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

founder of one of the major job boards. “We were at the Windows to the World at the top of the World Trade Center,” Joe recalled. “He was talking about how they were going to put us out of business, and we were talking about how we were leveraging the Internet to make the process more efficient…it was just wild.” Romac’s entrance into the Internet was the perfect time to capitalize on the company’s “KnowledgeForce” identity, shortening it to “kforce” for the website’s uniform resource locator or URL. On June 8, 1999, Romac displayed its position on the cutting edge of technology by holding a webcast news conference from the Fortune Magazine conference room in New York City during which Dave Dunkel announced Romac’s launch of the KnowledgeForce Network, kforce.com, with the slogan, “Opportunity has a new address.” Division presidents and other members of the executive team were present as the webcast was carried live over the Internet to Romac clients, candidates, analysts, shareholders, and prospects around the globe. kforce.com Interactive President Joe Liberatore said, “kforce.com powered by Romac International will revolutionize the staffing industry as we couple people, process, and technology to provide this next phase of evolution.” The announcement of the move to a web-based identity got as many negative reviews as it did accolades. By the following October, the company’s stock fell below $6 a share, down from a 1998 high of $32. Wall Street accused the former Romac of “cannibalizing” its revenues by moving its business online. Judith Scott, an analyst with Robert W. Baird and Company, Inc., of Milwaukee, was quoted in the Tampa Bay Times saying, “Their challenge now is in execution. They’ve been so good at making money; now they have to show that this will make them even more money.” In addition to providing the ability to pair pre-screened candidates with pre- qualified employers on a real-time basis over the Internet, three unique online services were now available: the Company Network allowed employers to view selected candidates during cybercast sessions and “bid” for their services; the

Romac International’s brochure announces kforce.com using the slogan Max Carey developed for Romac a few years earlier, “The KnowledgeForce Resource.”

Romac’s plunge into the Internet at kforce.com made the headlines. Courtesy Tampa Bay Times. Photographer Jim Stem.

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