Mark K. Holland, CEO and Chairman of Ascend Staffing, was on the Speaking on Business podcast to share how Ascend Staffing helped the community during tough economic times caused by COVID-19. Listen below or read the transcript of the podcast below.
Throughout coronavirus, valiant companies have worked to keep essentials available to all of us. Utah’s Ascend Staffing is one of those. Its president, Mark K. Holland, is here to share details.
Derek Miller, Salt Lake Chamber
MARK HOLLAND
Today’s guest is Mark Holland, CEO and Chairman of Ascend Staffing, one of the largest light industrial and non-clinical hospital staffing companies in the US, and among the world’s largest. He founded Ascend HR Solutions in 1995, and five years later, the company was listed #17 in Inc. Magazine’s 500 list, and has been included in the Utah 100 nine out of ten years in a row. Mark served as Vice-Chair of the Utah State University Board of Trustees; he also received the highest award given from the Huntsman School of Business in 2018, the Distinguished Executive Alumnus award. He served as a Board Member for the Children’s Center, Single Moms’ Foundation, and he is an active member of his community and the church where he resides.
As a critical essential infrastructure company, we work to keep food and essential products on shelves across America. Because the jobs we fill cannot be done remotely, our focus has been to make sure employees stay safe during this turbulent time. Ascend is one of the first staffing companies to institute pre-shift COVID screening questionnaires and touchless temperature checks to make sure employees with undiagnosed cases don’t infect others.
We also took a proactive role in keeping our employees informed of resources, best practices, risks, and ways to stay safe. During these difficult economic times, we’ve provided jobs to those who’ve been laid off or otherwise have found themselves out of work. We received many stories of people unsure of how to feed their family or pay the bills who found Ascend and became valued employees. Our purpose is to partner with employees, clients, and the community to create opportunities for growth and mutual success, and that’s been our goal throughout this pandemic.
DEREK MILLER
Ascend Staffing is a great example of innovative efforts throughout Utah to sustain essential businesses while keeping employees safe. More details are available at ascendstaffing.com. I’m Derek Miller with the Salt Lake Chamber, and this is Speaking on Business.