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

Intrigued with the possibility of what they might be able to learn from someone with a background in sales, Dave hired him and Pete joined the firm in July of 1985 as the Tampa office’s first IT recruiter. “In Dave, I saw a guy who was very passionate,” said Pete. “He had a vision, he knew what he wanted, and didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” What appealed to him most was the performance-oriented environment, so much so that he was willing to live out of his car for the first couple of nights after he arrived, finding places to shower in order to don his white shirt and tie. Dave’s instincts were right. In 1986, Pete was named a Pacesetter and in 1987 he attained President’s Club status. By 1988 he ranked seventh in the company and was the firm’s Performer of the Year in 1989. This marked the first time in company history an IT recruiter was the top performer over the Finance and Accounting recruiters. Branching Out Rich Cocchiaro spent his first five years with the company in the Tampa office doing primarily Finance and Accounting recruiting. Dave encouraged Rich to differentiate himself, to take on a project where he could really make his mark, suggesting he start up a banking division. “I started

looking at different segments of the banking market place,” said Rich. “Two things seemed to be strong requirements as far as recruiting was concerned. One was a credit analyst position that required formal credit training. The other was commercial lending and commercial real estate lending.” Focusing on those two key areas, Rich quickly developed an entirely new line of business and a whole new revenue stream. Salaries tended to be higher in the banking industry, thereby generating larger fees that catapulted Rich to top performer status. Because very few people within Romac and Associates had focused on that area, Rich became known as “the banking guy” within FMA as well as the broader Romac organization. With a measure of success under their belts, FMA International was eager to continue expanding. The Orlando and Jacksonville, Florida, offices opened during 1983 and 1984 and Ralph Struzziero, bolstered by their success in Florida, encouraged them to develop a similar multi-city plan in another area. When another team gobbled up an opportunity in Texas, Ralph offered to let them purchase the Chicago franchise—a huge market that Ralph was eager to move into—at a discounted rate. “It was a booming city,” said Rich. “It was emerging from the rust belt mentality and diversifying its market places.” Dave and Howard visited some potential clients in the Chicago area to get a feel for the marketplace and check out the competition. The Chicago office officially became part of Romac FMA in 1985. The next step was to staff the office. Adhering to the Romac slogan, “Professionals dealing with Professionals,” they began scouting the Big Eight types. A manager was chosen, but flying solo in a brand new market is difficult at best and it quickly became

An early Romac ad that includes the Orlando and Jacksonville offices, which opened in 1983 and 1984.

29 Expanding the Team