Elwood buys CoWorx, adding 45 locations but just five new states

Elwood Staffing Services, the eighth-largest industrial staffing provider in the United States, has acquired CoWorx Staffing Services, a smaller rival with 45 locations in 21 states, according to Staffing Industry Analysts. The deal lifts Elwood to 320 locations in 40 states. Only five of CoWorx's 21 states are new to Elwood, all in the East, according to the acquisition announcement posted on CoWorx's website. Most of what Elwood bought sits in states where it already operates.

That makes this less a map-filling exercise than a density play, with an eastern bridgehead attached. CoWorx, founded in 1974 and based in Morristown, New Jersey, ranked last year as the 41st-largest US industrial staffing firm, with $183 million in industrial staffing revenue, according to SIA's ranking. The gap between eighth and 41st is the gap between a consolidator and the kind of firm consolidators buy.

CoWorx is not being absorbed. It will operate as an Elwood subsidiary under its own brand, and Kara Rogan, CEO since 2022, will continue to run it, SIA reported. Rogan was named to SIA's 2026 Global Power 150 Women in Staffing list days before the deal was announced on Oct. 19. CoWorx's Morristown headquarters remains the base of a company still led by Rogan, Community News reported.

John Elwood, the acquirer's CEO, framed the arrangement in a press release as growth without integration: "This partnership allows us to expand our geographic reach and service capabilities while CoWorx continues to operate with the independence and agility that have defined their success."

Both companies are family-owned, and Elwood made that the center of its explanation. Compatibility between the two firms was a vital part of the deal, the company said in a statement, adding: "Buyers and sellers care most about ensuring high alignment around culture and business philosophy." Coming from a serial acquirer, that is also a pitch to the next seller.

CoWorx is Elwood's 22nd acquisition since the Columbus, Indiana, company was founded in 1980, according to SIA. The recent pace is brisk: BelFlex Staffing Network in 2024, and Advanced Personnel, NAOS Staffing and IES Custom Staffing Solutions in 2023. ROI-NJ described the CoWorx purchase as a continuation of Elwood's growth through acquisitions, and the announcement on CoWorx's site calls it part of the company's inorganic growth strategy.

The structure Elwood keeps choosing matters as much as the count. Buying a 50-year-old regional brand and leaving its name, CEO and headquarters in place, as it has done here, lets Elwood add scale while a client or field recruiter in New Jersey may see little change at the branch level.