With its acquisition of Harmon Personnel Services, a Vermont-based, mission-driven staffing agency serving those who face hurdles to employment has now set up shop in the Pioneer Valley.

Working Fields, based in Burlington, Vermont, acquired Harmon Personnel Services from Community Action Pioneer Valley on Dec. 25 and is ready to “rock and roll,” according to Marketing Director Daryn Forgeron.

“Harmon is a small, mission-aligned staffing agency that has the same goals we do,” Forgeron said. “They already have community connections and resources. It felt like a perfect fit.”

Working Fields connects with local and national companies seeking to provide long-term job opportunities for people who face barriers to employment, such as housing difficulties, previous incarcerations and substance abuse recovery. Each worker is paired with a trained peer coach who offers support and guidance as they begin their new job.

Forgeron said Working Fields covers all of Vermont, southeastern New Hampshire and now, with the acquisition of Harmon Personnel Services, the Pioneer Valley.

“We’re really just absorbing Harmon into our process,” Forgeron said.

Some of that groundwork is already laid for Working Fields, as longtime Harmon Personnel Services Staffing Coordinator Tess Champoux will take on the role of account manager for Working Fields and will work out of the 326 Deerfield St. office.

“The work we’ve done in western Massachusetts will continue, with new innovations and support,” Champoux said in a statement. “I love that we’ll be able to offer free peer coaching to our workers, and I’m so happy that we will continue to be a referral and working partner with Community Action Pioneer Valley.”

Forgeron said Working Fields will work as a “close partner” with Community Action and other local agencies.

The acquisition of Harmon Personnel Services establishes Working Fields’ fifth office, with its new Greenfield location joining the Vermont communities of Burlington, Saint Albans and Springfield, as well as Manchester, New Hampshire.

“We see it not just as an opportunity to support the Pioneer Valley, which Harmon has been doing for more than a decade,” Forgeron said, noting the Greenfield office can help provide more comprehensive support of workers throughout the organization’s entire system. “We can kind of bridge this gap and support job seekers in Brattleboro and southern Vermont and fill in the gaps in those regions.”

For more information about Working Fields, including its job services, visit workingfields.com.

“We’re thrilled. We weren’t necessarily looking to acquire a staffing agency, but Harmon was doing this work and was so mission-aligned,” Forgeron said, “it felt like the natural next step and a great way to enter Massachusetts.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.

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