On the eve of our Company’s 35-year anniversary of its incorporation, I’m privileged – and humbled frankly – to congratulate each and every team member on a rare accomplishment. I don’t think anyone ever imagined that we be in business for 35 years when the founders began this journey. It’s a widely known fact that over 90% of all small businesses fail within the first year. A business that has endured for 35 years is therefore truly an exception. Nonetheless, 35 years of existence didn’t just happen on its own; it clearly took something exceptional and enduring for that to happen.
Our common denominator: exceptional people. Teammates unequivocally committed to each other – and to delivering exceptional service to our customers. It’s what has enabled and sustained the Ameri-Force brand through four decades of service.
There are literally tens of thousands of staffing companies in operation in any given year; yet less than 2% can sustain the volume and revenue that we do, and fewer than 1% have the longevity that we do. Yet here we are after 35 years – and I would argue with the wind at our backs! A nice feeling indeed and testimony that good people matter, experience matters, ethics matter, and doing the right thing for the customer matters.
Rather than patting ourselves on the back at this juncture, I think it’s more appropriate to focus on (1) those traits that have enabled us to succeed among the scores of staffing companies that have met their demise, and (2) recommitting ourselves to another 35 years of success!
Many of you know that I often use the phrase, “we’re a 35-year-old startup”, and I say that with conviction because it describes our ethos. We are different. We think creatively, intelligently, and boldly. We learn and adapt. We stay young. We think young; we think opportunistically. We’re never complacent.
We work in an highly competitive environment whose pace seems to speed up at an increasing rate each day. In an age increasingly dominated by AI (or at least the rhetoric would suggest), we remain a fundamentally human business. That doesn’t mean we don’t adapt – we just never forget those traits that differentiate us. Traits like empathy, consideration, patience, kindness, etc. are always relevant.
Right now I’m deep in the Grand Teton National Park wilderness as I write this (yes, no ChatGPT mercifully) and have been fortunate enough to find a WiFi connection. Being cut off from the everyday trappings of life definitely humbles you. Most importantly (and speaking for myself), it forces one to focus upon what matters. What transcends. What is meaningful.
These questions I know may sound absurdly deep and abstract, but they inform everything we do and, importantly, why we commit ourselves to a meaningful purpose. What’s also not lost on me is that as an employee-owned we work for each other; it’s a shared commitment that builds value collectively for everyone – not just for a few nor for a private equity group or other financial sponsor. It’s just us. We determine and control our destiny! Not many can say that, and that distinction makes all the difference in the world.
Most importantly, we take the long view and as an ESOP, we seek to build value over a generational horizon. And that provides fertile conditions for financial compounding and non-financial compounding; that is, the multiplier effect that arises from our deep abiding cultural tenets. Shared values, loyalty, character, mutual commitment – things you can’t fake and traits that ultimately enable us to build long-lasting, sustainable value.
I’m proud of where we’ve come from – but even more excited about where we’re headed over the next year and beyond! Congratulations on this special occasion! Congratulations Team Ameri-Force!
With most sincere pleasure,
John