Manatee County firm secures Goldman Sachs loan

MANATEE COUNTY — A fast-growing employee-leasing firm, Progressive Employer Management Co., has secured a three-year loan with a Goldman Sachs affiliate.

Progressive CFO Peter Grabowski, in an interview with the Business Observer, declined to elaborate on the specific amount the firm will borrow. Grabowski says the capital will be used to pay off debt and for future growth. The firm says the loan, which matures in August 2017, is also available for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions. “We are excited about the fact that a firm like Goldman Sachs looked at us and thought we were credit-worthy,” Grabowski says.

Progressive, with an office in southern Manatee County, is one of the Sarasota-Bradenton region's largest employee leasing firms, formally called professional employer organizations. The firm, which has expanded its management ranks over the past year, handles payroll, workers' compensation, employee benefits and human resource services for a variety of businesses, mostly companies with five to 25 employees. It had $74 million in revenues in 2013, up 8.8% from 2012, when it had $68 million.