In 2001, Sharon Hulce set out to prove that executive search could be done differently. She had spent years placing talent for another firm, but she saw a persistent gap: businesses were hiring strong resumes without asking whether those resumes reflected the emotional intelligence and cultural fit a role actually required. So, she founded Employment Resource Group, Inc. (ERG) in a one room office in Appleton, Wisconsin with one conviction: search should be built on relationships and understanding, not transactions. Twenty‑five years later, that conviction has grown into a nationwide firm, still guided by the belief that the right people change everything.
This year, ERG celebrates 25 years of transforming lives. The firm’s philosophy can be summed up in three words: “Be the buffalo.” Buffalo do not retreat from an oncoming storm; they turn and charge straight through it, which gets them out the other side faster. It is an apt description for a firm that has weathered three recessions, the aftermath of 9/11 and a global pandemic over the past quarter century and come out the other side stronger every time. That resilience did not happen by accident. It happened because the ERG team refused to lower its standard, even when the work got hard.
A record‑setting year
Growth at ERG has never been about chasing size for its own sake; it has been about proving, year after year, that the original model works. That proof showed up loudly in June 2026 when ERG closed the best month in its 25‑year history and, in that same stretch, landed the largest single fee the firm has ever earned. Two records, set in the same 30 days, by the same team that shows up and does the work every day, coming off a record 2025! Moments like that do not happen by chance. They are the result of relationships built over years, and the trust clients and candidates have placed in ERG time and time again. That same year, ERG was named to Insight on Business’s Fastest Growing Companies list, recognition that reflects a firm still finding new gears 25 years in.
Giving back
Growth, for ERG, has always come with an obligation to give back. Over the past 25 years, the firm has donated more than $7.5 million in pro bono executive search services to nonprofit organizations, including Habitat for Humanity of Green Bay and the Fox Cities, the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, the YMCA, and Goodwill, among many others. That work helps mission‑driven organizations secure the kind of leadership talent they could not otherwise access, strengthening their ability to grow, serve and expand their impact across the region. For ERG, this is not a side project; it is the same belief that shapes every client search, applied to organizations whose mission is to serve those that need a hand up.
A hometown investment
ERG’s roots run deep in the Fox Valley, and the 25 years here have shaped both the firm and the community around it. As ERG has grown into a nationwide practice, Appleton has remained home base, and the firm has continued to invest in the relationships and organizations that built it. That commitment will be on full display this September, when ERG hosts its 2026 C‑Suite Summit at the Fox Cities Exhibition Center. The invitation‑only event brings together approximately 300 senior leaders for a day focused on leadership, workforce strategy and community advancement, and doubles as ERG’s way of marking its 25th anniversary. The work ERG does adds up: ERG’s executive search work contributes more than $10 million in new salaries to Wisconsin’s economy each year. More than that, the C‑Suite Summit is a thank you. The businesses that have trusted ERG to find the leadership behind their organizations, again and again, for 25 years, are the reason there is an anniversary to celebrate at all. Hosting them, rather than simply thanking them from a distance, felt like the right way to close out this milestone year.
Values in action
None of this happens without a culture built to support it. Every ERG search starts the same way: understanding not just the technical requirements of a role, but the values, pace and personality of the client’s organization. ERG’s five core values — passion for people, mental toughness, emotional maturity, intuitiveness and energy and drive for achievement — shape how the firm evaluates candidates against that reality, looking past the resume to whether someone will actually thrive once they are in the seat. With 97% of placements still in their roles two years later, it is a big part of why so many ERG placements last well beyond the typical tenure, and why so many clients come back for their next search instead of starting over with someone new.
Looking ahead
ERG is bringing that same approach to a new market. The firm is expanding its presence with an office in Indianapolis, extending the same relationship‑driven, culturally attuned search process that has defined ERG in Appleton for 25 years. It is a natural next step for a firm that has spent a quarter century proving that the right people, placed the right way, change everything, not just for the individual and the company, but for the community around them. As ERG looks toward its next 25 years, the goal remains the same as it was in 2001: keep building relationships, keep placing the right people and keep transforming lives, one search at a time.
Information
3100 N. Ballard Road
Appleton, WI 54911
920-996-9700
ergsearch.com
