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In a network as relationship-driven as TE Network, success is rarely accidental. Time and time again, we’ve seen that the most successful recruiters in our community don’t rely solely on hustle or experience—they rely on trust. Trust built through clear communication. Trust reinforced by shared values. Trust earned over time and through consistent, professional behavior.

Top Echelon Network Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti, CERS

Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS

But what if we could accelerate that trust, not just build it over months, but signal it upfront?

That’s exactly what the Certified Split Placement Partner (CSPP) program is here to do.

Launching officially on Wednesday, July 23, the CSPP initiative represents an exciting evolution in how we support and empower TE Network members. It’s more than a badge or a title; CSPP is a commitment. A commitment to excellence, to each other, and to the idea that the best business is built upon mutual respect, accountability, and collaboration.

Let’s take a closer look at what CSPP is, why it matters, and how it’s going to help shape the future of our Network.

Why CSPP? Why Now?

As we continue to grow as a Network, so does the importance of establishing consistent expectations and high standards. We’ve always believed that TE Network is more than a collection of individual recruiters—it’s a community. And communities thrive when there’s clarity, consistency, and care.

The CSPP program was created to reinforce those principles.

Whether you’re a brand-new member or a seasoned TE veteran, the certification process provides a shared framework for how to engage in productive, professional split partnerships. It ensures that every certified member understands the best practices, behavioral standards, and unwritten “rules of the road” that help great splits happen.

By design, CSPP supports everyone in the Network:

  • New members get a clear roadmap to success.
  • Experienced members gain confidence in new partners.
  • The entire Network benefits from smoother, faster, more respectful collaboration.

Setting a New Standard of Excellence

At the heart of CSPP is a focus on the core principles that define a successful split placement:

  • Trust – The bedrock of any partnership. Without it, nothing works.
  • Communication – Timely, clear, and proactive outreach creates alignment.
  • Accountability – Great partners own their responsibilities and follow through.
  • Respect – Valuing each other’s time, work, and contributions leads to mutual success.

CSPP certification is built around these values. Through training modules, real-world scenarios, and a commitment pledge, certified members demonstrate not only that they know what’s expected, but that they’re committed to living it out in every partnership.

Accelerating Trust and Collaboration

Let’s be honest: One of the biggest challenges in split recruiting is the initial uncertainty when working with someone new. You might ask yourself:

  • Will they communicate clearly?
  • Do they understand TE processes?
  • Can I count on them to do what they say?

When someone is CSPP-certified, that guesswork goes away. Certification gives you immediate confidence that your partner is equipped with the tools, knowledge, and mindset to collaborate effectively.

You’re not starting from scratch. You’re starting from shared understanding.

Imagine how much smoother your work becomes when everyone on both sides of the deal is on the same page. That’s the CSPP difference.

Boosting Placement Potential Across the Board

Here’s the truth: More certifications = more placements.

Why? Because deals move faster when there’s no need to “figure each other out.” You can skip the friction and get right to the work of making a match.

When more members are CSPP-certified, it raises the overall efficiency of the Network. You spend less time fixing miscommunications and more time filling jobs. That leads to:

  • Quicker turnaround times
  • Fewer misunderstandings
  • Higher-quality submissions
  • More closed deals

It’s a win-win-win—for you, your partners, and your clients.

Strengthening All of TE Network

TE Network has always been a community that rewards effort, ethics, and mutual support. With CSPP, we’re reinforcing that culture from the inside out.

Certification is about more than just doing good business. It’s about leading by example and helping set the tone for what TE can and should be. Every member who completes the CSPP process contributes to a Network that’s:

  • More professional
  • More respectful
  • More unified
  • And ultimately, more successful

This program is a declaration: We hold ourselves to a higher standard . . . and we help each other rise to meet it.

A Personal Commitment to Success

When you earn your CSPP certification, you’re not just checking a box. You’re making a statement:

“I’m serious about partnership. I’m here to do great work. And I want to build long-term success within TE.”

That kind of commitment is contagious. It creates a ripple effect, encouraging others to step up, invest in themselves, and bring their best to the table.

Whether you’ve been a TE Network member for 10 days or 10 years, taking part in CSPP shows that you care, not just about your own results, but about the strength and integrity of the community of which you’re a part.

What’s Next?

On Wednesday, July 23, the CSPP program will officially go live. You’ll be able to access everything you need to begin the certification process through the TE Member Portal.

Keep an eye out for additional announcements and resources as we get closer to launch.

In the meantime, I encourage you to start thinking about what CSPP means for you and your business. Ask yourself:

  • How can I model the behaviors I want in my partners?
  • What do I want my reputation to be within the Network?
  • How can I use CSPP to build more meaningful, productive relationships?

If you’re ready to answer those questions with action, CSPP is ready for you.

Invest in Your Membership

The best partnerships don’t happen by accident. They’re built upon trust, shaped by communication, and rooted in a shared desire to succeed—not just individually, but together.

