Kinexus Group, a workforce and economic development firm that provides training, consulting and coaching services, works with thousands of companies of every size and sector.
Its team works with thousands of people who are being upskilled and trained in their jobs.
But the one thing Kinexus Group couldn’t offer its clients was expertise in matters pertaining to human resources.
Now they can.
Kinexus Group announced it has officially acquired HR Collaborative, a West Michigan-based, women-led community of fractional HR professionals.
“Employers have been sharing with us for a long time that there’s a need for specific human resource subject matter expertise in their companies,” said Todd Gustafson, Kinexus Group’s president and CEO. “When we see a gap, we gather the resources to collaboratively solve the issues. The acquisition comes at a time of need where employers are facing an unprecedented amount of labor and skill shortages across every sector and every region in the country, especially Michigan, where the population is declining, aging and is less educated resulting in a bottom ten state in these critical economic indicators.
“Employers, especially small-to-midsized companies with limited resources and capacity will now have access to some of the best workforce experts and human resources professionals in the nation,” he added.
HR Collaborative, a Top 50 Michigan Company to Watch awardee, was launched in 2013 by Beth Kelly, who has successfully driven change in the HR space for more than 40 years.
With clients across Michigan and the Midwest, the company shares the excitement of being part of Kinexus Group.
“We are thrilled to be part of Kinexus Group’s family of organizations and could not be more excited to share the news,” said Kelly, HR Collaborative’s president. “The HR Collaborative community will expand to include a broader network of employers with similar needs and interests in the human resource field.
“Our clients will have the opportunity for expanded access to a suite of training and development subject matter experts and resources,” Kelly added. “Most importantly, our team of professionals, along with our clients, will have the benefit of knowing that the profits generated from HR Collaborative will be reinvested in a bigger purpose to make the lives of people in Michigan better. Being part of Kinexus Group also furthers our mission by providing our team a set of tools and resources to help our clients grow, develop and train talent so their companies thrive.”
In addition to serving demand, the acquisition further diversifies Kinexus Group’s overall revenue, provides a reliable and flexible funding source without limited growth potential, to support the mission of Kinexus Group and its subsidiaries: Youth Solutions, Michigan Works, Market Van Buren and Manufacturing Growth Alliance.
Gustafson said the acquisition means Kinexus Group will “have more money and expertise to invest in our mission.”
“This acquisition will help us bolster our efforts to educate, train and connect at-risk youth and adults to long term, sustainable jobs and careers,” he said. “It will help us assist companies in their pathways for growth through the adoption of innovation, technology and best practices of talent recruitment, retention and development. As a result, entire communities will see value in this acquisition. We are excited to add the HR Collaborative team to our family of organizations.”
The decision to acquire HR Collaborative is “in alignment with the guideposts that the Kinexus Group Board of Directors set years ago,” according to Kinexus Group Board Chair George Saleeby.
“The team at Kinexus Group has always had a creative approach to solving complex challenges,” Saleeby said. “We’ve been known for our diversified funding model, and our ability to meet unmet demand through our family of organizations and adding HR Collaborative will allow us to do more of that.”
Gustafson called the acquisition of HR Collaborative a “perfect integration.”
“It was an add-on of a skill set we didn’t have before,” he said. “It immediately added a service we know there’s a market demand for. We knew it was a really good company that was on a growth pattern where we could take the net profit and reinvest it … helping all these companies or helping economically disadvantaged communities. It was a perfect marriage.”
