Anything but temporary-Staffing agency grew to 6 offices,
$35M in sales jobs for the taking
MICROTECH STAFFING GROUP CELEBRATES 20th ANNIVERSARY
Quincy Firm Survives
Recessions, Dot-Com Bust to Emerge As Temporary Help Leader
Quincy, Mass (6-15-05)--It
was 20 years ago this month that Hingham resident Joseph Donahue,
president of Quincy-based Microtech Staffing Group, decided to play
out his hunch. Working from the basement of his mother’s house
in Waltham, Donahue invested his life savings into opening a staffing
business that he hoped could compete in the often cutthroat world
of temporary help.
It was an experiment
that almost failed.
Faced with stiff
competition from the established firms such as Manpower and Kelly
Services Inc., his struggles forced him to carve out a niche in the
then nascent high-tech sector that others had not yet tapped, and
reach out to businesses that his competitors had chosen to ignore.
Barely surviving his first year with a net profit of only $600, he
continued to gain clients in fledgling companies such as EMC and Medtronics,
while growing a list of temporary employees to connect with businesses
in need of temporary help.
Through perseverance
and luck he survived, reaching $500,000 in sales within two years
and $1million by 1992. He grew during the tech boom years, diversified
into other markets after the dot-com bust, survived a major recession
and eventually expanded into professional services to meet the demand
for temporary employees.
Today, his company
has emerged as a regional leader in the recruiting industry generating
sales of $35 million annually. With an average of 1,200 temps supplied
daily, his is one of the largest full-service staffing agencies in
New England. He has placed more than 50,000 temps since his company’s
inception in 1985, including 4,600 in 2004-2005, and has made millionaires
of many former temps including four he placed permanently at EMC 20
years ago.
“I knew
that if we found good workers, stayed flexible and serviced our clients
well, we could build a business here,” says Donahue. “Given
the economy and the ever-changing landscape of Massachusetts business,
I am proud of what we have accomplished and of the people and firms
that we have helped along the way.”
The son of Irish
Immigrants and a “Double-Eagle” graduate of BC High (’74)
and Boston College (’78), Donahue worked as an operations manager
at Honeywell from 1978-1983, eventually pursuing an MBA at Babson
College. In 1983 he left Honeywell to become an operations consultant
at a now defunct firm called QSC, before venturing out on his own
with Microtech in 1985.
“I am not
at all surprised that Joe Donahue has enjoyed great success in his
20 years with Microtech” says Pat Sullivan, director of human
resources at Smith & Nephew, a medical device manufacturing firm
in Andover that has been a Microtech client for nearly two decades.
“He is a very dedicated worker who is honest and ethical and
who delivers on all of his promises. I always admired how devoted
he was to his family, especially his mother whom he employed from
the dark days until her death last year. He is a person who places
family and loyalty above all else. I admire him greatly.”
Longtime employee
James Fennessy, whom Donahue hired as a 22-year old recent college
grad in 1993, says Donahue’s gift is his ability to see possibility
in people and in businesses before anyone else. “What has kept
me working at Microtech is Joe Donahue and the invaluable lessons
I have learned from watching him,” says Fennessy. “He
is a brilliant businessman and a natural leader who possesses an innate
business sense that goes beyond our specific industry. I have learned
more from him than from all of my undergrad and MBA studies.”
In the wake of
the high-tech job exodus that has seen 100,000 jobs leave the state,
Donahue is now intent on transforming a firm that once specialized
in high tech, engineering and light industry to branch out to accounting,
education, financial services and healthcare.
“It is constantly
a challenge to find new opportunities in a state that that has not
yet rebounded from the 2001 recession,” says Donahue, (Massachusetts
created less than 1,300 jobs in 2004 according to state records) “but
in this business you have to adapt to survive. We are actively recruiting
talented professionals to place in the financial and professional
service fields and are reaching out to employers to meet their own
evolving needs. The positive result of the downturn is that we have
extremely talented and experienced temporary workers with expertise
in these fields who are eager to be placed. The climate has never
been better for companies in need of temporary help.”
Donahue’s
confidence reflects a growing optimism in the US staffing industry.
Last year, annual sales were up 12.4% to a total of $15. 8 billion
according to the American Staffing Association, with America’s
staffing companies hiring an estimated 11.7 million temporary and
contract employees, an increase of 1 million from the year before.
Analysts expect a continued upswing in 2005.
With offices in
Quincy, Woburn, Medway, Danvers and Londonderry, New Hampshire, Donahue
hopes to expand his business this year into Boston-Cambridge, Worcester
and Rhode Island where, he calculates, there are a total of 2.7 million
jobs. With 2% of all jobs being held by temporary workers, he sees
a potential market with 54,000 annual placements, enough to help his
temporary workers busy throughout the new decade. If Microtech can
manage its current market share in these new markets, he predicts
revenues of $75 million within three years, challenging TAC as the
largest private staffing company in New England.
In addition to
his company’s growth and longevity, Donahue takes pride in the
fact that he has helped nearly one third of his former temporary employees
land permanent positions. It is an issue that is close to the heart
of the Jesuit-educated businessman. “It is always a point of
pride when a company wants to permanently hire one of your temporary
staffers,” says Donahue. His commitment to social justice concerns
also guides his philanthropic endeavors. “I believe that education
is the great equalizer and I have committed myself to helping Jesuit
schools like BC High and Nativity Prep provide financial assistance
to needy but talented students from urban areas,” says Donahue,
who is in his second stint as trustee at BC High.
“We are
taught to whom much has been given, much is expected, and I have always
tried to make that philosophy a guiding principle in my life.
Looking back on
a business whose former clients include Digital, Wang, Polaroid and
a slew of other now defunct high-tech firms, Donahue realizes that
success can be fast-fleeting and remains only for those who adapt
with the times. “We have enjoyed a renaissance in Quincy and
feel confident that our business plan positions us to succeed in our
new target areas,” says Donahue. “But we have to be ever
vigilant and always ready to embrace new opportunities. With flexibility,
hard work and some luck, I know the next 20 years look bright for
Microtech.”
