In this episode, SOCA President & CEO Matt Appenzeller sits down with David Noe of Payroll Partners to discuss how small businesses can simplify payroll while strengthening their overall HR approach.
Drawing from his experience supporting growing companies, David shares common payroll pain points, what businesses should look for in a payroll partner, and why the human connection still plays a critical role in supporting employees and business success.
Learn how SOCA members can benefit from payroll processing and Ohio BWC Workers' Comp Support through Payroll Partners.
Episode Transcript:
Matt Appenzeller
Matt, hello and welcome to the chamber on podcast, the go to podcast for small employers and local Chambers of Commerce in Ohio. I'm your host. Matt Appenzeller, President and CEO of the southern Ohio chamber Alliance, more commonly known as saca. We're an alliance of 130 Chambers of Commerce in Ohio, and today we have a special episode for you. We're diving into the world of human resources and payroll management with that with none other than David noey. David is the human resources manager at payroll partners, and he's also the chamber programs manager that they have. So David, thanks for being with us.
David Noe
Thanks for having me. Matt, it's great to be on today. That's awesome, awesome.
Matt Appenzeller
So, so payroll partners is, you know, it's a key player in simplifying payroll solutions for for small employers. We're thrilled to have you, have you as one of our value partners in Soca, and we're also a client So David, tell us about your role, not just with payroll partners, but also in managing the chamber program that you have.
David Noe
Yeah, absolutely, Matt. I i go back a long ways with knowing about Soca and the southern Ohio chamber Alliance. When I was with a benefit broker, we always talked about the programs the chamber that they could be associated with. So I've known about southern Ohio chamber alliance for many years. When I joined payroll partners three and a half years ago, we didn't have the relationship that we have now today. So it's very exciting to see where we've come over the last couple of years with, with having the partnership both as being offering a program benefit to your chambers, but also having you as a client, so you can see firsthand. So my role has evolved over the last few years. Right now, it's it's dedicated to a lot of HR projects. Internally, we've been growing 20% for the last five years. So as we retain clients and add more clients and have partnerships with your chambers that you're associated with, we are just building something really exciting in the in the region. So my role is helping recruit, retain people, our culture, our relationships with the programs and the chambers and HR association. So I play a lot of different roles, wear a lot of different hats, and I have a podcast of my own. So I stay busy. I stay busy and it's, it's, it's a different day. It's always different.
Matt Appenzeller
Yeah, before we get to the podcast, let me just ask you this, right? So, like, as a as a HR professional, you are probably accustomed to, you know, giving or advising employees about their like, her career progression and whatnot, but, but what about your own path? Like, was it a straight line? Was it a winding road? You know, is it a mixture of both?
David Noe
Matt, I wanted to be on the professional PGA tour as as a college golfer, and that didn't work out. So I didn't grow up wanting to be in HR. I wanted to be in sports to some degree. So that was my major in college. But as I started working with a local benefit broker in Cincinnati. I started to see what businesses dealt with, and I was like, oh, that's what human resources is. You know, you, you're, you're talking to a lot of people every day about either coming to work for the company, how we can progress your career. So my, my windy road of HR, has gone from learning benefits, learning HR, going into a PEO, being an HR consultant, and, man, I learned a lot being in a consultant role, basically the HR department for 75 companies. You see stuff every day, and you learn so much from all these different situations. Like, Hey, Matt, I gotta fire somebody. How do I do it? Or, I need to hire somebody for this role. How do I find them? Or, hey, I need to write a handbook. So a lot goes on in HR, and it's just not one size fits all. So my progression to where I'm at now, it's gone through different industries, big and small. I was a prospect of payroll partners before I joined, I was with a roofing company in Cincinnati, and we were looking for better technology and support locally. And so I got introduced to our owner Noah in 2020 and and then it actually turned into a job with with his organization that he purchased in 2019 so, you know, it my role. Like I said, it's changed since I've joined payroll partners. I see myself being in HR for my entire career, a lot. Has transpired the last couple of years with AI, yeah, right, and how AI gonna really change the work force, but we still have five generations working. And when you talk about, I just got out of a meeting about our culture and how we can do better at really aligning ourselves with growth, hiring people in different generations. You're dealing with humans still. You're dealing with people that have a lot of stuff going on in their world, right? And so I enjoy being a part of that, and I enjoy helping people in their career progression within our organization. And if it's not with our organization, I I want to help them find the right path. So it definitely for me personally and for me, helping others in their career progression. I really like to get involved in that.