The Certified Split Placement Partner (CSPP) program is your opportunity to invest in that kind of partnership from the very beginning.

Let’s raise the bar. Let’s do great work. And let’s build a stronger, more successful Network together.

See you in certification!

What’s the only thing better than enjoying the summer season?

Top Echelon Content and Communications Manager Matthew Deutsch

Matthew Deutsch

Enjoying the summer season with some big placement fees, that’s what!

And we have some big fees in this issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog. In fact, we have the largest split placement fees in TE Network for June!

And the recruiters responsible for the largest split fee are Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting and Rebecca Lucas of CPG Talent Management, LLC. Jeff and Rebecca placed a Director of Sales to earn a $50,000 fee at 25%.

But as you can see below, that was one of several big placement fees in TE Network last month . . .

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 Fees – June 2025

— — —

First Place:

Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting and Rebecca Lucas of CPG Talent Management, LLC

Rebecca Lucas of CPG Talent Management, LLC

Rebecca Lucas

Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting

Jeff Katz

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

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

The fee for this split placement was $50,000.

— — —

Second Place:

Tom Christensen of C. H. Thomas Search, LLC (inactive) and Hani Mussa of Knowhirematch, LLC

Hani Mussa of Knowhirematch, LLC

Hani Mussa

Tom Christensen

The position for this split placement was a General Manager – Manufacturing and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

Tom was the job order recruiter and Hani was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $46,250.

— — —

Third Place:

Kristy Staggs of Byrnes & Rupkey, Inc. and Les Jones of Mosaic Partners

Kristy Staggs of Byrnes & Rupkey, Inc.

Kristy Staggs

Les Jones of Mosaic Partners

Les Jones

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

Kristy was the job order recruiter and Les was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $36,250.

— — —

Fourth Place:

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing and Butch Sweedar of Omega Point Partners

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing

Amy Chapman

Butch Sweedar of Omega Point Partners

Butch Sweedar

The position for this split placement was a Maintenance Manager and the fee percentage associated with this placement was 25%.

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

The fee for this split placement was $35,000.

— — —

Fifth Place:

Erica Kochevar of Step Up Recruiting and Adam Pantelli of AJ Search

Erica Kochevar of Step Up Recruiting

Erica Kochevar

Adam Pantelli of AJ Search

Adam Pantelli

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

Erica was the job order recruiter and Adam was the candidate recruiter.

The fee for this split placement was $30,000.

— — —

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.

We’re officially (more than) halfway through 2025 . . . which means we have the Recruiters of the Month in TE Network for the month of June!

Top Echelon Content and Communications Manager Matthew Deutsch

Matthew Deutsch

And as you can see below, the top recruiter of the month is Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing. Amy was part of three split placements in June, generating nearly $36K in cash-in for the month.

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 – June 2025

— — —

First Place:

Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing

Amy Chapman

Recruiter: Amy Chapman
Agency: Key People Staffing
Placements: Three (3)
Cash-in total: $35,837.50
Career Top Echelon placements: 102
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $1,269,565.41

— — —

Second Place:

Brad Dodge of iLocatum Recruiting

Brad Dodge

Recruiter: Brad Dodge
Agency: iLocatum Recruiting
Placements: Two (2)
Cash-in total: $25,544.50
Career Top Echelon placements: 214
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $1,773,613.79

— — —

Third Place (Tie):

Jeff Katz of JSK Recruiting

Jeff Katz

Recruiter: Jeff Katz 
Agency: JSK Recruiting
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $23,500.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 74
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $723,993.41

— — —

Third Place (Tie):

Rebecca Lucas of CPG Talent Management, LLC

Rebecca Lucas

Recruiter: Rebecca Lucas 
Agency: CPG Talent Management, LLC
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $23,500.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 3
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $50,525.00

 

— — —

Fourth Place:

Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates, LLC

Ron Sunshine

Recruiter: Ron Sunshine 
Agency: Ron Sunshine Associates, LLC
Placements: Two (2)
Cash-in total: $22,560.00
Career Top Echelon placements: 87
Career Top Echelon cash-in: $911,071.58

— — —

Fifth Place:

Tom Christensen

Recruiter: Tom Christensen (inactive)
Agency: C. H. Thomas Search, LLC
Placements: One (1)
Cash-in total: $21,737.50
Career Top Echelon placements: N/A
Career Top Echelon cash-in: N/A

— — —

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.

We’re pleased to share that TE Network membership continues to grow with strong momentum!

Top Echelon Network Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti, CERS

Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS

Several recruiting firms have recently applied and been welcomed into the Network, as shown below.

These new members bring diverse expertise across a wide range of industries and specialties. We encourage you to take a moment to review who they are—you never know, your next trading partner (and split placement opportunity) could be among them!

We’re excited to welcome these agencies to TE Network and hope you are, as well. Don’t hesitate to reach out, make an introduction, and explore possible collaborations . . . especially if your niches align.

