Byrnes & Rupkey has been a powerhouse recruiting agency in Top Echelon Network for several years, starting with Lois Rupkey, the owner of the agency when it joined the Network in July of 2014.

Lois made 53 split placements in Top Echelon Network before selling the agency to Kristy Staggs and retiring in 2018. For her part, Kristy has picked up where Lois left off. In fact, she recently made her 100th placement in Top Echelon Network!

And, as if that wasn’t enough, Byrnes & Rupkey is also celebrating a Top Echelon milestone overall. That’s because the agency recently surpassed the $1 million mark for cash-in since it joined the Network a little over eight years ago.

Kristy, who is also celebrating her 25th year in the recruiting profession, specializes in Food & Beverage Manufacturing, as well as Industrial Manufacturing. She has been a remarkably consistent producer in Top Echelon Network. For instance, she’s made 13 split placements so far this year, with three more ready to finalize in the near future. Last year, she finished with 19 Network splits.

Kristy and Sara Gallagher, another recruiter at the agency, solely work the client side of the split placement process. (Gallagher has been part of 12 splits in the Network.)

According to Kristy, the biggest key to their collective success in Top Echelon is the Network Pillar of Active Participation. To say that they are split-minded would be an understatement.

“Since joining the Network, we have heavily relied on our affiliates to work our jobs and provide us with candidates to present to our clients for our openings,” said Kristy. “We are 100% placers and have longstanding client companies that we’ve worked with for the past 20-30+ years. We have a very good rapport with them.

“As a small agency with just Sara and myself, we usually have an overabundance of job openings, typically around 60-90+ openings at one time. This is way more than the two of us can handle on our own, so we turn to our TE affiliates to work and post our jobs.”

Top Echelon recommends Network recruiters share all of their jobs with other members in order to maximize exposure and ensure that they fill the jobs as quickly as possible. Kristy and Sara have definitely taken that recommendation to heart, and it has served as one of the cornerstones of their Network success.

“The minute we get a new job in, we post it to the Network, usually before we have time to run a search of our own database candidates,” said Kristy. “This is why I would say typically 80% or higher of ALL of our placements are usually a TE split placement! We would rather make multiple hires and get candidates to our clients immediately and keep them happy as their ‘only recruiter’ or ‘go-to recruiter,’ as opposed to waiting a week or two and trying to fill the job on our own before posting it to the Network.

According to Kristy, though, the benefits of Top Echelon Network membership go beyond the financial. During her time as a member, she has built and developed many business relationships and friendships with other members. Just like the placements she’s made, these are relationships she would not have formed if not for her Network membership.

“We have formed so many great relationships and friendships with our TE partners, many of whom have been a great mentor to me over the years,” said Kristy, who also uses Top Echelon’s applicant tracking software. “We definitely would not be as successful as we have been within the Network without those great trading partners who we communicate with regularly.

“Top Echelon Network and their [recruiting software] system have been a huge part of Byrnes & Rupkey’s success.”

Congratulations to Kristy Staggs for making 100 split placements and to Byrnes & Rupkey for reaching the $1 million mark in Top Echelon Network!

(Editor’s note: If you recently reached a Network milestone in Top Echelon, we’d like to hear about it! Send an email to marketing@topechelon.com.)

Summer is quickly fading, but Top Echelon Network members’ penchant and desire for making split placements has not!

This reality is reflected in the number of splits that members made last week, which totaled 17.

Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group led the way with five splits, while Bob White of Impact Solutions, Inc. and Kristy Staggs of Byrnes & Rupkey, Inc. were both part of three splits.

In addition, David M. Sgro of True North Consultants, Inc. and Monica Elbot of Agile 4 Solutions boasted the largest split fee of the week. David and Monica placed a Lead Software Developer for a $45K fee at 25%.

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

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

Please note that the placements listed below reflect deals finalized in Top Echelon Network for the week of August 15 through August 21, 2022. 

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

Congratulations to everybody below for the split placements they made in Top Echelon Network!

