Entrepreneur of Year keeps 'paying dues'

September 17, 2001
IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW - WOMAN IN BUSINESS    By Brian Hunt

If you ask Melinda Madsen what it takes to be a sucessful entrepreneur she doesen't hesitate: "Honesty, Integrity, assertiveness, the abliity to take risks, and to be open to challenges.

Madsen - the 2001 Idaho Woman Entrepreneur of the Year - is president of Boise-based American Staffing Inc. Ask her about her company's solid record of achievement, and she typically move the spotlight from herself .

"My people" she says with wide wave of her arm, "always come first. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be a good business."


I lost myself in something I knew I could grow with and make a living with.                   - Melinda Madsen

Madsen started the company in 1980, with a $2,000 family loan. Today, American Staffing operates in six markets and places as many as 5,000 employees annually. Its annual revenues are in the "mid-seven figures".