Dan Ponce: “Our Greatest Strength Is Our Diversity”

The Industrial Labor Management Group (ILM Group), a training and staffing firm based in Huntington Park, CA, has developed deep expertise across numerous industries, becoming invaluable to clients navigating a slow economic recovery. Equally profound are its cultural roots, which benefit both employees and clients.

“Our greatest strength is our diversity,” says Dan Ponce, President and CEO of ILM Group. “Our Latin American background provides a competitive edge as we connect with the Latino population, one of the fastest-growing segments in the country.”

With additional offices in Fullerton, CA, Murfreesboro, TN, and Ontario, Canada, ILM Group fosters strong community ties. “We build relationships with our employees, understanding their immediate personal and family needs,” says Ponce. “Knowing our employees’ culture and heritage gives us an advantage in serving our clients’ workforce needs.”

But diversity at ILM Group goes beyond cultural heritage.

The agency is positioned as a cost-effective leader in contingency staffing, offering both contingent workforce services and direct placement. They support skilled-industrial, light-industrial, logistics, clerical, and administrative roles with a team of in-house staffing managers and recruiters with over thirty years of industry experience.

Through an in-house recruiter training program, ILM Group equips its team with tools to assess and onboard new recruits effectively. Their comprehensive testing for clerical, administrative, and technical roles ensures quality hires, a process clients value highly. “We share test results with our clients, and they see this as a significant advantage,” says Ponce.

ILM Group specializes in “fast response” staffing for temporary positions, filling roles quickly to meet clients’ demands—often within an hour of receiving an order, particularly in manufacturing and light-industrial sectors. “In most cases, we’ll fill positions within one hour or less,” Ponce shares.

To further support its clients, ILM Group’s third division focuses on workforce management consulting, covering direct labor cost reduction, workers’ compensation optimization, and workplace safety. “We realized many clients faced challenges like reducing labor costs and managing safety, so it was a natural decision to offer these solutions,” explains Ponce.

Workforce management services include attendance monitoring, policy compliance, and specialized training such as OSHA forklift certification, safety orientations, HACCP, and USDA food handling certifications. Additionally, ILM Group conducts safety walkthroughs, attends client safety meetings, and rewards employees who maintain an incident-free workplace. “Controlling risk and prioritizing workplace safety are essential for managing our workers’ compensation costs,” Ponce emphasizes.

These initiatives may seem like significant investments, but they align with ILM Group’s business plan. “Reducing work comp claims and maintaining safety lowers costs, making our services more affordable for clients and beneficial for employees,” Ponce says.

ILM Group is family-owned, with Gina Mendoza as the owner and COO, while her husband’s brother, Jorge Ponce, serves as Executive Vice President. “Our family’s passion for success drives our organization forward,” says Dan Ponce. “We’re thrilled to see more companies value diversity and support women-owned businesses.”

Through a combination of cultural insight, rapid staffing solutions, and strategic workforce management, ILM Group continues to make a lasting impact for clients and employees alike.