Greg and Laura Sulentic of Lincoln, Nebraska, were named as Express Employment Professionals’ 2026 Franchisees of the Year. The husband‑and‑wife team purchased their franchise in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but their history with the franchise and staffing goes back even further.
“I've been with Express for 20 years and I’ve been in the industry for over 30 years,” Greg said. “When I came into Express, I came in as a regional developer working in what is our Rocky Mountain region from Edmonton, Canada down to New Mexico, helping franchises to get open and supporting existing franchises to grow their business.”
Greg held that same role when he and Laura moved to the central United States to support offices in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa. He still holds that developer role today. During that time frame, the opportunity to purchase a franchise of their own came about.
“It was an interesting time to place our bets and get into the franchise full-time,” Greg said.
Although the pandemic posed unique challenges, the couple still found success. Their “go together” philosophy not only fuels their own accomplishment, but those of the franchisees they mentor.
One of the biggest obstacles the Sulentics faced was not being able to bring anyone into their or their clients’ offices during the pandemic.
“On top of that, I was a person who was used to going out to companies, to clients, meeting with people in person,” Greg said. “That was how we always drove business and suddenly that stopped, you couldn't do that anymore.”
However, they turned that around as the pandemic eased and the franchisees saw a huge opportunity to grow their staffing business. With offices reopening, they saw that creating a more welcoming environment for candidates would be key to attracting talent, especially in an industry that often had a reputation for treating workers like part of a system rather than individuals. The Sulentics moved quickly to transform their spaces, replacing the cold, plexiglass-filled setup with a warmer, more inviting office where people would want to spend time.
“That's really when we started to take off in this office,” Greg said. “There was that dark point where you thought ‘we’re going to lose all our business, we're going to lose all our candidates.’ But after that period, we very quickly hit a boom phase because companies had to come back. And they needed staff to do it.”
The franchisees’ connection to the Lincoln community also plays a huge role in their success. The Sulentics live in Lincoln, and their team is made up of local Lincoln residents. They want to create an environment where everyone they work with feels like a part of their team, not just their internal team.
“We’re very connected to this community,” Greg said. “We’re all Husker fans. We have a bunch of season tickets and we bring our clients to that, and that's a big part of the local community. We get involved with charities and nonprofits that we feel will be connected to our associate pool, as well.”
The Sulentics credit support from the team at Express Employment International as a champion of their success. Areas like legal, human resources, marketing and recruiting became much easier with the support of the team, especially in the early days with so much uncertainty during the pandemic.
“We couldn't have functioned in that environment without Express headquarters,” Greg said. “They always kept us updated on navigating the unique laws at the time. They really helped us stay focused on what was important with our business and they took care of all that. They were communicating that back to us in this really great way. You didn't feel like you were alone.”
Greg believes their success and recent recognition came from continuing to focus on creating a strong, people-first experience for their associates and building meaningful relationships with them. Those associates ultimately become the brand’s best salespeople.
“Our clients look at those folks and they ask them questions about us,” he said. “They see how good our people are. They compare us to our competitors and all that gives them this very favorable understanding of who Express is in the Lincoln market, who our team is. That helps us grow.”
He also noted that his internal team has very little turnover. Something Greg says has to do with the fact that they feel tied to the mission of creating a great experience for the associates and getting them to work.
“We have hundreds and hundreds of associates working for us right now, and our internal team that's responsible for putting those people to work really feels connected to that group and that group then feels connected to them,” he said. “That creates less turnover in our office and allows us to provide this really special service all around, and our clients and our associates love it.”
For more information on buying an Express Employment Professionals franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment.
Express Employment Professionals
SPONSORED
Creating a welcoming environment for employees and clients even during challenging times like the pandemic is what sets Greg and Laura Sulentic apart, earning them the recognition they deserve.
Greg and Laura Sulentic of Lincoln, Nebraska, were named as Express Employment Professionals’ 2026 Franchisees of the Year. The husband‑and‑wife team purchased their franchise in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but their history with the franchise and staffing goes back even further.
“I've been with Express for 20 years and I’ve been in the industry for over 30 years,” Greg said. “When I came into Express, I came in as a regional developer working in what is our Rocky Mountain region from Edmonton, Canada down to New Mexico, helping franchises to get open and supporting existing franchises to grow their business.”
Greg held that same role when he and Laura moved to the central United States to support offices in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa. He still holds that developer role today. During that time frame, the opportunity to purchase a franchise of their own came about.
“It was an interesting time to place our bets and get into the franchise full-time,” Greg said.
Although the pandemic posed unique challenges, the couple still found success. Their “go together” philosophy not only fuels their own accomplishment, but those of the franchisees they mentor.
One of the biggest obstacles the Sulentics faced was not being able to bring anyone into their or their clients’ offices during the pandemic.
“On top of that, I was a person who was used to going out to companies, to clients, meeting with people in person,” Greg said. “That was how we always drove business and suddenly that stopped, you couldn't do that anymore.”
However, they turned that around as the pandemic eased and the franchisees saw a huge opportunity to grow their staffing business. With offices reopening, they saw that creating a more welcoming environment for candidates would be key to attracting talent, especially in an industry that often had a reputation for treating workers like part of a system rather than individuals. The Sulentics moved quickly to transform their spaces, replacing the cold, plexiglass-filled setup with a warmer, more inviting office where people would want to spend time.
“That's really when we started to take off in this office,” Greg said. “There was that dark point where you thought ‘we’re going to lose all our business, we're going to lose all our candidates.’ But after that period, we very quickly hit a boom phase because companies had to come back. And they needed staff to do it.”
The franchisees’ connection to the Lincoln community also plays a huge role in their success. The Sulentics live in Lincoln, and their team is made up of local Lincoln residents. They want to create an environment where everyone they work with feels like a part of their team, not just their internal team.
“We’re very connected to this community,” Greg said. “We’re all Husker fans. We have a bunch of season tickets and we bring our clients to that, and that's a big part of the local community. We get involved with charities and nonprofits that we feel will be connected to our associate pool, as well.”
The Sulentics credit support from the team at Express Employment International as a champion of their success. Areas like legal, human resources, marketing and recruiting became much easier with the support of the team, especially in the early days with so much uncertainty during the pandemic.
“We couldn't have functioned in that environment without Express headquarters,” Greg said. “They always kept us updated on navigating the unique laws at the time. They really helped us stay focused on what was important with our business and they took care of all that. They were communicating that back to us in this really great way. You didn't feel like you were alone.”
Greg believes their success and recent recognition came from continuing to focus on creating a strong, people-first experience for their associates and building meaningful relationships with them. Those associates ultimately become the brand’s best salespeople.
“Our clients look at those folks and they ask them questions about us,” he said. “They see how good our people are. They compare us to our competitors and all that gives them this very favorable understanding of who Express is in the Lincoln market, who our team is. That helps us grow.”
He also noted that his internal team has very little turnover. Something Greg says has to do with the fact that they feel tied to the mission of creating a great experience for the associates and getting them to work.
“We have hundreds and hundreds of associates working for us right now, and our internal team that's responsible for putting those people to work really feels connected to that group and that group then feels connected to them,” he said. “That creates less turnover in our office and allows us to provide this really special service all around, and our clients and our associates love it.”
For more information on buying an Express Employment Professionals franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment.
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