History: The company was founded in Downtown Cleveland in 1964 by Ralph A. Schepens, CPC (Certified Personnel Consultant) as a full-service permanent placement “agency”. Ralph and family came from Chicago where he had been the Vice President of General Employment Enterprises, a publicly traded organization.

Champion began on a very large scale having 40-50 placement specialists under one roof, making thousands of matches every year.

The early success of Champion allowed Ralph to have the time and fueled his passion for becoming intimately involved in the industry’s professional trade associations. To that end he served as president of the Cleveland, State of Ohio, and National Professional Trade Associations of Personnel Services, was a lifetime board member and as the years passed the most awarded and recognized contributor to the Personnel Profession… ever.

In the late 60’s Ralph wrote the first “Code of Ethics” for the National Association of Personnel Services that was also adopted by most state trade associations, one that is still in use today and is the basis for every action at Champion.

In 1995 the company was purchased by his son Robert A. Schepens, CPC. Robert had over 20 years of experience in Executive Search, Corporate Outplacement, Corporate Human Resources, Retainer Search and Corporate Sales and Marketing outside of the staffing profession. He had also been the president of the Cleveland and State of Ohio staffing services trade associations.

1995 began the transition of an industry leader into an industry trend setting company.

In 1995 Champion’s business was mostly permanent placement in office services and 5% temporary office services. The company had one office.

Champion was the first service (1995) to establish a true website, with online employment application, career advice, hiring advice and salary guides.

Today, Champion focuses on Flexible Staffing (Interim to Direct, Interim, Hybrid, bundled and unbundled) and specialty Direct Hire in all areas of employment.

Our market is “traditional blue collar” (not day-labor), skilled technical services, warehousing and pink or “no-collar” positions and white collar/skilled/ professional level/ administrative hiring.

The company has 5 offices and is planning our expansion to 10 in NE Ohio.

During this award-winning metamorphosis the company achieved or has been recognized/awarded for the following:

ISO 9001:2000 Certification for all our offices. (Less than 5% of all staffing firms in the world have achieved this)
The Weatherhead 100 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies in NE Ohio. Multiple Year Winner.
Level II Drug and Alcohol-Free Workplace Certified by Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. We are the only Level II Staffing Service in Ohio. Level II involves education and random drug testing.
Celebrating Success NE Ohio Business Award.
A rich in-house safety, OSHA and WC claims program.
A true in-house training system, live and in-house produced DVD’s.
True 24/7 Customer Service.
A complete “Menu” of staffing services unequalled in the area.
Unique internal communications tools.
Award-Nominated Interior Design for our Corporate Offices.
An unmatched and ever-expanding Employee Benefits Program, including health and wellness and hybrid programs.
An unmatched Inter-Office Teamwork Process.
A lofty employee retention and length of service track record.

In 2006 we moved our corporate headquarters from downtown Cleveland to a stunning 11,000 square foot facility in Garfield Heights just off I-480 at Granger Road. This allowed Champion to add needed professionals to our corporate accounting and administration staff, open an in-house fitness facility, a corporate training and conference center and to make room for a “cousin” company/Internet start up company (not owned by Champion).

After many years of planned internal rebirth, the company is now firmly staged for increased creative and solid growth, continued fine-tuning of service delivery mechanisms and market expansion. Much of our change has been the result of pre-determining market changes, proactive process improvements and jettisoning areas of business that did not lend to a solid core business portfolio.

The company has grown and achieved dramatic, award-winning change. But some things will never change: Our absolute commitment to ethical staffing and customer satisfaction as the result, our drive to continually seek ways to enhance the careers and lives of our staff and their families and to devise new and more effective delivery methods for our clients.

In our history, we have worked with over 6,000 NE Ohio hiring companies, filled over 2,500,000 interim assignments, filled over 60,000 direct hire assignments and have placed more than 4 generations of NE Ohioans. No other staffing service located in NE Ohio has that depth of track record. No One.

ISO 9001:2000 Certified. Less than 5% of all staffing services/ recruiting services worldwide are ISO certified. Many staffing firms in the United States say that they are ISO Certified, but that is ONLY their corporate office, not the office that actually do the work. Achieving and maintaining the ISO Certification is not easy.

ALL Champion offices are ISO Certified, and have had perfect annual and quarterly audits. Perfect. What ISO Certification really means is that we adhere to a very strict PROCESS in what we do, always with CUSTOMER SATISFACTION in mind, and have a FORMAL system of quality and continual improvement. Continual improvement is largely based upon customer feedback.

What this means to our customers is predictable service, from any office, at any time. Service and customer satisfaction is how we exist and continue to grow.

Our Quality statement is: “To prove by our every action that ‘Second Best Isn’t Good Enough’ reflects our commitment to exceeding client expectations”.

A Weatherhead 100 Company: for the past two years Champion has achieved the prestigious award as one of North East Ohio’s fastest growing privately held companies. And this is after 40+ years in business. There is only one reason a mature company grows as quickly as an Internet start up: Extremely happy customers.

North East Ohio Business Success Award 2006: Champion was one of five companies to receive this award at the “Celebrating Success” conference in Akron Ohio. This award acknowledges that a company has made extraordinary gains in changing their business for the better.

Drug and Alcohol Free Workplace Level II, Certified Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation: As far as the OBWC and we know, Champion is Ohio’s ONLY staffing service with multiple office to achieve this certification. One component of this is that the company must educate employees on why drugs and booze and the workplace don’t go well together (or at anytime). In the past three years Champion has touched over 100,000 individuals with this knowledge. More than any other employer in Ohio.

Our own Safety/ OSHA/ DFWP/ BWC Claims staff: Uniquely, Champion employs and has available to our clients, in-depth knowledge of workplace safety, OSHA and DFWP issues, processes and procedures.

If you are a hiring authority and you are not working with Champion, you are missing out on what Staffing could be and should be.

If you are a candidate looking for a better opportunity, or a great way of finding your calling…you owe it to yourself to touch bases with a Champion office. Chances are…we placed your Grandparents, or even Great Grandparents