This Week’s Top Echelon Split Placements

— — —

Job recruiter: Amy Chapman of Key People Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Justin Bidwell of Bidwell & Associates, LLC

Job title: DIRECTOR OF QUALITY

Overall placement fee: $40,000

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Michael Petras of Lodestar Executive Search, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Justin Bidwell of Bidwell & Associates, LLC

Job title: TEST ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $20,250

Fee percentage: 22.5%

— — —

Job recruiter: Curt Spallone of Compuray Medical Staffing, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Joe Cresci of Food Management Search

Job title: MAMMOGRAPHY TECHNOLOGIST

Overall placement fee: $10,000

Fee percentage: Flat

— — —

Job recruiter: David M. Sgro of True North Consultants, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Monica Elbot of Agile 4 Solutions

Job title: SENIOR/LEAD SOFTWARE DEVELOPER

Overall placement fee: $45,000

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Bob White of Impact Solutions, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Phil Hurd of Oculus Search Partners, LLC

Job title: EXPERIENCED LASER METAL CUTTING MACHINE OPERATOR

Overall placement fee: $11,960

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Josh Slimmer of Jericho HR Group

Candidate recruiter: Sarah Katz of First Search, Inc.

Job title: V.P. DISTRIBUTION 

Overall placement fee: $26,000

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Bob White of Impact Solutions, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search, Inc.

Job title: SOLIDWORKS DRAFTER ENGINEERING DESIGNER

Overall placement fee: $13,000

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: David Manns of Access Staffing

Candidate recruiter: Deb North of Deb North

Job title: CYBER SECURITY ANALYST

Overall placement fee: $16,650

Fee percentage: 18%

— — —

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

Candidate recruiter: Terry Rhodes of NewCareers

Job title: PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR

Overall placement fee: $17,500

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Nancy Phillips of Phillips Staffing Solutions

Candidate recruiter: Jim Strickland of BioSource Recruiters

Job title: CLINICAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGER

Overall placement fee: $22,310

Fee percentage: Flat

— — —

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

Candidate recruiter: Jim Strickland of BioSource Recruiters

Job title: MANUFACTURING/INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $21,750

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Antoinette (Toni) Nucci of Toni Group, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: MEDICAL ASSISTANT

Overall placement fee: $6,552

Fee percentage: 15%

— — —

Job recruiter: Kelly Duke of Kelly Duke Staffing, LLC

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: MACHINE OPERATOR

Overall placement fee: $7,500

Fee percentage: Flat

— — —

Job recruiter: Alex Ello of Acloche Direct Hire

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: QUALITY SPECIALIST

Overall placement fee: $14,400

Fee percentage: 20%

— — —

Job recruiter: Bob White of Impact Solutions, Inc.

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: SOLIDWORKS DRAFTER ENGINEERING DESIGNER

Overall placement fee: $13,000

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

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

Candidate recruiter: Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group

Job title: PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR

Overall placement fee: $19,075

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

Job recruiter: Kristy Fangman of Automationtechies

Candidate recruiter: Gary Thompson of Gary Thompson

Job title: CONTROL SYSTEMS ENGINEER

Overall placement fee: $22,750

Fee percentage: 25%

— — —

If you’re a newer 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.

There may be headlines in the news media stating that the economy is slowing down and that a recession will start in the near future.

Regardless of the validity of these claims, Top Echelon set a new record in its recruiting network recently in terms of its Top Producers. And it did so in a number of different ways.

#1—Million dollar producers

Top Echelon has boasted one million dollar producer in its network on a 12-month rolling basis before. First, it was Trey Cameron of Cameron Craig Group, who accomplished the feat during multiple years. Then it was Michael Stuck of Gables Search Group, who did so last year.

Now, for the first time, there are two million dollar producers in the Network at the same time. And you guessed it, those two are Trey and Michael. As of the writing of this blog post, Michael was bidding to recapture Recruiter of the Year honors with a rolling cash-in total of $1,302,549. Trey, though, is right behind him at $1,139,698.

