Our Mission: To serve our client organizations, candidates, associates and business
partners with honesty, integrity, unmatched knowledge, and world-class service.
Godshall and Godshall Personnel Consultants is Greenville's most trusted source
for professional recruiting and placement, serving South Carolina industry since
1968. We are uniquely positioned to meet a full range of temporary, contract,
and direct hiring needs through our specialty divisions. In our second generation
of family ownership, we take pride in partnering with our client firms, candidates,
and community to ensure successful placements.
 At Godshall, we know the key to success in the people business is people. Our
placement consultants are uniquely qualified to make matches that last. Each consultant
has a minimum of a four-year degree, several with master’s degrees, and industry
experience. We are extremely involved in the community in which we live and do
business, which gives our team a knowledge of the Upstate Community and a network
of people that surpasses any. We believe strongly in giving back to the community
that has afforded us the opportunity to succeed for over 40 years!
Many of our local clients do not realize that a considerable amount of our business
takes place on both a national and international level. We are members of a number
of national and international organizations, including National Personnel Associates and TempNet, that enable us to provide high-quality staffing for our clients with needs
across the country or the world.
Wayne Godshall, Julie Godshall Brown, and Drew Brown
Two Generations of Recruiting Top Talent
Their Job is Finding Others Jobs
Published: Sunday, April 15, 2007 - 2:00 am
By Jenny Munro
BUSINESS WRITER
jmunro@greenvillenews.com
The Godshall family has been helping companies and job candidates
find each other
for 40 years, and Godshall Staffing owner Julie Godshall Brown said she
hopes
to continue that connection for the next 40 years and more.
"Our commitment has been to be the best recruiting firm in the
Upstate," she
said, adding the company is one of the largest in the state.
Godshall Staffing serves 500 to 600 new candidates monthly, about
half of them
referred by other clients, said Brown, president. In addition, they have
a roster
of several hundred workers who are their employees but contracted to
work at other
businesses. About 60 percent of those workers are in temp-to-permanent
positions.
Last year, the company's 21 employees placed more than 1,500
candidates for temporary
or contract work and several hundred more direct-hires for permanent
positions
with between 400 and 500 companies. Most of their client companies are
in the
Upstate, she said, but they do some
national and international placement. Professional direct-hires are not
bound
by geography, she said.
Brown is the second generation to own the privately held Godshall
Staffing. She
and her husband, Drew, both work with the agency begun by her father,
Wayne Godshall,
in 1968. Her father began with one employee plus himself. Her mother
also worked
part-time in the agency and then later came in to head up the temporary
employment
division.
"I grew up in a family business," Godshall said, referring to his
father's grocery
store.
When he went out on his own, he said he followed the practice of
hiring and training
an individual every six months. Recalling that he worked to 11 p.m. or
midnight
nearly every night, he said, "I was willing to put in the time and
effort."
Brown said, "Our hope is that we will survive this generation."
"I've always been involved. I knew when I was 12, I wanted this. I
came down
and answered the phones. But it was never an obligation," she said. "I
worked
with Dad for nine years before he retired" three years ago.
At that time, she bought the business and gained certification as a
woman-owned
business enterprise by the Women's Business Enterprise.
"I'm very proud of Julie and the job she's done," said Godshall,
who refused
to have an office at the company. "I had no doubt that she would improve
the business
tremendously. She brought in new ideas. She is a people person."
Drew Brown said of his wife, "When Julie enters the room, the
energy level goes
up."
Godshall Staffing's commitment is to the Greenville community,
Julie Brown said.
"We are totally committed to this market. Our goal is to be
immersed in it and
shape it," she said. "We try to really make an impact" with company and
employee
participation in civic and business organizations, such as United Way,
the Greater
Greenville Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, March of Dimes and more.
Godshall Staffing feels "the obligation to give back. Our success
depends on
the strength of this business community," she said.
Describing the family business, Brown said, "We are a blended
full-service agency."
Godshall provides both professional direct-hire services and temporary
contract
service.
"We are not a niche firm," she said, adding the company specializes
in five areas:
- Accounting, financing, human resources and information technology
- Legal, medical and insurance
- Administrative, banking, sales and customer service
- Technology and engineering
- Textile and apparel cut and sew
"We will continue to grow in our specialty areas," she said.
When Godshall started the firm, textiles were the primary focus. The company still works with textile and apparel companies, primarily the successful niche companies that now represent the U.S. industry. For example, he said non-woven material is an interesting segment of the industry.
Godshall Staffing has two clients -- companies that are the ones charged fees, and job seekers looking for a job.
"The candidates don't pay us anything," said Drew Brown, the agency's vice president. "They are important. They are our product."
Julie Brown said, "It's tough" at times to work equally for both the employer and the prospective employee. But it's important to do just that, she said.
"We're not here for a quick buck. We're in it for the long-term," she said. "We've got candidates who say, 'You placed my dad.' We're changing lives."
Staffing agencies in general have a depth of human resources experience, said Dean Jones, administrator of Greenville County's Workforce Development office. The agencies know a great deal about recruiting, hiring and training employees for companies.
"They have a lot of experience to bring to the table," he said. "They have a value in the job market."
Jones said candidates using staffing agencies need to understand the two-client concept and determine whether a specific agency has contacts in their field of interest. Candidates need to be aware of what they need from a job and then decide if an agency can help them find that.
As the Upstate moves into a knowledge-based economy, certain sectors are strong markets for Godshall's service, Brown said. The manufacturing that is in the Upstate is becoming more high-tech.
Also, Drew Brown said "plastics has become very big in this area. That's because of BMW."
In fact, Godshall officials give BMW Manufacturing Co. major credit for the region's vibrant economy.
"BMW has created a huge ripple effect," he said.
Brown said the Upstate also has a large medical community and a good number of local and regional banks that continually are looking for professionals. They often are quite specific in their needs because they want the employees to meld with the existing corporate culture.
She said she believes Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research will be a draw for the area and that it "will have a ripple effect" on the economy and the generation of jobs. Ginny Beach, a manager at Godshall, said that ICAR could attract more talent to the area because it will attract companies that need the talent. It also is likely to increase Greenville's engineering presence.
"We will have a critical role in attracting talent to Greenville," Brown said. "The continued success of our business is going to be dependent on attracting highly qualified talent," she said.
As a way of adding to that, Godshall launched a new Web site -- www.sccareersearch.com -- that is aimed at attracting people to Greenville rather than selling the Godshall agency itself, she said.
Staffing agencies are a leading economic indicator and "get a feeling when the economy is getting soft before most businesses do," Godshall said.
"The pendulum swings between hard-to-find people and hard-to-find jobs," Brown said.
"We're really better off when there's full employment and people try to upgrade their skills and jobs," Godshall said.
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