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

Charles Handy, a popular author and motivational speaker, appeared with one of his quotes on a souvenir commemorating Romac International’s second stock offering.

The premise behind Emerging Technologies was to take skilled personnel and put them through intensive two to three-week training in a computer lab in the Tampa office, essentially re-engineering their skills. The innovative approach greatly enhanced Romac’s ability to respond to the rapid changes in technology and provide their customers with consultants who fit the high-demand/short- supply profile. It was a “win” for everyone, increasing Romac’s billing rate and profitability, boosting consultant loyalty to Romac, and delivering the industry’s high demand technical skills to solve client technology challenges. In their February 1998 report, Lehman Brothers’ report cited the pervasive shortage of IT professionals and praised Kforce’s innovation saying, “If technology is the operational heart of Romac, then the Emerging Technologies Division is the strategic center of the firm.” Under Ray’s leadership and with Pete Alonso’s help, the new business unit prospered, quickly growing to more than 250 consultants. Equally important, it differentiated Romac as a true innovator within the staffing industry. “Emerging Technologies got us tremendous press and bumped our market cap,” Rich Cocchiaro recalled. “It was considered to be truly cutting edge,” he said, pointing out the number of times throughout Kforce’s history that the ability to proactively embrace innovation had kept the firm in the forefront of the staffing industry. Over time, Emerging Technologies evolved into what Rich called “a true solutions provider” for everyone from start-up companies to Fortune 500 firms implementing new software, forging strong alliances with the leading technology providers in the process. Revenues from ET continued growing at a fast pace, reaching their goal of $28 million for 1989.

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