Thank you for your interest in C2 Essentials, a truly unique human resources company that specializes in the needs of government contractors and their requirements to provide mission-critical services to federal agencies. Government contractors face a wide variety of HR mandates not found in the commercial sector, and it takes a dedicated team of professionals to navigate those complicated rules and regulations. I honestly could not have built C2 into the successful company it is today without the best team in the business, a team with deep experience in all aspects of HR requirements and who takes personal pride in the service they provide to all of our clients.

Since I founded this company in 1995, I have often been asked what opportunity I saw in the market that C2 could fulfill. As an HR professional at the time, I was meeting with a consortium of small businesses that wanted to go after large government opportunities but lacked the resources to go after these on their own. They decided that if they consolidated their resources, they would have the bandwidth to pursue large procurements. During the same meeting, I noticed that these businesses either had no HR professionals on their staff or did not have the infrastructure to support the large contracts if awarded.

I could take credit for designing the first Professional Employer Organization concept then and there, at a time when there were no PEOs in the Washington area, and certainly none that specialized in federal contracts. I met with members of the consortium-- who became clients of C2-- and discussed how I could provide this infrastructure for them by forming a dedicated HR company. That became C2.

First and foremost, at C2 we are an advocate for our clients, ensuring that they are meeting all of the federal and state mandates for their contracts. We understand that for the employees that work for them, it is important to build a culture that is their own but still is in full compliance with all rules and regulations. We foster a culture of embracing not only the employees, but also their families, because they have to know that their family is being taken care of if they are to focus on their company's mission.

Second, we are a trusted partner. We are able to scale up when they have new contracts but we are also able to understand that if there is a loss of a contract, we are still their partner. We are now at what I see as a critical turning point for small businesses. The number and scope of federal and state regulations has exploded. It was not too long ago that many companies were winning small business contracts that could be sole-sourced or white-papered because they were readily awarded. That is no longer the case. Today, you must be a very competitive small business to be successful. The large businesses did not bid on small contracts, but today they do. Margins are very slim and you need to be competitive and have "the best of the best" on your team. You are competing for top talent against larger organizations.

The C2 advantage is that we have a staff that understands federal contracting. They all come from federal contracting backgrounds, and many are subject matter experts in their fields. We also have very customized solutions because we understand that not all companies can fit into the same box. We are very scalable to our client, and are very cognizant of our fees against their contracts. We are constantly looking back at how our client is bidding on contracts, how they need to be competitive, and how we can make sure that what we provide is suitable for not only their business today, but through their growth.

As you look through the broad range of services and solutions that C2 offers, please don't hesitate to call us directly to answer any question you have.

Jackie Asencio, President and CEO