Michele Honomichl borrowed an idea from Ford Motor Co., mixed it up with her entrepreneurial spirit and founded Celergo, a global payroll service provider to companies in 97 countries.
While working for Ford after college, she helped manage the creation of a world-class expatriate administration center and launched a global expatriate management system. She began to think that there might be other companies interested in these services. Her idea placed second in national competition, and she launched a Web-based technology.
Demand grew for payroll services, so Honomichl shifted her focus accordingly.
The nature of international payroll is challenging, with time zones, language barriers, differences in culture and currency and multiple compliance and regulatory issues. With Celergo’s expertise in expatriate payroll, broad geographic reach and flexible approach, the company is able to deliver the assistance clients request. Feedback from clients shows that they appreciate the company’s knowledge and its teams that support and implement the program.
Working off cash flow, Celergo was able to obtain a line of credit after the first year based on market traction gained that year. At that time, the cofounders were able to hire their first employee. The company has been recognized as one of “Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Places to Work For” and recently raised venture equity to allow it to continue to the next level. It has also been recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States by Inc. magazine.
The highly educated, multilingual staff brings a consultative versus clerical approach to implementation and client services organization.
Honomichl, company CEO, sums up the company this way: “Celergo has become an extension of clients’ internal payroll teams and continually partners with them to bring the best value and practices to their organizations.”
How to reach: Celergo, (847) 512-2600 or www.celergo.com
