Tampa based A1 HR merges with Oasis Outsourcing

According to a news article at Marketwired on December 14, 2015, A1 HR a PEO based in Tampa, Florida has become a division of Oasis Outsourcing.

A1 HR (also known as A-1 contract staffing) was originally founded by Mel Klinghoffer whose experience in the Professional Employer Organization (PEO) industry dates back to 1989 when he stared an employee leasing company called Payroll Transfers, Inc. (PTI). Mr. Klinghoffer grew PTI to an annualized revenue of over $300M before selling in in 1996 to an investment group who then merged it with a New Jersey based PEO called EMI. The joint entity was re-branded as EPIX and EPIX was later sold to Gevity HR in the early 2000s. After the sale of PTI, Mr. Klinghoffer created A1 Contract Staffing which has now been acquired by Oasis Outsourcing.

If the name Klinghoffer sounds familiar it should. Mr. Klinghoffer’s uncle, Leon Klinghoffer was the American citizen murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro while celebrating his wedding anniversary with his wife. The murder was portrayed in the movie The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro (1989) starring Karl Malden and Lee Grant and Voyage of Terror and the movie The Achille Lauro Affair (1990) starring Burt Lancaster and Eva Marie Saint.

Terms of the deal between A1 HR and Oasis were not disclosed. It is interesting to note that A1 HR currently offers their clients access to group medical insurance provided by Humana. Oasis offers the same via Aetna. Since Aetna has now purchased Humana the merger may make more sense from a health insurance provided perspective.

Respects

StaffMarket worked with A1 HR for many years through the efforts of their business development manager, Mr. Arthur Lesher. Art passed away in November 2010 and was a tireless advocate for A1 HR and helped propel the growth at A-1 HR that resulted in this merger with Oasis Outsourcing. The team at StaffMarket misses Mr. Lesher.

image courtesy of Michael Coghlan via Flickr