This guy wrote his own rules

(Steve Smith, pictured. Photo by Jim Olvera)

Nobody’s ever accused Steve Smith of playing it safe. He’s taken some chances most small employers wouldn’t even consider (and most brokers wouldn’t recommend).  But with the benefit of hindsight we see that he isn’t so much a gambler as an early adopter. And it’s because of Smith’s willingness to take calculated risks that his company is having another record-setting year and finds itself well-positioned looking ahead to 2014, when most of the health reform provisions will take effect.

Smith is president of CornerStone Staffing, which specializes in clerical and accounting temporary assignments and salaried employee direct placement. Founded in 1991 by Steve and Jody Smith, the company now has 10 offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and supports between 1,500 and 2,000 temporaries per week. In a difficult job market, CornerStone is helping people find work—temporary employees are the company’s product, so they have a lot of inventory, but there’s also a lot of demand.