By Nathan Brooks, business journalist covering private employment-services firms
Last reviewed: July 29, 2026
Trion Solutions’ clearest public leadership structure places co-founder Bonner Upshaw III as chief executive officer and co-founder David L. Stone as president. A December 15, 2021 company announcement used those exact titles, while earlier records identify Craig Vanderburg as chief operating officer and Pathik Mody as the company’s first chief technology officer.
The problem is recency.
Trion does not publish a current executive directory, annual report or SEC filing showing which officers remain in those positions in July 2026. Its public record is detailed enough to reconstruct how the management team developed, but not strong enough to present every historical title as current.
That limitation is typical of a private PEO. It is also material because Trion administers payroll, benefits and employment records for client workforces across the United States.
The two-founder model
Trion’s own June 20, 2019 announcement says David L. Stone and Bonner Upshaw III co-founded the company in 2012 by combining HR-administration businesses they had previously operated. The same announcement identified Stone as president and co-founder.
A later Trion release from December 2021 identified:
- Bonner Upshaw III as CEO and co-founder
- David L. Stone as president and co-founder
- Craig Vanderburg as chief operating officer through other dated company materials
The arrangement suggests a divided founder structure rather than one individual holding every top title.
| Executive | Publicly documented role | Strongest dated source |
|---|---|---|
| Bonner Upshaw III | CEO and co-founder | Trion announcement, December 15, 2021 |
| David L. Stone | President and co-founder | Trion announcements, June 20, 2019 and December 15, 2021 |
| Craig Vanderburg | Chief operating officer | Trion announcements from 2018 and 2019 |
| Pathik Mody | Chief technology officer | Trion promotion announcement, August 9, 2017 |
| Andrew W. Kirk | Executive vice president and chief financial officer | Appointment announcement published November 18, 2016, describing an October 12, 2015 start |
| Donald J. Watza | Vice president of benefits | Trion appointment announcement |
Sources: Trion Solutions’ named leadership announcements.
The table documents roles at particular moments. It does not prove that every person still holds the same title in 2026.
Bonner Upshaw III’s role was described as chief executive
The strongest public source for Upshaw’s executive position is Trion’s December 15, 2021 announcement concerning its seventh consecutive Best and Brightest recognition. The release quotes him as CEO and co-founder of Trion Solutions.
Earlier company material often quoted Upshaw without placing his title as prominently as Stone’s. The 2018 headquarters announcement described Stone as president and said the two men co-founded Trion in 2012. It quoted Upshaw discussing the growth of HR outsourcing and client demand.
The 2021 title clarifies the apparent division.
Upshaw occupied the chief-executive position, while Stone served as president and remained a prominent public spokesperson. That structure can allow one founder to concentrate on ownership, strategy and executive oversight while the other directs operating or external functions.
Trion does not publish a board charter or responsibility matrix proving that exact allocation.
The interpretation is based on titles and public activity, not an internal governance document.
David Stone combined legal and executive experience
Trion’s 2019 EY announcement provides the most detailed public biography of David L. Stone.
It states that Stone earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in corporate finance from Western Michigan University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. It also identifies him as a member of the State Bar of Michigan and says he previously worked in the litigation department at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan.
That background fits a PEO’s operating environment.
Payroll and benefits administration intersect with contracts, employment rules, tax obligations and workplace disputes. An attorney-president can contribute directly to the company’s regulatory positioning, although the credentials do not prove that Stone personally reviews every client matter.
Stone was also selected in 2019 as one of nine regional winners from 27 finalists in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Michigan and Northwest Ohio program. The national event was scheduled for November 16, 2019.
The award verifies external recognition of his entrepreneurial role.
It does not measure Trion’s profitability, client retention or payroll accuracy.
The COO role linked strategy with operations
Craig Vanderburg appeared repeatedly in Trion announcements as chief operating officer.
In the March 14, 2018 headquarters announcement, Trion said Vanderburg and Stone led a 12-month search for the company’s new location. The process resulted in a 33,397-square-foot headquarters under a 10-year lease in Troy, Michigan.
The project gives a concrete example of the COO role.
It involved facilities planning, operating capacity and a long-term financial commitment rather than only public relations. Vanderburg also spoke for the company on employment-policy issues, including Michigan’s legalization of recreational marijuana and its effect on workplace rules.
Those appearances suggest that the COO position covered both internal operations and client-facing employment administration.
A federal court opinion from June 28, 2021 also named Vanderburg alongside Upshaw, Stone and several Trion entities in litigation over broker and strategic-alliance relationships. The court transferred the matters to the Eastern District of Michigan without ruling on the underlying merits.
