As we enter the second month of the year, split placements are starting to heat up in TE Network. (Although the weather, for most of the country, has not.)

And there is nothing hotter than a split placement that commands a fee of nearly $60K! Yes, you read that right. Network recruiters Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Sarah Katz of First Search, Inc. placed a Director of Operations recently to earn a fee of $59,500 at 25%.

And, as you might imagine, that placement was enough for Amy and Sarah to share the Largest Split Fee of the Month Award for January.

Not only do we have their placement this week (and a bunch of other splits with corresponding fees), but we also have a recruiter who has made their first split placement as a TE Network member. That recruiter is Jennifer Lechner of HCP Talent!

Jennifer made her split with Kristy Staggs of Byrnes & Rupkey, Inc. Jennifer and Kristy placed a Fabrication Welder to earn a fee of $12,064 at 20%.

As a friendly neighborhood reminder, here is the information that we publish with our placements:

• Names of the trading partners involved (with their profile photos, when available)
• Job title
• Overall placement fee (before TE Network’s 6% brokerage fee, of course)
• Fee percentage

Please note that the placements listed below reflect deals finalized in TE Network for the period from January 26 through February 1, 2026.

Remember, if you don’t want information related to your split placements published in The Pinnacle, please send an email to marketing@topechelon.com to that effect.

Once again, congratulations to everybody below for the split placements they made in TE Network!

This Week’s Split Placements

— — —

Job recruiter: Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Sarah Katz of First Search, Inc.

Job title: DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Overall placement fee: $59,500

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Steve Schroeder of Stratus Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Michael Agen of New Solutions Group, LLC

Job title: ASSISTANT DEAN OF NURSING

Overall placement fee: $28,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Diane McGwin of Newfound Associates

Candidate recruiter: Liz Burchill of The KPM Group

Job title: WEALTH ADVISOR

Overall placement fee: $25,000

Fee percentage: Flat

— — —

Job recruiter: Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting

Candidate recruiter: Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting

Job title: INDUSTRIAL MAINTENANCE MECHANIC

Overall placement fee: $17,293

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Steve Schroeder of Stratus Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting

Job title: DEAN

Overall placement fee: $29,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Todd Porter of H.T. PROF Executive Search

Candidate recruiter: Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting

Job title: PLANT MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $26,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Tom Craig of Keystone Distinction Group

Candidate recruiter: Nancy Gordon of Harlan Recruiting Group

Job title: LEAD SHIFT SUPERVISOR

Overall placement fee: $19,240

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Kristy Staggs of Byrnes & Rupkey, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Jennifer Lechner of HCP Talent

Job title: FABRICATION WELDER

Overall placement fee: $12,064

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting

Candidate recruiter: Thomas Trese of Tom Trese Networking, LLC

Job title: PLANT MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $27,000

Fee percentage: Flat

— — —

If you’re a newer TE Network member and you’d like to enjoy more success in our recruiter network, then I encourage you to contact Top Echelon Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS.

You can do so by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

Is the best way to start something to start it “with a bang”? Well, it depends partly on what kind of “bang” we’re talking about . . . namely whether it’s literal or figurative.

With this in mind, starting the new year with a figurative “bang” is positive, especially if the “bang” involves split placements. And the Recruiters of the Month in TE Network for January definitely involves split placements!

And not surprisingly, leading the way for Network members is Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting. Brad was part of seven splits during the month, and those splits brought him a cash-in total of nearly $45K.

The reason it’s not surprising is that Brad won the Recruiter of the Year Award in TE Network for 2025, and he’s earned Recruiter of the Month honors multiple times during the past 12 months. Here’s hoping that other Network members give Brad a “run for his money” in 2026 . . . although, you know, not literally.

Here is the information that we include with the Recruiter of the Month feature in TE Network:

1. The top five (5) recruiters for the month.
2. The cash-in total for each recruiter during the month. (We base the order of the recruiters on their amount of cash-in dollars, as opposed to the number of split placements they’ve made.)
3. The number of splits that the recruiters made during the month.
4. The number of splits each recruiter has made during their TE Network career.
5. Each recruiter’s cash-in total for their TE Network career.

With this format, it’s more likely that there will be ties among recruiters, especially with those TE Network members who have made split placements with each other.

Once again, congratulations to the recruiters listed below . . . and congratulations to every TE Network member who made a split placement (or multiple splits) during the month!

