Our Company History
It’s hard to believe it’s been 39 years. It has passed very quickly. It seems like yesterday that John Murphy and I were working for Aide Management in recruiting and sales. Actually, it was 1979. That is when I met John and fell in love with staffing. It is still as exciting to me today as it was the day I made my first placement as a young recruiter. John and I found that we worked well as a team. He was big picture – I was details. We became dissatisfied with the way we felt employees were treated and decided to try it on our own . . . that is when the adventure began. What an adventure it has been – lots of success and lots of what we will call “learning experiences”.
We officially incorporated Action Technology, Inc. in October, 1982. We had a very simple mission statement: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We wanted a company where employees and clients would be treated with respect and kindness. Everyone is important and worthy of respect and kindness. This is still our philosophy. You will probably notice that we are a little old fashioned . . . our telephone system is actually answered by a person, and there is no voice mail. (I have finally given up my bag phone for a cell phone.) We want our clients, employees and vendors to have a welcoming voice when they call. Our employees know that they can talk to anyone in the company if they have an issue, including me. Employees are encouraged to visit and meet our administrative staff. They come in with a handshake, but normally leave with a hug. After all, we are “southern”. It is hard to believe that we have had around 40,000 employees during this time period.
Timeline
1982
• Incorporated
• We had non-compete agreements with our former employer so we commuted over two hours (one way) to Staunton, Virginia, for a year. (I could tell you how many hawks were hunting every morning at 7:00 am)
1984
• First contract employee at a chemical company. He was on the same contract until 1992.
• Hired first administrative employee—Joanne Golden (Elmore). She was our entire accounting department. Joanne is still working with us as our Accounting Supervisor.
1988
• First nuclear power contract
• Opened New Jersey office
• Opened Engineering Division (this would be a “learning experience”)
1991
• First on-site contract
1992
• Opened North Carolina office
• Hired by a governmental agency in New Jersey to provide fruit inspectors in the Chilean grape scare. This is one of our most memorable successes. We actually found enough inspectors to physically inspect the grapes. We had to hire a bodyguard for our salesman on site. When the job ended abruptly without notice, we had to buy the bodyguard four new tires as all of his were slashed.
1994
• First SWaM certification (State of Virginia)
1995-2005
• Continued to expand in different verticals.
2006
• John Murphy (co-founder) passed away.
2007
• Opened Generator Maintenance Division – This has proven to be one of our most challenging but “fun” endeavors in our history. We are providing Generator Specialists and Generator Winders to the fossil, hydro and nuclear power industry. Every day is exciting. We have been to almost every state in the United States.
2008
• Started Safety Department with Shannon Timberlake as Director.
2011
• WBE/WOSB certification by WBENC
• State of California WBE certification
2015 – 2017
• Focused on growing several key accounts.
2018
• Supported the CAI contract for the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide IT Staffing.
2019
• Received HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) status from North Carolina.
• Received a contract from the County of Albemarle, Virginia to provide temporary staffing.
• Became a vendor to provide IT staffing for the state of Michigan, through CAI.
• Became a vendor to provide IT staffing for the state of Georgia, again through CAI.
2020
• We realize 2020 was a very difficult year across the globe both on a personal level and on a business performance level. Action Technology did land several new programs supporting CAI in Delaware and the District of Columbia, partnered with the Pinnacle Group supporting Dominion Energy Services and became a primary vendor to support the City of Richmond with staffing services. Hopefully, all these programs will develop and expand in 2021.
2021
• To quote Buzz Lightyear “To infinity and beyond”…We are excited about expanding our footprint from coast to coast and worldwide.