The document confirms his connection to senior management decisions at that time. It does not establish personal wrongdoing.
Technology became a C-suite function in 2017
Trion promoted Pathik Mody to chief technology officer on August 9, 2017, only months after hiring him from Deloitte as its first director of information technology services in January 2017.
The announcement tied the promotion to a specific operating scale:
- More than 600 small-business clients
- Approximately 30,000 worksite employees
- Operations in 42 states
Those numbers explain why IT moved into the executive structure.
A PEO does not simply maintain an internal office network. Its systems can carry payroll calculations, tax records, employee identifiers, benefits deductions and financial instructions for workers at hundreds of client companies.
The CTO appointment represented more than title inflation.
Trion said Mody was hired to rework its IT systems and improve data-management efficiency and security. The company did not publish an implementation budget, system-availability rate or independent security result in that announcement.
The promotion proves that management recognized technology as a central operating risk. It does not quantify the improvement produced.
Finance leadership was added during an expansion period
Trion announced Andrew W. Kirk as executive vice president and chief financial officer in a release published on November 18, 2016. The release says he began the role on October 12, 2015.
The publication and start dates differ by more than a year.
That discrepancy may reflect a reposted or delayed announcement, but the source does not explain it. Both dates should therefore remain visible rather than being merged into one unsupported appointment date.
Trion said Kirk was expected to improve access to capital and implement practices supporting stability, strength and integrity. His prior experience included serving as president of Belle Tire Distributors and working in logistics, distribution, financial services and manufacturing.
The appointment indicates that Trion was formalizing financial management as it expanded.
No public Trion financial statements reveal whether the CFO raised outside capital, refinanced the company or changed its ownership structure. The executive biography establishes intent and experience, not the later financial outcome.
Benefits leadership reflected the product mix
Trion also announced Donald J. Watza, CEBS, as vice president of benefits.
The company said he brought nearly three decades of experience in benefits consulting, insurance and brokerage, including work connected with CIGNA and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. His role was described as both internal and client-facing, with responsibility for benefits products and strategy.
This appointment shows how Trion’s leadership structure followed its service lines.
Payroll required operations and technology. Benefits required insurance and plan expertise. Growth required financial leadership. Employment compliance benefited from Stone’s legal background.
The model is functional.
It also creates key-person exposure because specialized knowledge can become concentrated among a small group of executives. Trion does not publish a succession plan, executive-tenure table or second-level leadership roster showing how that risk is managed.
Multiple legal entities sit below the parent company
The June 2021 opinion in Panaserve, LLC et al. v. Trion Solutions, Inc. et al. provides a rare public look at Trion’s legal organization.
The court identified:
- Trion Solutions, Inc.
- Trion Solutions I, Inc.
- Trion Solutions II, Inc.
- Trion Solutions III, Inc.
- Trion Insurance Group, Inc.
- Trion Staffing Solutions, Inc.
The opinion described the numbered PEO entities and related companies as Michigan corporations connected with Trion. It also said Trion I and Trion II were wholly owned subsidiaries of the parent company, based on the allegations and declarations before the court.
| Entity named in the court record | Apparent business connection |
| Trion Solutions, Inc. | Parent or principal operating company |
| Trion Solutions I, Inc. | PEO subsidiary |
| Trion Solutions II, Inc. | PEO subsidiary |
| Trion Solutions III, Inc. | Related PEO entity |
| Trion Insurance Group, Inc. | Insurance-related company |
| Trion Staffing Solutions, Inc. | Staffing-related operation |
The court document establishes entity names and relationships described in that litigation. It does not publish a complete ownership chart or state which subsidiaries remain active in 2026.
This structure matters because PEO registrations, workers’ compensation programs and contracts may be issued through a subsidiary rather than the better-known Trion brand.
A client dealing with Trion Solutions II, Inc. is not necessarily contracting with the same legal entity that employs corporate headquarters staff.
Founder-led does not mean owner-only management
The public record shows that Trion’s founders recruited executives for finance, technology, benefits and operations rather than retaining every function themselves.
That is a meaningful transition for a private company.
Founder-led businesses often reach a point where client volume and regulatory complexity require specialist executives. Trion’s 2017 technology announcement cited 600 clients and 30,000 worksite employees, while its 2018 headquarters announcement described payroll totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
At that scale, informal founder oversight is insufficient for every transaction.
The executive appointments indicate a move toward professionalized management. The founders remained prominent, but operating responsibilities were distributed among a COO, CFO, CTO and benefits vice president.
The public sources do not reveal whether those officers held equity.