Matt Appenzeller
Yeah, you, you brought up AI here, and I think that you have a really interesting vantage point here as an HR professional with AI because and correct me if I'm wrong here, but from your vantage point, you not only see AI on on how It's actually changing the actual jobs of your company, you and as a consequence, how it's changing the culture of your your company. But then you, but then, like, You got to have some rules on on how you guys are doing it. So, so let's talk about that for a little bit like,
David Noe
Yeah, I think where we stand out still and how we will for the future is how we approach our partnerships with businesses and how they rely on talking to somebody over a phone call in emails, right, being able to call somebody. So we're not replacing AI, or we're not replacing our human team with AI necessarily. We're going to keep we're going to continue to grow. We're just expanding our office to double in size physically. So we we are using AI with technology to make it more efficient, to eliminate things that are redundant. I use it on my podcast a lot with just generating content and ideas and questions. So I think in our world, it's it's going to evolve the way we operate and be able to be a little bit more efficient and streamline things. But at the end of the day, we still look at what we do. Very important. We can't just flip a switch and customize our technology for a business through AI, like it physically has to be done, and then we have to train you as the client on how to use the system. So that's not all going to be replaced with AI. And so it is exciting, but it's all it's it's also something that we understand. It's still a learning machine. It's not right, right? It's not going to evolve overnight, and right? We see that.
Matt Appenzeller
We all see that. Yeah, you just have an interesting vantage point on how all this, all this is so, so you've mentioned the podcast a couple of times. You have, you are the the star of the Speak Easy HR podcast, so So tell us about that. What was your What was your objective in starting this?
David Noe
Yeah, I started it in July of 24 was my first episode, and what I was trying to do is take a lot of different topics that I I know people can come onto the show and talk about, share their stories, share their backgrounds, whether it's HR, business, Leadership, Culture, recruiting, all of these different things that I have come across in my world. And so I made a short list of people, and I reached out to them and said, Hey, if I start a podcast, would you want to come on and talk something within your world? And most of them were like, Absolutely, tell me when. And so I started to develop something that is, I think, unique in a lot of podcasts, because I do them live on LinkedIn and YouTube. And so it is a, it's, it's a raw, unfiltered conversation. And I live in Kentucky, the world of bourbon, the world of horses, the world of, you know, bourbon and speakeasies, and trying to bring that together. So the name kind of came out of it. I think I spent more time coming up with the concept than I did with some of the other functions. So it, it really has helped me learn every time I have a guest on, and I don't do them to, you know, I don't do them every Monday. I do them strategically on the same day the same time, so that people can see that. So, you know, again, I've brought on people. The founder of. Monster.com he was on and talked about, he talked about having his resume on the internet. He was the first person to have his resume on the internet. So like going back to when I first thought of this idea, I never thought I would talk to people like that. And so I've been introduced to people. They get to know me as a person as a brand, and so it's really helped our brand, for payroll partners, to evolve, you know, regionally, globally. You know, I have people all over the world listening in. So it's been a lot of fun, and it's exciting because every episode is different, every guest is different, even if the contest or in in the content. If it's similar with topics mental health or employee engagement, it's all different your your experience Matt would be different than somebody else coming on. So again, having 12 names, and then it's evolved from there. So when I first thought like, Okay, if I have one episode a month, great. I've got 12 months, and then it evolved. And I had 19 episodes. And 24 I'm past 50 episodes now, and I've got people lined up, you know, I've got people lined up to be a guest until next November of 26 so I've pushed a lot of the guesting out. And so it's again, I see myself doing it for a long time and where that goes. I've done a few Live episodes at different HR conferences and Sherm since he Sherm had me on a couple weeks ago, and so I was able to do it live at a Mad Tree Brewing Company. So again, people get to see me, and then I go to an event. They're like, Oh, I listen to your podcast. It's awesome. Like, that's cool. People see it, people hear it, and then hopefully at some point, if they're like, oh, I need some payroll services, then they can come to me for that.
Matt Appenzeller
There you go. So what would you say are, like, the the top one or two insights that have helped you professionally by doing a podcast, and then, then, what would you say? Would be like, how has you? How has it helped you personally?