Recruiters of the Month – January 2026

— — —

First Place:

Recruiter: Brad Dodge
Agency: iLocatum Recruiting
Placements: Seven (7)
Cash-in total: $44,558.98
Career Top Echelon placements: 250
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $2,063,104.98

— — —

Second Place:

Recruiter: Steve Schroeder 
Agency: Stratus Staffing
Placements: Twelve (12)
Cash-in total: $41,147.50
Career Top Echelon placements: 183
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $341,256.80

— — —

Third Place:

Recruiter: Jeff Katz 
Agency: JSK Recruiting
Placements: Three (3)
Cash-in total: $28,455.21
Career Top Echelon placements: 77
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $771,906.62

— — —

Fourth Place (Tie):

Recruiter: Amy Chapman
Agency: Key People Staffing
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $27,965.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 115
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $1,449,457.91

— — —

Fourth Place (Tie):

Recruiter: Sarah Katz
Agency: First Search, Inc.
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $27,965.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 38
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $464,911.54

— — —

Fifth Place (Tie):

Recruiter: Maria Hemminger 
Agency: MJ Recruiters, LLC
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $26,790.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 256
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $2,256,976.96

— — —

Fifth Place (Tie):

Recruiter: Stephen George 
Agency: SteveRecruiter, LLC
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $26,790.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 2
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $39,127.50

— — —

If YOU want to make more money through Top Echelon’s recruiter network, then contact Director of Network Operations, Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS.

You can reach Drea by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

What’s almost as much fun as making the biggest split placement fees in TE Network?

Seeing who made the biggest split placement fees in TE Network, that’s what! And that’s exactly what we’re going to do in this issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.

That’s because recruiters have already earned the biggest TE Network split fees during the month of January. And now, we shall peruse them.

Which fee was the biggest? That would be the one Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Sarah Katz of First Search, Inc. earned. Specifically, Amy and Sarah placed a Director of Operations to earn a $59,500 fee at 25%.

Were there other big fees in TE Network during the month of January? (Am I going to start every paragraph with a question?) Sure there were, and we invite you to look through them and draw inspiration from them so that you, too, may be on this list in the near future.

As a friendly reminder, Top Echelon determines the monthly and quarterly winners of its TE Network split fee recruiting awards in four distinct categories:

1.) Recruiter of the Month
2.) Largest Split Fee of the Month
3.) Recruiter of the Quarter
4.) Largest Split Fee of the Quarter

We only announce the winners of these awards in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog. We do so usually (but not always) in the issue following the conclusion of each month and/or quarter.

So congratulations to everybody on the list below for scoring some BIG placement fees during the month!

Largest Split Placement Fees – January 2026

— — —

First Place:

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Sara Katz of First Search, Inc.

The position for this split placement was a Director of Operations and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

Amy was the job order recruiter and Sarah was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $59,500

— — —

Second Place:

Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC and Stephen George of SteveRecruiter, LLC

The position for this split placement was a Plant Manager and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 30%.

Maria was the job order recruiter and Stephen was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $57,000.

— — —

Third Place:

Steve Schroeder of Stratus Staffing and Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting

The position for this split placement was a Dean and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 20%.

Steve was the job order recruiter and Brad was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $29,000.

— — —

Fourth Place (Tie):

Jeff Crowley of JobFormance, LLC and Jim Ingram of Jim W. Ingram

The position for this split placement was a Director of Safety, Quality, and Continuous Improvement and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 20%.

Jeff was the job order recruiter and Jim was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $28,000.

— — —

Fourth Place (Tie):

Steve Schroeder of Stratus Staffing and Michael Agen of New Solutions Group, LLC

The position for this split placement was an Assistant Dean of Nursing and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 20%.

Steve was the job order recruiter and Michael was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $28,000.

— — —

Fifth Place:

Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting and Thomas Trese of Tom Trese Networking, LLC

The position for this split placement was a Plant Manager and the fee percentage associated with this placement was Flat.

Jeff was the job order recruiter and Thomas was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $27,000.

— — —

If YOU want to make more money through Top Echelon’s recruiting network, then contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS.

You can reach Drea by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

Who says 13 is an unlucky number? Not us, that’s who!

One of the reasons is because 13 recruiting agencies joined TE Network during the month of January. And more recruiters with whom to make split placements and generate more revenue this year is anything but unlucky.

That is why we’re eager to extend a warm welcome to the agencies (and the recruiters) on the list below. We want them to be successful in TE Network just as much as we want you to be successful in TE Network. In fact, perhaps you’ll make a split placement—or two—with one of the recruiters below and you’ll both be successful.

With that in mind, take a close look at the list below. Then reach out, introduce yourself, and start a conversation with these recruiters, especially with those whose specialties align with your own. You never know when a quick message or shared search might spark your next trusted trading partner . . . or your next successful split placement! (Did I say that already?)

We run the names of recruiting agencies applying for membership in the Network Dashboard section of the TE Network software. We list the names of new Network members, as well.

However, we also list our new members in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog. This list typically includes the:

• Name of the agency
• Industries and/or specialties in which the agency operates
• Names of the recruiters working at the agency
• Geographic location of the agency

So I’d like to take this moment to congratulate the recruiting agencies listed below and publicly welcome them to TE Network. I look forward to helping them make split placements!

(Note: If you have any questions about reaching out to new members or about your membership in general, please contact me. My contact information is listed at the end of this blog post.)

