As we celebrate our 46^th anniversary on July 1st, I reflect on what a transformational year it has been. A year ago, as we celebrated our 45^th year in business, we kicked-off our “45 Reasons for Our Success” social media campaign featuring highlights from internal staff, clients, assignment employees, and non-profit partners. It warmed my heart to read the submissions on the impact Staffing Solutions Enterprises has had on people over the years. It was also the beginning of a significant transformation to our LinkedIn presence. At the start of the campaign, we had around 6,100 followers. Today we have over 9,600 (58% increase) – WOW!

On October 1^st, I purchased Staffing Solutions from Carmella (Carmie) Calta upon her retirement after having worked with her for over 28 years. I will be forever grateful for all that I learned from her over the years. As I took over ownership of the business, I was committed to growing business through the addition of new services, geographical expansion, and strengthening our current services. We were thrilled to round out 2019 by partnering with InterviewPath as the exclusive reseller in Ohio for their interview guide technology.

As we moved into 2020, the management team went through an intensive exercise to more clearly define our culture and what we stand for as an organization, resulting in the development of our “Fundamentals of Success” (you can view them here in detail if you’d like). These Fundamentals are our guiding principles and define the behaviors of our team, ensuring we stay true to our mission and purpose. During the first quarter of 2020, we also expanded our Executive HR Women’s Network geographically, moving from one meeting a quarter to two, with the second being held in the Akron/Canton area.

And then came the pandemic and all the challenges associated with it. Never had I imagined that within a mere six months of buying the business we would experience the biggest health and economic crisis in our history. But we have persevered. We adapted quickly. Our internal team quickly transitioned to working from home, and we worked with clients to effectively shift their temporary/contractors who were able to work remotely. We continue to focus on doing the right thing to support those assignment employees who were furloughed or laid off, checking in regularly, connecting them to needed resources and assistance, and getting them back to work as quickly as possible. We embraced technology to stay connected. Zoom has become a staple not only with our internal team but in how we now interact with clients and candidates. We were also quick to adapt to virtual meetings for the Executive HR Women’s Network, drawing our largest attendance ever at both the April and May events.

No, these last three months definitely aren’t what I pictured they would be a year ago, but our team has displayed grit, determination, compassion, and is continually focused on our Fundamentals. Our culture has been tested at times, but at the core, we continue to focus on what we stand for and that has carried us through. As we celebrate all that was accomplished in our 46^th year, we look ahead with excitement and anticipation to the start of year 47.

Thank you for continuing to be part of our journey.

SueAnn Naso
President & CEO

View an infographic featuring highlights of our past year here.