Our Leadership
Payroll Maxx has been blessed with a deep and capable management team. Of course, it starts with the right mix of ability, experience, teamwork and commitment. From shareholders to officers, Payroll Maxx has leadership that is simply unparalleled in the service bureau industry. Because only Payroll Maxx has developed its team for the express purpose of committing every resource for one purpose – to give you what you deserve, a new level of security, reliability, customer support and value from your payroll provider.
Daniel G. Pankow, CEO and Managing Partner.
Mr. Pankow, a founder of Payroll Maxx, was instrumental in identifying the market opportunity and service categories needed to better support the payroll needs of small to large businesses. To this day, Mr. Pankow is a "hands-on' CEO, involved in all aspects of the business and continues to identify and personally meet the needs of his customers.
Mr. Pankow also holds the position of CEO and Managing Partner in "EHPV,' a group of diversified companies at the forefront of founding Payroll Maxx. EHPV operates several full service restaurants, a full service car care facility, the operation of several real estate properties, and provides services to several municipalities. The EHPV group of companies has more than 400 employees and handles more than $100,000,000 in annual sales.
Mr. Pankow earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He and his wife have four children.
Gary Vander Woude, Treasurer.
Mr. Vander Woude is also an officer and shareholder in "EHPV,' a group of diversified companies. In addition to the EHPV group, Mr. Vander Woude is the Chief Financial Officer and a shareholder in Vigilnet America, a multi-state company utilizing patent protected ankle bracelets to provide 24/7 continuous alcohol monitoring services for the criminal justice system.
Prior to joining EHPV in 1987, Mr. Vander Woude specialized in audits and financial reporting for publicly traded companies at the international accounting firm, Touche Ross & Co.
Mr. Vander Woude earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota, where he graduated with highest honors and third in his class. Mr. Vander Woude is an actively licensed certified public accountant and a twenty-four year member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants.
William F. Harvey, General Counsel.
Mr. Harvey oversees all legal compliance and employment law issues for the company. Mr. Harvey also serves as general counsel for the EHPV group of companies.
Mr. Harvey and Gregory D. Erwin, an Omaha attorney and businessman, formed the firm of Erwin Harvey Professional Corporation Attorneys in 1993. From 1988 to 1989, Mr. Harvey served as law clerk to the Honorable Thomas M. Shanahan a justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court. Prior to that time, Mr. Harvey was associated with the international law firm of Dixon and Dixon from 1989 to 1993, where he focused on bank regulatory, insurance regulatory and other governmental compliance issues.
Mr. Harvey is a graduate of the Creighton University School of Law in Omaha, Nebraska (JD, Magna Cum Laude, 1985). Mr. Harvey was an editor of the Gulf War Claims Reporter published by the International Law Institute and he has also been published in the Creighton Law Review. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Omaha, where he is a member of the Board, several committees, and a Paul Harris Fellow. He and his wife have two children.
John La Fever, Managing Partner of Payroll Maxx
Atlanta Operations.
Prior to joining Payroll Maxx, Mr. La Fever was President of E-chx, a national payroll provider. Mr. La Fever also co-founded one of the largest independent US payroll firms in 1994, where he served in many capacities including Chief Technical Officer, VP of Sales and Operations Manager. Mr. La Fever is a Georgia and New York State licensed property and casualty insurance broker, specializing in workers compensation. Mr. La Fever is a graduate of the University of Rochester, NY and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience. He and his wife have three children.
Tari Lenker, Chief Operating Officer.
Since joining the Payroll Maxx team in 2005, Ms. Lenker has been instrumental in developing and mentoring the Payroll Maxx Operations staff to optimize customer service excellence. She has implemented a true "team' management philosophy at Payroll Maxx and continues to deliver excellence in customer service while servicing one of the highest client retention rates of any Service Bureau in the country.
Ms. Lenker has incorporated new and innovative management tools, which has led to Payroll Maxx being honored with the "Best of Business to Business Award' for 2006, 2007 and 2008 by Omaha Magazine, winning this prestigious award over both ADP and Paychex.
