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

Dave Dunkel then took a step to help ensure a steady stream of leadership in the future. Dave’s brother-in-law served in the U.S. Marine Corps and had often discussed that experience with him. As a result, Dave hired Mike Ettore in March of 1999, a twenty-four year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. This time, his mission was to create a leadership development program. “The idea was to hire former military officers who had six to ten years of experience,” Mike said, “and bring them to Tampa for six months of training. At the end they would transfer to one of our field offices and serve as the manager.” Over the next two years, six classes of eight to twelve veterans each were brought into the program and placed in positions within the firm. Doug Rich, who is now vice president of human resources, joined the firm in 1999 and worked closely with Mike. Bringing his fresh perspective on the firm’s culture to the project, Doug observed, “We’re all here to get a job done and do it as a team. Dave, as well as the rest of the leadership team, provides the environment for us to succeed.” Bricks and Clicks When the dot-com dust settled, studies showed job seekers were not using the Internet at the rate earlier predicted by experts and posed less threat than anticipated to the bricks-and-mortar staffing industry. The dot-com portion of the company name was dropped but the Kforce portion remained part of the company’s new KnowledgeForce identity. Phil Bank summed it up perfectly. “People need to talk to one another and come to good solutions. The tools have changed but the process really hasn’t.”

An aerial view of Kforce Headquarters in Tampa’s historic Ybor City district.

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