David Noe
Yeah. I mean, I think I have with doing it live, it's a little different. And so understanding what can happen. I mean, you have technology problems, you have guests that may not show up. I've tried to approach it in a way that I I know two weeks out, that person is still set to come on. So I've, I've really progressed, I think, as just somebody that hasn't done a podcast before, I haven't done a lot of presentations in front of large crowds and audiences, but I think I've really become more confident in having conversations with people who I haven't really known personally for a long time, and so I ask them after, you know, give me a few sentences about what it was like to be on the podcast, so I add that to my website so people can see what previous guests say about it. And I think people enjoy it. It's a light conversation, but we dig into some really important topics, and business owners can learn from it. Individuals that aren't in management can learn to maybe try to become a manager. So I I really want to inspire people through a podcast to really push themselves find how they can use the episode or content to really help them personally. But for me, it's just been a learning experience, and learning how to do it. And people are like, how do you do it? With it just being you, like you're creating this through a platform that I had to learn. It wasn't something that I knew about. So I did a lot of research. You know? I did a lot of research about what the best platform was to do lives for LinkedIn and YouTube, and we've had some technical problems. The day when it was AWS had a big outage, and my platform was not working 10 minutes before the show was supposed to go on. And I'm like, right? Hey, I've had this guest lined up for six months, and I'm like, I don't know if I'll be able to get him back on, but it, it worked out, and it, you know, we made it work. So it's just, like, going through the routine, knowing that things can happen. It's like, you just got to roll with it.
Matt Appenzeller
Yeah, yeah. I agree. I agree. So it's really cool how you you've been able to, like, parlay that into into your work with Payroll Partners. And I know that you guys, you guys, continue to grow. What do you what would you say is driving your growth? Like, what? What problems? I know payroll is not like the the sexiest. Uh, subject in the world, right? But, but you know, what problems are you solving for employers, large and small?
David Noe
I think when we know their pain points, a lot of it is service, price customization of the system, having a go to contact, tax issues. We hear all of that, and there have been some acquisitions in the in the last 12 months, there have been some disruption in our industry. And so I think people want consistency. They want to see better service and support. So when we explain how we can do that and approach it for that business, specifically, not the company down the street that that has, like a one size fits all system, the shiny systems out there that don't work for them, we can really dig into their problems, dig into what they really need out of a system, out of a partner. And you know, we set that expectation up so we retain a large percentage of our clients. We you know, we make mistakes. We're not perfect. We fix mistakes as fast as we can. And when you're dealing with someone's paycheck, you know, it's pretty personal, like people rely on their paycheck. They want the consistent paycheck, and if something's wrong, they have bills to pay that goes back to the employer, goes back to the payroll company, and the whole cycle has to be consistent. So we stand out in that. And I think if anyone goes to Google and they see what people say about our business, they're not only saying things about our business, they're saying things about specific people on our team, and that's our big thing. We have people behind the payroll software, behind the HR software, a business of 2000 employees has a much different list of pain points than a business of 20, that's right. And so we realize that, and we have businesses those sizes, and so we we have a different approach to those and so if we can, if we can consistently meet their expectations, they're probably going to stay around and be a client.
Matt Appenzeller
Interesting. That is interesting. So it just boils down to service, customer service and and from what you're saying is, you know, having a strategy for each client, because it's not one size fits all absolutely. So, you know, you guys and actually payroll in general, now, right? So it you guys are really a good example of the saying that, you know, every company is a technology company now, right? So back in the day, used to have your accountant, you know, run your payroll. That's not the case anymore. You guys rely on on technology to drive value. So can you talk a little bit about that?
David Noe
You know, to our audience, absolutely. So it goes back to the beginning of, I think, the cycle of an employee. So you're, you're recruiting people to come on board to work for your company. How are you using technology to do that and not waste time, waste money like you want to have it efficient? So if you're posting jobs, you're filling jobs, you're onboarding people. That takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of patience, and you have that you really have to have the right approach for it to work. And then as you offer benefits, as you offer a 401, K, you know, how are you managing those programs, even vacation policies. I've had several companies tell me one of their biggest pain points is they have a technology provider that can't track their vacation policy, so they're still using spreadsheets. And I'm like, Oh, you got to get away from that. And that was one of the deciding factors that they decided to go with us. It was a country club, and they had seasonal work. They had they had a software provider for 10 years that couldn't fit their vacation policy in the system, right? And so it's been 12 months, over 12 months now, and they've been very happy. So you know, again, it goes back to if you're using multiple systems too, for HR, onboarding, benefits, 401, KS, payroll, timekeeping, do you want to use six different systems, or do you want to use one? That's right, and that's where we can come in and really simplify it, eliminate systems. Maybe save some money. You know, we're not going to save somebody a 50% off of their payroll. Software and solutions. Same with CPAs. You know, the CPA world right now, not many people are going to school to become a CPA. A lot of them are retiring. So are they using AI to help really fix the problem in the gaps of their industry, in the workforce and CPA work? Yes. Do we see value in CPAs? Yes, we work really well with CPAs. So when we talk to a CPA about how they handle payroll. Their clients, we explain to them how they can use our our system, our team, and so that's a really big, I think, success story with with how we've been able to work alongside a business like a CPA to use our technology but also keep their client happy. And really, at the end of the day, it's helping the CPA save time, save money, that's right. And so that future CPA, you know, may not have to hire as many people, right, because of what we're going to do. They want
Matt Appenzeller
to do accounting. They don't want to do payroll, right? I mean, that's, that's what, right? That's why they became an accountant, right? So you can find to our to our listeners out there, you can find payroll partners on the internet at payroll partners.net David, I mentioned that that both SOCA and Payroll Partners, we have partnered together to offer something to members of chambers of commerce. Why don't you tell our listeners about the offer?