While this has happened during the year, it has yet to happen at the end of the year, which would obviously be another first for TE. In addition, if Michael continues at his current pace, he will have the chance to break the record for the highest cash-in total during a calendar year. Which, of course, is held by Trey.

Then again, Trey could overtake Michael during the last four months of the year, win Recruiter of the Year honors instead, and break his own record.

Who will win and what will happen? Stay tuned!

#2—The Top 10

For the first time, the top 10 recruiters in Top Echelon Network have cashed in $230K or more in TE split placements during the past 12 months rolling.

To put this into perspective, when I first joined Top Echelon Network in November of 2003, it was considered an accomplishment for the Top 10 in the Network to all bill $100K or more through TE. And now, Network recruiters have doubled that accomplishment and doubled it with ease.

Up next? The $240K plateau. And then on to $250K!

$3—The $100K Club

Speaking of recruiters who have billed at least $100K through the Network during the past 12 months, Top Echelon has set a new record there, as well.

As of the writing of this blog post, 33 Network recruiters have billed at least $100K through TE in the past 12 months. And the 34th recruiter, Ben Brown of TSS Sourcing Solutions, is right on the cusp at $99,500. (C’mon, Ben . . . make another split.)

As you can see, all of these records could be broken and re-broken before the end of 2022. After all, there are still four whole months remaining, there are plenty of companies still willing to hire, and many of them are using recruiters and search consultants to get the job done.

YOU could be part of this record-breaking year in Top Echelon Network. If you want to know how you can make more split placements and more money through the Network, I encourage you to contact Director of Network Operations Drea Codispoti, CPC/CERS.

You can do by calling 330.595.1742, x156 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.

Last week in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, I posed a series of questions designed to help determine your current stage as a networker.

This week, I’m going to discuss the five stages of a networker in Top Echelon overall.

As a member of our exclusive recruiter network, you fall into one of these five stages. The objective of this exercise is to determine exactly in which stage you currently reside. After that, you’ll have to decide what you must do to move to the next stage.

There are two parts to each of the stages. First, there’s a description of the stage. Second, there’s a description of the level of satisfaction associated with each stage.

Stage 1 Networker

Description: They’re just “planting the seeds” of networking and considering how it could have a positive impact on their business. They don’t yet have a strong history of making split placements.

Satisfaction level: Unless they get lucky, they will not make any split placements. If they don’t evolve quickly into a Stage 2 Networker, they normally will quit the Network within the first three to nine months.

Stage 2 Networker

Description: They are now “sending out roots” to attempt to establish themselves in the Network.

Satisfaction level: They are somewhat pleased with Top Echelon Network as a service company. However, if expenses need to be cut, the Network would be one of the first to go.

Stage 3 Networker

Description: They are now “branching out” into the Network and wanting to make their Network split recruiting fees a dependable part of their income.

Satisfaction level: They’re beginning to view Top Echelon Network as a true partner in their business, rather than some service to which they merely subscribe. They’re pleased with Top Echelon Network, but they recognize that it could be even better. Even when they hit a dry spell and haven’t had any Network splits in a while, they won’t drop their membership in order to cut expenses because they recognize that their trading partners have the potential for generating revenue for them.

Stage 4 Networker

Description: Their development as a networker is “growing strong and healthy” at this point.

Satisfaction level: They firmly recognize that Top Echelon Network is a partner in their business. They know that the Network is here to help them and vice-versa. They treat Top Echelon Network as a business partner and expect the same in return. A good network will not only attract good recruiters, but also retain them. They begin relying on the Network to continue to surface good trading partners.

Stage 5 Networker

Description: Now networking efforts are “bearing fruit” as they enjoy the significant financial rewards of networking. They are firmly planted in the Network.

Satisfaction level: They view the Network as a vital segment of their business. They recognize that Top Echelon Network helps sustain their core group relationships and acts as a continual source of new trading partners for them. They’re very pleased!

If you’d like to know how you can reach the next stage of networking, please contact me. You can do by calling 330.455.1433, x156 or by sending an email to drea@topechelon.com.