Steve Sarowitz learned payroll at a small Chicago service bureau, then started his own company in 1997 to do it better. Paylocity aimed squarely at the middle: firms with 20 to 1,000 employees. By 2013 it handled pay, taxes, benefits and time sheets for about 6,850 clients, all through the web. In early 2014, cloud software was the hottest corner of the stock market.

Built for the Middle

Before Paylocity, Sarowitz worked at Robert F. White, a Chicago-based independent payroll firm, and later as an executive at other payroll companies. He founded Paylocity in 1997. The bet was that medium-sized businesses wanted the same tools as big ones, delivered over the internet and sold by subscription. Steve Beauchamp became CEO, and Sarowitz moved to executive chairman. Payroll came first, then HR, benefits, time tracking and talent tools.

A Steady Climb from Illinois

Paylocity priced its IPO at $17 a share in March 2014 and listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as PCTY. Then it did what payroll companies do. It kept adding clients and kept them for years. Revenue grew fast for a decade while the company added more modules for HR teams. Paylocity moved its headquarters to Schaumburg, Illinois, and it still trades on Nasdaq.

Cover: Factory Workers, Lewis Wickes Hine. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for factory workers (the people on the payroll).