Let’s make more placements!

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 once again 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 Firms – June 2025

— — —

Western International Staff
Industries: Insurance
Recruiters: Dayne Hayes
Location: Chandler, AZ

— — —

Align Recruit Deliver, LLC
Industries: Finance & Insurance
Recruiters: Rachel Orschein
Location: Kansas City, MO

— — —

RDC Nurses
Industries: Nursing
Recruiters: Jane Diaz Ruiz
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

— — —

Brains Workgroup, Inc.
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: Igor Kanda
Location: Paramus, NJ

— — —

Atlanta Executive Search, LLC
Industries: Battery Manufacturing
Recruiters: Michael Aubrecht
Location: Hiawassee, GA

— — —

PsiNapse Technology
Industries: Gaming, Technology, Legal, and Government
Recruiters: Slyvia Jones, Sabrina Miller, and Johnny Moran
Location: Pleasonton, CA

— — —

The Remas Staffing Company, LLC
Industries: Supply Chain, Civil Engineer, Logistics, and Information Technology
Recruiters: Ernst Remas
Location: West Palm Beach, FL

— — —

TriQuest
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: Janel Garcia
Location: San Antonio, TX

— — —

Adaptive Talent
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: Mark McEachran
Location: Vancouver, BC

— — —

Whitham Group
Industries: Renewable Energy
Recruiters: Carina Whitham
Location: San Francisco, CA

— — —

Ash & Harris Executive Search
Industries: Healthcare, Legal, Manufacturing, and Information Technology
Recruiters: Jenille Harris
Location: Pembroke Pines, FL

— — —

Agency 8
Industries: Engineering
Recruiters: Rebecca Nutt and Lance Soders
Location: Houston, TX

— — —

Executive Decisions, LLC
Industries: Retail, Consumer Goods, and Manufacturing
Recruiters: Jeff Hagan
Location: Smyrna, TN

— — —

YMI Service Group
Industries: Industrial, CPG, and Commercial Construction
Recruiters: Mark Baker, Collin Baker, and Thaddeus Baker
Location: Melissa, TX

— — —

Blink Search, LLC
Industries: Accounting
Recruiters: Vincent Previt
Location: New York, NY

— — —

The Wohl Group – Recruitment Made Easy!
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: Matthew Wohl
Location: Toronto, ON

— — —

Lifetime Recruiting Strategies
Industries: Healthcare, Finance & Accounting, and Sales
Recruiters: Pamela Kortekamp
Location: Cincinnati, OH

— — —

Simply Staffed, LLC
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: Tracy Webster
Location: Cincinnati, OH

— — —

Element6 Talent
Industries: Generalist
Recruiters: JP Burkwald, Grace Johnson, Emily Kolbow, and Brandon Taylor
Location: Pewaukee, WI

— — —

It doesn’t matter if you’re a newer TE Network recruiter or an established member. If you want help making split placements with other Network members, 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.

It’s time to celebrate anniversaries in TE Network, and we have big ones to celebrate this month!

Top Echelon Content and Communications Manager Matthew Deutsch

Matthew Deutsch

That’s because we have not one, but two recruiting agencies celebrating Network anniversaries of more than 30 years.

The agencies in question are H.T. PROF Executive Search in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Affinity Executive Search, Inc. in Hollywood, Florida. H.T. PROF Executive Search is celebrating 33 years in TE Network and Affinity Executive Search has been a member of the Network for 32 years.

Congratulations to these two agencies for their longevity, commitment, and success within TE Network during the past three-plus decades!

When recognizing Network 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 July!

33-Year Anniversary

  • H.T. PROF Executive Search in Winston-Salem, NC

— — —

32-Year Anniversary

  • Affinity Executive Search, Inc. in Hollywood, FL

— — —

22-Year Anniversary

  • Automationtechies in Eden Prairie, MN
  • Gallin Associates in New Port Richey, FL

— — —

21-Year Anniversary

  • International Staffing Consultants, Inc. in Laguna Beach, CA

— — —

19-Year Anniversary

  • True North Consultants, Inc. in North Olmsted, OH

— — —

18-Year Anniversary

  • Career Development Partners in Tulsa, OK

— — —

10-Year Anniversary

  • Seneca Creek Executive Search in Venice, FL

— — —

8-Year Anniversary

  • Canon Associates in Brooklyn, NY
  • GoRecruitMe in Buford, GA

— — —

5-Year Anniversary

  • Triad Consulting, LLC in Cincinnati, OH

— — —

2-Year Anniversary

  • Agile 4 Solutions in Denver, CO
  • AJ Search in New York, NY
  • Apple & Associates, Inc. in Warrenville, SC

— — —

1-Year Anniversary

  • GP North America in Mississauga, ON
  • SmallBiz Staffing in Crossville, TN
  • Golden Hire in Hamburg, NY
  • Verus Recruiting Consultants Inc. in Hamilton, ON

— — —

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