Meritus Capital at the 2026 CSP Annual Conference: What We Learned
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The staffing industry doesn't stand still, and neither do we. From June 3 to 5, the Meritus Capital team was on the ground at the 2026 California Staffing Professionals (CSP) Annual Conference in Rancho Mirage, California. We spent three days connecting with staffing professionals, learning from industry leaders, and gaining a clearer view of where the industry is heading next.
Here's what stood out.
About the CSP Annual Conference
The CSP Annual Conference is California's premier event for staffing and recruiting professionals, bringing together owners, executives, managers, and emerging leaders from across the state.
This year's theme, "Revenue Wins: How Modern Staffing Firms Win Clients, Fill Faster, and Scale Smarter," set the tone. Today’s staffing industry is more disciplined and performance-driven than ever. Clients are more cautious, candidates are more selective, and margins are under pressure.
The message was clear: success in 2026 isn’t driven by volume alone; execution, alignment, and smarter revenue strategies matter equally.
For three days, the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort and Spa was filled with the people shaping the future of staffing. The conversation kicked off with award-winning author Tiana Sanchez, picked up momentum with “Staffing Shark” Richard Rosner, and closed with Ziba Alizadeh, with plenty of other industry voices in between.
Between general sessions, workshops, and networking events, the conversations kept going long after the last slide. We were proud to be there as a Ruby-level sponsor, and even prouder to support a community we're right there with as it grows.
What We Heard on the Floor
Across three days of sessions, a few stood out. Richard Rosner's keynote reframed how staffing firms should sell, Noah Yosif of the American Staffing Association grounded the room in the current state of the labor market, and the "Winning in a Tight Market" panel turned that outlook into a playbook. Four themes ran through it all.
Key Theme 1: Stop Selling Workers, Start Selling Outcomes
Rosner's central challenge? Clients aren't buying workers, they're buying business outcomes. A manufacturer isn't buying warehouse associates, but it's buying production continuity, on-time shipments, and protected revenue. Firms that lead with "we provide quality candidates" sound like every competitor in the room.
The winners connect their services directly to measurable outcomes, which also shifts the conversation away from bill rates toward return on investment. This is where the real cost of an open role (turnover, overtime, lost productivity) far outweighs a few points on a rate.
Key Theme 2: In a Tight Market, the Winners Act Like Advisors
Noah Yosif's economic outlook described a low-hiring, high-cost market that's starting to stabilize. Temporary employment declines are shrinking, and cautious employers are still leaning on contract staffing for flexibility.
The rest of the panel built on that. Order-taking no longer wins, and the firms pulling ahead use labor-market data, client education, and workforce planning to position themselves as advisors over vendors. AI ran through the discussion, but the message was consistently practical: it should solve a carefully assessed problem (sourcing, candidate experience, recruiter friction) and free people up for the relationship work that closes business.
Rodrigo Alcaine reframed how firms should read a tough market: it doesn't dictate your success, it tells you how to adjust your strategy. Christopher Sund pushed the room to expand beyond filling today's requisition and become a true business partner, helping clients solve workforce problems they haven't even named yet. And Sheena Raunikar-Bair brought it back to what technology can't replace, with a line that landed hard: "culture is your margin protection."
Read the full reflection from Larry Carnahan, Senior Growth Partner of Meritus Capital.
Key Theme 3: The One Question Operators Asked About Every New Tool
Operators were sizing up AI, automation, and recruiting tools through a single lens: "Does this help me run leaner, protect margin, and grow without adding risk?"
Opinions on AI itself varied widely. Some were already deploying it across recruiting and sales, while others remained cautious. But the conversations kept circling back to the same place. There's a sense the industry has come full circle: from the instinct to automate everything in sight, to what seems like a quiet correction underway.
Key Theme 4: Bigger Outcomes Require Bigger Working Capital
Focusing on delivering outcomes costs you more up front.
When a firm wins a larger account, it funds the hiring, onboarding, and payroll long before the client's first invoice clears. Winning the account is only half the equation; the second half depends heavily on how quickly your working capital can ramp. It's a reality we see every day: the ability to consistently fund payroll almost always determines whether a firm can act on a growth opportunity.
What Happened at the Meritus Booth
The Meritus booth became one of the best listening posts at the CSP Annual. One tension that surfaced again and again in our conversations? Owners are confident they can win new business but wary of the strain a larger account would bring.
Staffing Owners Want Growth They Can Actually Fund
The question was rarely "Can I get funding?"
It was "Can I support payroll if a new client ramps quickly?" Making payroll while waiting on client payments, taking on enterprise accounts with net 60 or longer terms, and scaling without creating a cash crunch are among the biggest industry pressure points.
The mood was cautious but far from frozen, and noticeably more strategic about the back office than in years past. Owners are being more deliberate about weighing whether they can support payroll before saying yes to a fast-ramping client. Client concentration came up often: a single large account can stretch receivables and turn a growth win into a cash-flow squeeze.
Staffing agencies carry a unique financial burden. You pay your workers weekly. Your clients pay you on net 30, net 60, or sometimes on longer terms. That gap, between money going out and money coming in, is where growth stalls, payroll gets stressful, and opportunity slips by.
The firms that are scaling aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest teams or the most clients. They're the ones who have solved their cash flow equation. One of the most straightforward ways to do that is invoice factoring. Instead of waiting for client payments, you can be funded against your outstanding invoices in as few as 2 days. No debt, no equity, no lengthy approval process. Just working capital that moves as fast as your business needs to.
The throughline of every conversation? There's no single lane to growth. Funding a fast client ramp, betting on the right tech, and investing in the relationships that win business all need to be considered equally, but they all depend on having the cash flow to back them up.
Why We Keep Showing Up for the Staffing Industry
Staffing agencies are among the most resilient and hardworking businesses we have the privilege of supporting. You take on payroll risk before you ever see a dollar from your clients. You build workforces for other companies while managing your own. Staffing agencies operate in one of the most cash-intensive industries.
One of the highlights of the conference was finally meeting Richard Rosner, better known across the industry as "The Staffing Shark." Richard challenges staffing leaders to think less about what's changing in the industry and more about how to proactively adapt, build their brand, create meaningful relationships, and stay visible in a crowded market.
His mission is a simple one we happen to share: "help staffing firms grow by standing out instead of blending in." That spirit of trading ideas, challenging conventional thinking, and helping others succeed is exactly the community we're proud to keep showing up for.
We left Rancho Mirage with new connections, sharper insights, and the same conviction we started with: when staffing agencies have the working capital they need, they grow. And we want to be part of that growth.
Ready to Turn Your Invoices Into Growth Capital?
If the conversations at CSP resonated with you, or if cash flow is on your mind as you head into the second half of 2026, let's talk about what's possible.
At Meritus Capital, we offer flexible payroll funding solutions with fast approvals, no hidden fees, and a human approach that puts your growth first. Whether you're a staffing agency just getting started or a firm ready to scale, we're right there with you as you grow.
Larry Carnahan, Senior Growth Partner at Meritus Capital, has spent two decades turning unpaid invoices into working capital. He strongly believes most companies don't have a revenue problem; they have a cash flow timing problem.
If you're winning contracts your current cash setup can't comfortably support, contact Larry today:
More questions? We're here to help.
Send us a note and our team will reach out to you or simply call us at 877-648-3709