Success Stories
Kapstone Employment Services
While working with an advisor, Kapstone hired 97 contingent employees with an average wage of $17 per hour.
Owned by Kerry Buffington and Tammy Turner, Kapstone Employment Services, a Detroit-based full-service staffing agency, provides full-cycle recruiting, contingent, and permanent employment. Their niche is automotive engineering but they’ve expanded into high-low, warehouse, and C-suite employment positions for clients – many in the energy industry. Kapstone employs justice-impact folks directly from the Detroit community. During COVID-19, Kapstone had to downsize due to the impact of the pandemic on their clients — however, many clients were able to rebuild, which positioned Kapstone to grow beyond where they were before COVID-19.
During COVID-19, Kerry and Tammy faced high turnover, costing them time, money, and the ability to scale their business. They were paired with PCV business advisor Sophia Chan of Nokia to develop a financial plan and strategic budgeting. After being paired with Sophia, Kerry described Sophia as an accountability partner.
“Sophia is nice to talk to, discuss where you are with your business, how you want to grow, and the challenges you are meeting because of growth and COVID-19. She offered suggestions for budgeting and provided us with sample sheets and excel programs to budget for what is coming in and going out. My advisor helped Kapstone visualize the numbers of what we can do. By putting together, a monthly budget, we understand the language around financial reporting for the business. It helped revenue, not as an increase due to COVID, but it allowed us to catch the holes where we can save more.”
At the onset of COVID-19, Kapstone employees received $13-18/ hr. They had 5-6 employees onsite and 13-15 contingent employees that worked for them or worked out their clients’ facilities throughout Greater Detroit. While working with an advisor, Kapstone hired 97 contingent employees with an average wage of $17 per hour. Kapstone adjusted for increased demand by identifying the savings areas while providing staff financial performance incentives.
“Daniel, PCV’s lead relationship manager, reached out from day 1. Daniel continued to stay in touch, and the follow-ups were helpful. The advisor match Daniel made was excellent. It is a good reminder from PCV that they are here and checking in on the resources I need.”