Express Personnel

Express Personnel Services was created in 1983 by founders Robert A. Funk, William H. Stoller and James Gray, from the dissolution of Acme Personnel, a Washington-based company in which all three were associates. After the death of Acme president Bill Reiff, the three purchased and operated several franchises of Acme which became Express Personnel Services. In 1983, the partners began arranging to franchise Express. The company, headquartered in Oklahoma City, struggled during a time when the oil industry had taken a devastating downturn. Although local banks and businesses were failing daily, Express managed to keep afloat. That first year, Express Personnel was able to generate gross revenues of $2 million in spite of the depressed economy. In 1984, due to the bankruptcy of Acme, the partners acquired the franchise rights to 30 Acme offices stretching across the United States. In 1985, when the first Express Personnel office was franchised, the company experienced phenomenal growth. Within five years, Express ranked among the top personnel firms in the United States and was recognized as one of the fastest growing privately-held companies in the country. In 1990, Funk and Stoller purchased Gray's shares of the company. By 1994, Express Personnel Services had 180 franchise offices, including locations in Russia and Sweden, and had achieved sales of more than $325 million. Today, Express boasts over 400 franchises in the United States, Canada, South Africa and Australia. In 1999, the company posted $1 billion in sales, followed by $916 million in 2000 after the sale of its PEO subsidiary. Express projects $1.2 billion in revenues in 2005, and $2 billion by the year 2008. The Express companies include Express Personnel Services and Express Professional Staffing. Through these entities, Express offers a full range of staffing services, including temporary placement, evaluation hire, flexible staffing, and professional search. In addition to "Express University" at corporate headquarters in Oklahoma City, two regional training centers in Portland, Oregon and Rochester, Minnesota support the franchise network. Express officers, franchisees and employees sit on the boards of directors and serve as trustees of such organizations as the International Franchising Association (IFA), the American Staffing Association (ASA) and the Women's Leadership Board of the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University, as well as state and local organizations. The company has won many honors, including the coveted Blue Chip Award and over 600 national and international awards for its marketing and advertising programs. Individual honors accorded to staff members and franchisees within the Express system abound, including Robert Funk's selection as the 1999 IFA Entrepreneur of the Year. The company reflects the personal and business ethics of its founders. Robert Funk says, "For many people who have lost their jobs, often through no fault of their own, we provide great hope. Our mission is to help people find jobs and our client companies find good employees, and to help those clients to make those jobs and those employees even better."