In the fall of 1986, Jerry Hellebusch rented space in the Financial Plaza building at Metcalf Ave. and College Blvd., pushed 3 desks together and started making sales calls. Thirty years later, Morgan Hunter has become one of the largest, oldest, and most recognized recruiting firms in Kansas City.
“We started off with three people,” Hellebusch said. “I think there were probably three restaurants in the area. There wasn’t much in southern Overland Park back then. That’s how we started.”
In founding Morgan Hunter, Hellebusch saw an opportunity to improve upon a tired business model that too many recruiting firms were built around.
“One of the things that our industry has always been known for, and that has frustrated me, is that we are all resume shops and all they do is blast companies with resumes,” Hellebusch said. “We avoid that all together. We’ve tried to make this business more humanized. We strive to make it relationship-driven, and I think our clients have appreciated that.”
Morgan Hunter started by recruiting accounting and finance professionals, quickly expanding to include administrative and IT professionals. Having grown to a staff of seven, expansions in June of 1987 saw the addition of the insurance division.
Hellebusch attributes the rapid growth of Morgan Hunter to the company’s mission to help organizations rediscover the human element in their business.
“Employees are an organization’s greatest asset. Early on, we decided to go one step further than the other firms out there at the time by conducting in-depth interview with all our candidates to ensure we only send top-tier talent to our clients.”
As the 1980’s came to a close, Morgan Hunter continued to grow. As the job market continued to evolve, Hellebusch identified a gap in the temporary staffing market, leading to the creation of Signature Staffing in 1990.
To be continued …