Peoplelink: Connecting the right people with the right jobs

For Jay Wilkinson, president and CEO of South Bend-based Peoplelink Staffing Solutions, convincing people to relocate and take a job in the region comes easy.

Peoplelink office in South Bend

“It’s a great place to raise a family,” Wilkinson says.

Wilkinson, 48 and a Fort Wayne native, moved to the South Bend area in 1987 after getting out of the Army. With his father, Bill, who was changing careers, he co-founded the company that later evolved into Peoplelink.

The firm now operates in more than 35 states and offers services including temporary and direct-hire staffing, as well as payroll and outsourcing. Peoplelink has received awards from Ernst & Young, among others, and has appeared on Inc.com’s top 500 and top 5,000 lists ranking the fastest-growing privately held firms in the United States.

In the greater South Bend region, Peoplelink serves companies that handle everything from potato chips to tires, including orthopedic, recreational vehicle and biomedical firms. Peoplelink also recruits for the University of Notre Dame.

For job seekers, Wilkinson says his company frequently offers job fairs and search functions.

“We are in the marketplace 24/7,” says Wilkinson. “All Peoplelink does is hire. We are the employment office, in many respects, for a lot of companies.”

Technological changes

Wilkinson said technology has changed the way he does business over the past two-plus decades.
“Obviously, the Internet has changed everything,” he says. “The days of just putting an ad in the paper or getting reams of paper in the mail are gone. Technology has really opened up the way we recruit.”

In addition to placing thousands of people in satisfying jobs, Wilkinson is especially proud of having assembled a high-quality team at Peoplelink, many of whom have been with the firm for more than 15 years.

“I guess you could say I’m the ringleader,” Wilkinson says. “It’s a rewarding business, and you get to learn a lot about different companies and what they do. It’s always changing.”

Notre Dame gives South Bend cachet

Wilkinson says one of the major attributes of the South Bend region is the presence of the University of Notre Dame and the academic, cultural, athletic and technological advantages it brings to the community.

“Notre Dame gives South Bend a strong identity,” Wilkinson says. “And, I also think we have good schools here, especially the private ones.”

Wilkinson says he also tells potential employees about the advantages of the entire Michiana region, which includes proximity to Chicago, Lake Michigan and the weather — at least six months of it.

Innovation Park at Notre Dame and Ignition Park play a role

Wilkinson lauds efforts to attract high-tech companies through the creation of Innovation Park at Notre Dame, which is located on 12 acres across from the campus and aims to get startup firms off the ground.

In addition, he praises Ignition Park, which aims at attracting a variety of innovative companies, especially high-tech and research-based businesses, such as the new data center to be built by Data Realty LLC.

Wilkinson hopes to see further efforts to attract new businesses in the area through various incentives.

“There’s no reason why this area couldn’t be like a Louisville, Ky., which is a lot more aggressive about attracting business and industry,” Wilkinson says. “We have a lot of excellent companies here, but we can do more.”

Marketing Michiana

Wilkinson says there are advantages to promoting the area as a region.

“Everyone in Elkhart uses the South Bend airport, and they go to the malls in Mishawaka,” Wilkinson says. “It’s a joint community here.

“We need to think about economic development for the region. We shouldn’t care if a company comes to Elkhart, South Bend or Mishawaka because they are going to use the roads, restaurants and airport. All of us participate in that. That is the life of the community and that’s how we ought to look at it.”