David Noe
Yeah, absolutely. So if you are a part of a chamber who offers our program, and we have close to 60 chambers within the SOCA program that offer our benefit, so talk to your chamber contacts. See if we are listed, we'll be on your website. But really it goes into an upfront savings. So if you are a chamber that offers our benefit, you get three months of free payroll upfront, and then you have a savings every August for your true up in Ohio, for your workers comp. Everybody deals with that over the summer in Ohio. So we look to help simplify that there is a fee that we charge normally for that to be done accurately and timely. So we eliminate that fee, and then you get that dedicated support local tax knowledge. Taxes in Ohio are complex. We know it, and the last thing we want is a business to have tax problems for themselves or the employees. So there's an upfront savings of free payroll. There's an ongoing savings every year with workers comp reporting for the true up. And so really, if you are a chamber member, it probably will basically give you a free chamber membership, depending on your level and how much you pay, right? We tried to align it where you're getting a free membership through the chamber, basically, not exactly, but what you're saving working with us every, every year, especially the first year. And so if you come, you know as a client to us over that first year, and you see how it's going for you as a new client. You know, we understand people have different situations in their business. They might get acquired whatever, but we really want to prove to the Chamber members that we have a benefit that is very valuable to them. Every chamber member that has employees have to pay them somehow. So then it comes down to the other benefits, right? So if you have the anthem Miwa plan, that works really well with our program, if you have a workers comp savings program with Hunter consulting, we work well with Hunter anthem a lot of the chamber programs your chamber is already offering. We work alongside with them and partner with them to make it even more easier for the company to use all those benefits effectively.
Matt Appenzeller
Yeah, we've really enjoyed having you, you guys as a partner, like I told Noah when we first talked about this, it used, it doesn't matter what we do, it like it would, it would take two years. Even if we were giving away free money, it would take two years to catch on, right? But that's kind of the, like the running joke that we have, but now it feels like it's really growing. If we've kind of crossed a threshold here and and you're doing really well. So again, for listeners out there, you can find payroll partners at payrollpartners.net David, I got to ask you one last question. I know, I know you've been waiting for this one. So every guest of the of the podcast, the chamber on podcast, has to answer who is the greatest rock and roll band of all time? David, is it? Is it the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, or Led Zeppelin?
David Noe:
The short answer is, The Beatles.
Matt:
Okay, so is there you put a little more thought into this, like, okay, all right,
David Noe
you know, I did. I did. It's if you're looking at who made the biggest influence on music, The Beatles, who embodied rock and roll itself, the Rolling Stones, who made the most legendary recordings, I'd say, Led Zeppelin. So overall, it's the Beatles, but I can see how every single one of those could win. It's just a matter of you know,
Matt Appenzeller
I just have to say. That's spoken like a true HR professional, right there. You got everybody in there, didn't you? Yep, Well done, sir. The Beatles. Okay, sure. Jim mark, another one up for the Beatles. David, thank you very much for for joining us today. I did want to give you a plug here, so for the speakeasy podcast. It's at speakeasy hr.com is that correct?
David Noe
Correct? Yep, speakeasy hr.com you can find the blog previous recordings. You can go to Spotify Apple, Amazon, and find all the previous episodes and just tune in or follow me on LinkedIn. I try to promote every episode a few weeks out, so you know who's coming on. So the next three weeks, I have episodes through December, and then, like I said, a lot of episodes planned out for 2026 so it'll be really exciting. And just, I'm just going to take it one, one episode at a time.
Matt Appenzeller
That's awesome. Well, thanks for being a guest on the chamber on podcast, and we really appreciate your partnership, so thanks for being with us and chamber on everyone!