Prior to joining the Payroll Maxx team, Ms. Lenker spent over 20 years in the insurance industry. She has worked with several nationwide insurance companies, worked closely with agents, underwriters, hospitals, medical offices and laboratories. She was responsible for the management and operations staff in offices throughout a five state region.
Ms. Lenker is a graduate of the University of Nebraska, Omaha, with a Baccalaureate Degree in Criminal Justice. She and her husband have two children.
Kenneth W. LaRose, Chief Financial Officer.
Mr. LaRose joined Payroll Maxx in 1997 as its first employee. Being the first employee at Payroll Maxx, afforded Ken the unique opportunity to wear many hats, fulfill virtually every role at Payroll Maxx, and play a leading part in building our business into an award winning payroll company. Mr. LaRose has managed the implementation of three different payroll systems and streamlined our tax operations.
Mr. LaRose brings over 20 years of experience to Payroll Maxx. Prior to joining the Payroll Maxx team, he was employed by a multi-state convenience store operation where he was promoted to Store Accounting Manager after just 8 months. Mr. LaRose spent over 10 years as a Store Accounting Manager, managing the daily accounting of 156 stores in 11 states.
Mr. LaRose received his Accounting degree from Metropolitan Community College and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Elizabeth C. Contreras, Chief Information Officer.
Elizabeth brings over 32 years of experience to the Payroll Maxx team. Prior to joining Payroll Maxx, she spent over 20 years as a Technology Consultant. Ms. Contreras has consulted to a wide range of business genres encompassing both State and Local government, manufacturing, point of sale systems, electronic test equipment, large database installations, call centers, and technology start-ups.
In the private sector, Ms. Contreras held the Chief Technology Officer position for one of the largest public agencies in the state of Nebraska. In this capacity, she took a computer system that had never been up and running for more than 3 days continuously, to 7 years without a single outage on a 24x7x365 basis. Elizabeth also held the position of Vice President of Technology for a local technology startup that specialized in handheld applications through the use of cellular telephony and PDAs.
Ms. Contreras is an Honors graduate of the College of Saint Mary with a Baccalaureate Degree in Business Leadership, graduating as Class President and in the top 1%. Ms. Contreras also earned an Associates of Applied Science degree with Honors in Criminal Justice, from Metropolitan Community College where she was Class Valedictorian. She is certified from the Leadership Management Institute in Supervisory Management, and is also a certified Public Housing Manager. She is a former Chairman of the Board of a local non-profit organization and a current member of the National Association of Female Executives.
Bob Van Haute, Vice President of Sales.
Mr. Van Haute joined the Payroll Maxx team in 2005. Bob brings over 20 years of experience to Payroll Maxx, including expertise in marketing, management, information systems, consulting, and payroll. Bob has had the unique opportunity to wear many hats over the course of his career ranging from staff assistant to Operations Manager for a payroll company with 250+ clients.
Mr. Van Haute brings a wealth of experience and technical ability to the Sales team at Payroll Maxx because he is able to leverage his comprehensive understanding of the payroll service industry to offer both new and existing customers an exceptional payroll solution, as well as unparalleled customer service after the sale.
Mr. Van Haute graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska, Kearney. Bob and his wife have 5 children.
Claire C. Alt, SPHR, Director of Human Resources Module.
Ms. Alt has over 15 years of experience in human resource management. Her background includes HR leadership in the service, manufacturing and banking industries, with specialization in providing generalist expertise to small and mid-sized, entrepreneurial businesses and start-up organizations.
Prior to joining Payroll Maxx, Ms. Alt was responsible for developing the HR function and staffing of Omaha’s new convention center and arena, Qwest Center Omaha.
Claire earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Creighton University in Omaha, and has also earned certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources Module from the Human Resources Module Certification Institute. Claire is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the Human Resources Module Association of the Midlands. She and her husband have two children.