New Member Agencies – January 2026

— — —

AK Talent Solutions, Inc.
Industries: Manufacturing, Engineering, Technology, Automotive, and Sales/Business Development
Recruiters: Alpana Kapur
Location: Mississauga, ON

— — —

Burch Group, Inc.
Industries: Pharmaceutical and Healthcare
Recruiters: Tracey Burch
Location: West Point, VA

— — —

Career Search International
Industries: Sales and Technology
Recruiters: Briana Whitcher
Location: Spokane, WA

— — —

CDX Health Services
Industries: Life Sciences
Recruiters: David Loewenberg
Location: Boynton Beach, FL

— — —

Compass Resourcing Group, LLC
Industries: Manufacturing, Industrial, Oil/Gas, Chemical, and Engineering
Recruiters: James Boyd
Location: Houston, TX

— — —

Key Resources, LLC
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: Cedric Hendricks
Location: Atlanta, GA

— — —

Lodestar Recruiting, LLC
Industries: Agricultural/Construction/Industrial Equipment, Heavy Truck/Recreational Vehicles, Building Materials, and Warehouse/Logistics
Recruiters: Michael Petras
Location: Granger, IN

— — —

Professional Career Match Solutions, Inc.
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: Denise Prevost
Location: Port St. Lucie, FL

— — —

RepuRank, Inc.
Industries: Legal 
Recruiters: Ihab Hashwa
Location: Aurora, ON

— — —

Si Staffing
Industries: Industrial
Recruiters: Yuri Kovalenko
Location: Baltimore, MD

— — —

Top Talent HQ, LLC
Industries: Technology, Healthcare, Sales/Marketing, and Back Office Staff
Recruiters: Victoria Vales
Location: Winter Garden, FL

— — —

Vector Recruiting, LLC
Industries: Accounting/Finance, Technology, and Trading 
Recruiters: Christine Kines
Location: Chapel Hill, NC

— — —

Wimora
Industries: Information Technology and DevOps
Recruiters: Emmanuel Jijong
Location: Houston, TX

— — —

It doesn’t matter if you’re a newer member of our split network or an established member. If you want help making split placements with other Network recruiters, then I encourage you to contact me.

You can do so by calling 330.595.1742 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

With Valentine’s Day occurring during the month, February is often regarded as the “month of love.” While that may or may not be true, we’d certainly love to promote and highlight the recruiting agencies that are celebrating an anniversary in TE Network in February!

And 31 appears to be a big number for February (although there are just 28 days in the month). First, as you can see below, there are 31 agencies celebrating an anniversary. And second, also as you can see below, Pan American Search, Inc. in El Paso, Texas has been a member of TE Network for the past 31 years.

This is even though TE Network was not called TE Network 31 years ago. It was not even called Top Echelon Network. Instead, it was called Nationwide Interchange Services (NIS). Why? That’s a long story that we will explore at a later date. Like, perhaps, during our upcoming birthday celebration . . .

When recognizing Network recruiting agencies for their anniversaries, Top Echelon includes the name of the agency; the length of the anniversary; and the location of the agency, including the city and state.

So congratulations to all of the agencies celebrating anniversaries in our split fee recruiting network during the month of February!

— — —

31-Year Anniversary

• Pan American Search, Inc. in El Paso, TX

— — —

26-Year Anniversary

• Computer Recruiters, Inc. in Woodland Hills, CA

— — —

19-Year Anniversary

• Johnson Resource Group, LLC in Covington, KY

— — —

16-Year Anniversary

• Bidwell & Associates, LLC in Minneapolis, MN

— — —

15-Year Anniversary

• Dunson & Associates, Inc. in Clayton, OH

— — —

14-Year Anniversary

• PRA USA in St. Clair, MN

— — —

12-Year Anniversary

• The Recruiting Pro in Buford, GA

— — —

10-Year Anniversary

• Channel Personnel Services, Inc. in Pasadena, TX
• Therese Eckhoff in Oak Brook, IL
• Work Life Recruiting in Vancouver, WA

— — —

9-Year Anniversary

• Galaxy Management Group, Inc. in Garden, NY

— — —

7-Year Anniversary

• Gateway Sourcing, LLC in Fairhope, AL

— — —

6-Year Anniversary

• PMO Partners in Groton, MA

— — —

5-Year Anniversary

• Fusion HCR, LLC in Springboro, OH
• IP Living in Plano, TX

— — —

4-Year Anniversary

• Anspire in Tulsa, OK
• AutoPro Technical Recruiting in Oak Park, MI
• JM Recruiting in Billings, MT

 — —

3-Year Anniversary

• NorthStar Career Directions in Fort Myers, FL
• Doyle Recruiting in Columbia, SC
• JobFormance, LLC in Glen Ellyn, IL
• Optimal HR Solutions, LLC in Garland, TX
• Premier Employment Solutions in Topeka, KS
• RTA Strategies in Dallas, TX

 — —

2-Year Anniversary

• Bienville Recruiting in Mobile, AL
• Cour Consultants in Dallas, TX
• JKW Associates, LLC in Somersworth, NH
• The KPM Group in Northville, MI
• SCOUT Solutions Group in Louisville, KY

 — —

1-Year Anniversary

• Kingfisher Recruiting in New Hudson, MI
• RaVenna Partners LLC in Gretna, NE

— —

Thank you to all of these recruiting agencies and the many others that have joined TE Network down through the years. We look forward to many more anniversaries and split placements in the future!