Posted: December 9, 2011

As the owner of an employment agency and a co-founder of the region's first pre-secondary school for Orthodox Jewish students, Shira Itzhak has a knack for zeroing in on the needs of clients and community members alike.

For example, Itzhak's company, a Virginia Beach franchise of Remedy Intelligent Staffing, had recruited some employees for a local warehouse. Working conditions tended to get uncomfortably hot there, so she began providing water bottles labeled with Remedy's logo.

"It sounds like a simple thing, but it's specific to them, their environment, and I'm trying to accommodate what they need," she said. "It says, 'I'm listening to what you need,' and I make sure that's my priority."

Itzhak and her husband, Shmuel, bought their franchise 15 years ago. But Itzhak, then marketing director for MRI & CT Diagnostics, didn't get directly involved until she had a 2008 epiphany.

"I realized I was working very hard - I'm a very motivated, dedicated employee - for somebody else's family," she said. "I said, 'It's time for me to put all of that energy and success into our family business.' "

Itzhak helped Remedy grow by doing what she does best: networking in the business community and living up to the franchise's name.

"Shira has always excelled in listening to her clients' unique needs and finding solutions," said Andrea Jentzen, president of Advance CFO and a client of Itzhak's. "While at the medical facility and at Remedy Intelligent Staffing, she continues to learn what her clients' challenges are and finds a way to solve them."

Itzhak and her husband helped address a more personal - and ultimately communal - challenge in 2002, when they and four other families started Toras Chaim, a Portsmouth school that serves Orthodox Jewish students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

In that case, they actually underestimated the need. Founders envisioned starting the school with 17 kids. The first-year enrollment was 50. Today it serves 100 students.

"People are moving here now because we have the school and other institutions," she said. "Now Hampton Roads can be a place where Orthodox Jewish families can move to - from New York, from Baltimore - and that's important for the business community."

Remedy also continues to grow. Since Itzhak joined her husband, the company has increased the number of associates it places by a third. It has seen a 25 percent rise in the number of clients it serves.

"It's been a terrific opportunity," Itzhak said. "The best part about it is we are really able to service people's needs. When they need workers in their warehouse, we can find them for them. When they need a good receptionist, a good bookkeeper or accountant, we can find that for them."

- Teresa Talerico