The Kforce Story: 50 Plus Years of Great People Delivering Great Results

Romac remained a New England operation for the first ten years or so. By the late 1970s, the team began pursuing an aggressive growth strategy through franchising, and the company quickly gained name recognition throughout the staffing industry. By 1980 Jim Tonra was president, running the company through the Boston office. They had grown to a point where they were ready to take the business to the next level. That’s when Carl recruited Ralph Struzziero, a fellow resident of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Ralph had done some consulting for the firm and had previously called on Carl Maddaleni for staffing his financial businesses. “To be honest, I wasn’t aware that there was any Romac beyond the Portland office,” said Ralph. A full- fledged entrepreneur, he wasn’t particularly interested in becoming an employee. Nonetheless, he went to Boston and met with Jim Tonra and John Zevitas. “They wanted me to take over as president of the company,” said Ralph. “They had six offices at the time and they wanted to expand along the Eastern seaboard beyond the New England and New York State area.” Ralph accepted and the headquarters moved to Portland, Maine. Ralph already knew Carl Maddaleni but meeting Al Dunkel, a man he describes as “a lovable curmudgeon,” convinced him it was a good move. “Al was instrumental in my going to work for Romac,” Ralph recalled. “They were really decent, really good guys, and I could see that. Al was very smart, a straight shooter who called it like he saw it and if you didn’t like it that was your problem. He had a rough exterior, but he was a warm, lovable, funny guy.” Bob Bond, who was a U.S. Navy pilot following college, shared his love of flight with Al Dunkel who was a bombardier in the U.S. Air Force and loved planes. Because of the close proximity of their offices, the two often worked together on placements. “Whenever we had to act quickly on something, Al would call me and say, ‘Put it in high blower,’” referring to the power-boosting mechanism on the propeller planes.

The Romac and Associates franchisees gather for a meeting, 1977. Front row, beginning third from left are Ron Pascale, Carl Maddaleni, Al Dunkel, Clem Chandler, Jim Tonra, Bill Bond, Mike Leahy, and Bill Irish. Middle row, left to right, are Lance Wetmore, Bob Bond, Bud Lemay, Vince Mango, and Max Schenker. Back row, beginning second from left are Paul Branca, John Zevitas, Bill Kelly, Tom Traynor, Dick Lynch, Walter Meyer, unknown, and Jack Amico.

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