Founder, Imprimis Group, Inc.
In the late 1970’s Valerie Freeman, a teacher, took note of the fact that computers were being introduced as a necessary tool for Dallas businesses, and successfully predicted demand for technically inept employees to quickly learn word processing skills. It was this foresight which inspired Freeman to leave teaching and to found WordTemps in 1982. The company’s concept of providing highly trained personnel with specialized skills was met with great success, and its rapid growth spurred Freeman to update its name to Imprimis Group, which reflects the organization’s growing specialty of staffing and human resource niches. Now one of the largest independently owned staffing enterprises in Texas, Imprimis Group serves as testimony to Freeman’s belief in the value of higher education, the opportunities of entrepreneurship, and their role in the promotion of women in leadership. The conglomerate operates under several brand names including Imprimis Staffing, BravoTech, Freeman Leonard, Third Party Pay, and Mature Personnel. As demand continually increases for flexible staffing, training, and outsourcing services, it flexibly positions itself to capitalize on converging trends by offering a wide variety of labor solutions which combine technology, training and people. Today Imprimis Group places more than 1,500 professionals in firms throughout the country. With a focus on global expansion, Freeman and several other staffing firm owners founded the Alliance of National Staffing and Employment Resources, LLC (ANSERTEAM) in 2005. Proactively posed for multi-million dollar, global business opportunities with large corporations, ANSERTEAM, LLC is the only company of its kind in the United States, and continues to double its annual revenue thanks to its unique structure and network of over 80 firms in 400 plus locations. Freeman serves on the three-person executive team which oversees the business. Known for her many entrepreneurial endeavors including the establishment of two Dallas-based banks, a computer training center, and a women’s angel fund, Freeman, along with three other colleagues, also founded Texas Women Ventures (TWV), an investment firm concentrating on women-owned companies, and is the process of starting its second fund. Convinced that education in entrepreneurship and leadership can change the world, she is actively involved with the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women’s (IEEW) Peace Through Business Program, a training system designed to provide long-term business education to women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and Rwanda. Highly involved in community service, Freeman is a past chairperson of the Board of the Dallas County Community College District Foundation, the Chairman of the Board of the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, a board member of the Dallas Foundation, and a Distinguished Alumna from the University of Houston where she holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in education. She has won numerous awards, and in January, 2011, was inducted into the Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) Hall of Fame.
