In the News

CEO Corner

2008.02
Cynthia J. Pasky

It was Mark Twain who coined the saying, "All generalizations are false, including this one."

I was reminded of his words the other day when discussing Michigan's economy with a business colleague.

My colleague was echoing the gloom and doom we hear so often these days when people discuss this state's economic conditions. The accepted generalization is that this is a bad time to attempt to do business in Michigan.

But that generalization is false, as far as we at Strategic Staffing Solutions are concerned.

We just posted our 18th consecutive year of revenue growth in 2007 with sales exceeding $148 million. We opened two more offices in Texas, in response to demand from one of our largest banking customers, and another branch in Florida, bringing our branch total to 21. And we landed a contract with the state of Florida and were certified to serve the state of Louisiana.

So, you see, you can be headquartered in Michigan, and sustain growth. If you know your market, deliver a quality product, develop strong relationships with your customers and learn from your experiences you can grow.

We know our customers, we know their industries and we go where we are needed. We are continually assessing and improving our internal operations, which ensures S³'s stability to handle our rapid growth.

When Strategic Staffing Solutions was started in 1990, the idea of women-owned businesses was not as accepted a part of the landscape in Detroit or in Michigan or in this country as it is today. And the idea of building a business consulting in what was then the fledgling industry of information technology was not something that many saw as a successful business model.

But I was mindful of the words of Aldous Huxley, who wrote: "Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you."

Our success certainly was not pre-ordained. But by identifying a need and learning from and building on our experiences, we have been a very successful Michigan company.

I reflected on all this a couple of weeks ago when we had our annual All Staff meeting here in Detroit, with 180 employees from our 21 branches in the U.S. and Europe convening for a day-long workshop that is an S³ tradition and a key ingredient in our continued growth. It was our largest All Staff yet but I am confident next year will be even bigger.

As a Detroit-based company, we have sustained steady growth.

So don't let anyone tell you that you can't succeed in business in Detroit or in Michigan. That generalization is definitely false.