Executive title and ownership are different facts.
What Trion does not disclose about ownership
Trion identifies itself as privately held and minority-owned. Its current LinkedIn profile repeats the minority-owned description and names no outside parent company.
The public record does not disclose:
- Exact ownership percentages
- Voting rights
- Board membership
- Investor identities
- Preferred equity
- Debt covenants
- Founder succession terms
- Executive compensation
- Related-party transactions
- Buy-sell arrangements
An NMSDC certificate published by Trion for a later period identifies Trion Solution, Inc. as a certified Minority Business Enterprise through December 1, 2025, but such certification verifies qualifying ownership and control under the certifier’s standard rather than publishing each shareholder’s percentage.
The certificate supports the ownership classification for its stated period.
It does not provide a capitalization table.
The founding year remains inconsistent
Trion’s own dated announcements say Stone and Upshaw co-founded the company in 2012. The 2018 headquarters release states that the founding occurred shortly after Michigan began regulating the PEO industry, and the 2019 EY announcement repeats the 2012 date.
LinkedIn lists Trion as founded in 2004.
The eight-year difference remains unresolved.
One explanation is that 2004 relates to a predecessor company later combined into Trion. The 2019 biography says Stone previously owned an HR-administration business that merged with a similar company owned by Upshaw to create Trion Solutions.
That makes a predecessor-date explanation plausible, but it is still an inference.
The better-supported Trion formation date is 2012 because two company announcements connect that year directly with the merger and name both founders. The 2004 profile date should not be silently discarded, but it lacks the same narrative support.
Where leadership awards mislead
Trion has used several honors in its leadership and company positioning.
Stone won the 2019 EY regional Entrepreneur of the Year recognition, while Trion’s December 2021 release said it had received Best and Brightest recognition for the seventh consecutive year. The program reviewed more than 2,500 nominations and employee surveys, according to Trion’s announcement.
These are identifiable awards with dates.
They do not establish:
- Executive retention
- Employee satisfaction across every department
- Low turnover
- Competitive executive pay
- Strong corporate governance
- Profitable growth
The awards provide external recognition. They are not substitutes for audited governance or workforce data.
Another misleading shortcut is assuming that a person quoted in an old announcement still holds the same position. Trion’s website contains leadership references from 2015 through 2021, but no current executive directory confirms the July 2026 roster.
Historical title must remain historical.
Is there evidence of leadership succession?
No formal succession event was identified in the reviewed public record.
Upshaw and Stone remained identified as CEO and president in the December 2021 announcement. Trion’s current LinkedIn profile describes the company but does not prominently list current executive officers in its public summary.
No reviewed company release announced:
- A new chief executive
- A founder retirement
- A company sale
- A private-equity acquisition
- A chief operating officer succession
- A new board chair
That absence cannot prove the founders remain in daily control. Private-company leadership changes may occur without broad press coverage.
The defensible statement is narrower: the latest clear company-issued leadership source found names Upshaw as CEO and Stone as president in December 2021.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Trion Solutions?
Trion says David L. Stone and Bonner Upshaw III co-founded the company in 2012 after combining earlier HR-administration businesses.
Who is the CEO of Trion Solutions?
A December 15, 2021 Trion announcement identified Bonner Upshaw III as CEO and co-founder. No newer company-issued executive directory was found to confirm the title for July 2026.
Who is Trion Solutions’ president?
Trion announcements from 2018, 2019 and 2021 identified David L. Stone as president and co-founder.
Who was the chief operating officer?
Craig Vanderburg was publicly identified as Trion’s chief operating officer in company announcements from 2018 and 2019.
Does Trion have a chief technology officer?
Trion promoted Pathik Mody to chief technology officer on August 9, 2017 after hiring him from Deloitte earlier that year. The reviewed sources do not confirm whether he still holds the position in 2026.
Is Trion Solutions still founder-owned?
Trion remains described publicly as private and minority-owned, but no current capitalization table or shareholder list is available. Historical sources strongly connect Stone and Upshaw with its founding and management.
Why are there several Trion Solutions companies?
A 2021 federal opinion identified the parent company and several wholly owned or related subsidiaries, including Trion Solutions I, II and III, Trion Insurance Group and Trion Staffing Solutions. Separate entities may support different PEO, insurance, staffing or regulatory functions.
The strongest leadership conclusion is limited but coherent: Trion developed as a founder-led company under CEO Bonner Upshaw III and President David Stone, then added specialized executives in operations, finance, technology and benefits as its client and worksite scale expanded. What remains unavailable is a current 2026 executive roster, board structure and detailed ownership table.