Atlanta business owner named Georgia's 2023 Small Business Person of the Year
An Atlanta-based Black business owner is Georgia’s Small Business Person of the Year. Ken Taunton, founder of The Royster Group — a professional recruiting and staffing firm — received the award this week at a ceremony in Washington, DC.
For Taunton, who started his career off as a sales rep, as he rose in his career, he discovered the lack of diversity in positions of leadership.
“What I really found out was … working on those senior-level executive positions, there were no people of color or women in those executive positions,” said Taunton. “I realized that … there’s got to be people — people of color and women that could go into these positions or that are qualified, and so I said, you know what, I’m gonna start The Royster Group.”
As a business that specializes in professional recruiting services, Taunton’s job has changed over the past few years, as workforce issues remain a top concern for many small businesses.
“Workforce issues are for sure a top concern, and I’m sure for many small businesses, when I talk to my peers … we often have … limited resources, and it is hard to attract and retain, you know, skilled employees,” he said.
“And so, the workforce has definitely changed. And the challenges are … hiring and retention … that’s always been, I think, a challenge because a lot of times … to get that talent, you have to really pay … at market or above and sometimes … we just don’t have those resources to do that.”
The business owner also notes that, due to the pandemic, health care related positions have grown most difficult in recent years to staff.
“Particularly in nursing, which, in any type of direct patient care roles … the pandemic has placed a tremendous strain on health care on the health care system,” said Taunton. “You need that skilled nursing and those health care providers to take care of us, basically. Within that, you have the burnout of health care providers, you have illnesses, and then you also have retirement.
Throughout the changes he and his business has experienced, however, Taunton has high anticipation to continue serving his community with opportunities to those starting off in their careers, as well as those who have not been giving full access to resources previously in their careers.
“We’re a diverse organization … we have our purse across the board, and I think that it brings a truly, truly huge value. You have to have that within your business in order to compete because one demographic is not going to be the same as another. You have to tailor your [message] whether it be your recruiting or your hiring to those different demographics.”
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