain a homey atmosphere at her Abigail Abbott Staffing Services Inc., where employees as well as clients are treated like family. Staff, customers and other visitors to Pomeroy’s office can expect to be greeted with big hugs from Pomeroy, chief executive of the temporary employment company. Top performers also have been feted at spontaneous bell-ringing celebrations or showered with surprise gifts. Motivational speeches have featured stuffed animals as props.

Now, as Pomeroy eases out of the day-to-day management and toward retirement, she is making one more provision for her 100-employee “family.” Rather than sell her successful temporary help company to outsiders, she has set up a stock plan that allows employees to buy shares in the closely held company, reportedly for a fraction of their value.

Pomeroy said she has received inquiries from a number of companies and individuals interested in buying Abigail Abbott, but she decided to keep it “in the family.”

“Rather than just sell the company and cash in, she wants to perpetuate the company for people who have contributed to the success of Abigail Abbott,” said Doug Ammerman, a partner at KPMG Peat Marwick in Costa Mesa, which set up the employee ownership program.

Ammerman would not reveal details of the employee purchase plan, other than to say it’s one of the most generous he has seen. But sources said any employee who has been with the company more than a year will be eligible to purchase stock for as little as a tenth of its value.

Employee stock option plans have tax benefits, tax experts said, but executives at Abigail Abbott insisted that Pomeroy could have reaped much more by selling the company. She will retain about 50% of the stock.

“This not only gives you a stake in the company, it gives job security,” said chief financial officer Donna Averill, who has been with the company seven years.

And job security ranks high on Pomeroy’s list of priorities.

In 1967, Pomeroy, a career homemaker in her early 50s, was thrust into the working world when the family’s retirement funds were lost through bad investments.

“I had a tremendous fear of the business world,” Pomeroy said. “But I had to turn and go get a job.”

A utility company and other employers told Pomeroy that she was too old and too inexperienced to work. That brush with age discrimination left a lasting mark. Since then, Pomeroy has refused to give her age.

Eventually, she landed a position with an Anaheim temporary agency. In 1970, she decided to start her own company. And at some point, the utility company that refused to hire her became a client of Abigail Abbott.

Pomeroy has received many accolades along the way, but the honor she treasures most is the Elizabeth Dole Glass Ceiling Award, which she received in 1993 for breaking through the invisible barrier that women often face in the corporate world.

Now, she has offices in Brea, Cerritos, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, Seal Beach and Tustin, and places close to 5,000 temporary employees a year, according to Laurie Smiley, head of human resources for Abigail Abbott. The company expects revenue of $19 million this year, which would be a 64% increase over the last five years.

About half of the temporary workers eventually land permanent jobs, Smiley said.

Four years ago, Robert Freeman, a landscape architect who had been out of work eight months, came to the agency looking for any job. Abigail Abbott placed him with Waste Management Inc. as a $10-an-hour data processor. He now works as a full-time accountant with the Santa Ana company.

“I needed the work and they provided the opportunity to explore,” he said. “They treat you like family.”

The company has a reputation for sending quality “temps,” said Victoria Brox, manager of administration for a Lockheed Martin Corp. office in Irvine. Abigail Abbott temporary workers typically fill about 20% of the company’s 50 positions in its traffic systems division.

“They are so good we always end up hiring them as permanent employees,” she said.

In addition to setting up the employee stock program, Pomeroy announced recently that she is turning over day-to-day management duties to a team of five executives who have been with her for years.

In a letter to employees, Pomeroy said she believes the management changes and stock option program will leave the company “in very deserving hands.

“In a way, it’s like having [100] or so children and seeing them all graduate the same day.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Profile: Louise Pomeroy

Residence: La Habra Heights

Family: Husband, Mark, of 55 years; two children; two grandchildren

Background: Career homemaker; entered work force out of financial necessity in 1967 at age 52. Founded Abigail Abbott Staffing Services in 1970 after finding work through a similar agency.

Awards: National Assn. of Women Business Owners Lifetime Achievement Award, 1995; Elizabeth Dole Glass Ceiling Award, 1993; California Legislature’s Woman of the Year, 1989; National Assn. of Personnel Consultants Ethics Award, 1984

Quote: “I had a tremendous fear of the business world. But I had to turn and go get a job.”

Source: Abigail Abbott Staffing Services Inc.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Abigail Abbott Staffing Services Inc.

* Headquarters: Tustin

* Business: temporary placement firm

* Founded: 1970

* Chief executive and president: Louise Pomeroy

* Locations: Brea, Cerritos, Lake Forest, Newport Beach and Seal Beach

* Employees: 100

* Annual placements: about 5,000

Revenue Rising