Executive Team

Charles B. Miller
Co-Founder and President

Before entering the staffing industry, Chuck spent over 20 years in restaurant franchising.  With both PepsiCo and Dunkin Donuts of America, he helped develop hundreds of profitable Taco Bell and Dunkin Donuts stores.  Subsequently, he developed his own franchised restaurant concept, which was ultimately acquired by a public company.

Since then, Chuck has spent more than 12 years in staffing.  In just five years as Executive Vice President of the Tandem division of OutSource International, he helped direct the growth of the company from ten to 120 offices in 39 states, generating nearly $300M in annual sales.  In 1998, OutSource became a public company.

In 1999, Chuck and a partner formed an independent staffing company in Indianapolis.  In less than 18 months, it became the largest light industrial staffing agency in the metro area.  In its first full year, the company generated nearly $14M in sales and produced net profits at a rate almost three times the industry average. Chuck sold his stake in 2001 to focus on the development of People 2.0.

David Van Soest
Co-Founder and Executive Vice President

David is a 25-year veteran of the staffing industry who began his career with Burns International, then the world's largest provider of security-related staffing.  In 1984, David and two partners formed an independent niche staffing company in Denver, Colorado.  As Vice President of Sales, he developed major on-site accounts with Hewlett-Packard, Qwest and Equitable Life Assurance.  Later, as Executive Vice President, David drove the company to regional leadership, building ten branches and eight on-site projects in nine Western states.

In 1996, David accepted a position as a Vice President for Tandem Staffing. Responsible for a region extending from Virginia to Maine, he developed and directed a 15-office operation with over 60 staff employees and nearly $50M in billings in three years.

In 1999, David took on a project to re-position Employer's Management Group, a 12-office staffing service network and PEO in Philadelphia.  After successfully completing a major business conversion there as interim COO, David left to develop the People 2.0 concept.

Mike Lord
Chief Operating Officer

Mike has been in the staffing industry for 13 years. He previously spent two years in franchise consulting and 14 years in human resources, holding positions as Manager of Employee Relations for Phillip Morris and Director of Human Resources for the $1.7B HEB Company. Mike holds a master’s degree in Industrial Relations.

In 1989, Mike founded Remedy Staffing Services of Virginia (Richmond). With Mike at the helm as President, Remedy of Virginia grew to become the largest US franchise of RemedyTemp, Inc., with five offices and over $18M in sales. In 1999, Mike sold the operation to RemedyTemp and joined the franchisor in a management role for two years.

While at Remedy, Mike also served on the Board of Directors for the Metro Richmond Chamber of Commerce and was Vice Chairman of “Workforce One,” a state funded initiative for workforce development. He has written and spoken widely on human resources, employment, and staffing topics.  Mike joined People 2.0 in 2004, where his background gives him a unique understanding of the challenges of staffing business owners.

Jim Woodward
Chief Financial Officer

Jim is an MBA who spent his early career in the pharmaceutical and home healthcare industry, where he was a regional controller at Pfizer-UpJohn and a principal in several healthcare service companies.  He entered the staffing industry as a Division Controller with Olsten Home Healthcare (now Gentiva) in 1994 and later managed two Shared Service Centers for Olsten Staffing West.  After Olsten’s acquisition by ($15B) Adecco Corporation, Jim served as Vice President and Treasurer of Adecco North America for two years.  In 2001, he joined Spherion as Vice President of Shared Services. There he managed a staff of over 200 with responsibility for all back office business service functions for 700 branches and 60,000 temporary employees. 

Most recently, Jim served as Vice President of Client Services for North America for Hudson Highland Group, an international specialty consulting and staffing company with $1.3B in sales.  At People 2.0, Jim oversees all finance, accounting, payroll processes, tax reporting and administrative support services.

Michael J. McGowan
Vice President, Risk Management

Mike began his career with ACE Insurance in 1975. After four years, he joined the Risk Management group at ARA Services (Aramark, Inc.) in Philadelphia.  During his six year stint there, Mike served as Risk Manager for the company's Air and Leisure Services division ($1.2B sales, 350 locations, 38,000 employees) and Director of Risk Management for ARA Living Centers (287 facilities in 13 states).

In 1993, Mike accepted a position as the senior risk management executive of Interim Services (now Spherion). With a staff of 18, he managed insurance and risk management for international staffing operations with (then) $1.8B in sales.  In 1996, Mike joined OutSource International, a Florida-based staffing firm and PEO, as Director of Risk Management. There, he developed much of the company’s risk management program and process, managing a $22M annual budget.  Before joining People 2.0 in 2004, Mike was the Vice President of Risk Management Consulting for Marsh, Inc., the world’s largest insurance brokerage.

Daniel Verhagen
Vice President, Information Technology

Dan has more than 15 years of experience in staffing industry, with a career emphasis on deploying and adapting information technology to support a rapidly growing and changing staffing business. 

He began his career as an accountant with Tandem Staffing, and quickly transitioned into the technology side of their business.  Throughout his tenure there, he was consistently promoted to levels of increasing responsibility, ultimately becoming Tandem’s head of Information Technology, a position he held until its sale to SelectRemedy.   Dan’s accomplishments with Tandem include the development, implementation and maintenance of three separate staffing platforms, driving $250M+ dollars in sales and supporting 100+ offices in 18 states.

He also implemented the company’s new staffing software across a wide variety of offices and business models, and redesigned their network and data infrastructure in an environment that required high availability and uptime.   He also developed and refined disaster recovery plans for the Florida-based company, which enabled it to successfully operate during the severe 2005 and 2006 hurricane seasons.

Brian Nugent, Esq.
General Counsel

Brian Nugent, Esq., is Principal of The Nugent Law Firm, providing representation to businesses nationwide in contracts, state and federal regulatory compliance, employment law, mergers and acquisitions, and litigation with a special emphasis on temporary staffing, professional employer organizations, and human resource outsourcing. 

Brian was previously General Counsel of a publicly traded temporary staffing company with revenues over $600M, and a privately held Professional Employer Organization with revenues in excess of $700M. 

He is a regularly published author and a noted speaker on employment and co-employment topics, and on temporary staffing, PEO and HRO issues.  He has been a member of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations ("NAPEO"), the Legal Advisory Council since its inception, and is also past chair of the council.

Brian received his Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University and spent 13 years in litigation at three Florida firms, where he managed complex litigation matters in state and federal courts, and regulatory cases with an emphasis on insurance matters.