Strategic Staffing Solutions Celebrates 20 Years Of Service, Growth
Detroit-based Strategic Staffing Solutions, a global IT and business services firm, will mark 20 years of steady growth and innovation when it observes its 20th anniversary Oct. 1.
Founder, president and CEO Cynthia J. Pasky started the company in a small office on Woodbridge Street in the shadow of the Renaissance Center on Oct. 1, 1990. In the intervening years she has shepherded the company through 20 consecutive years of revenue growth while its workforce has expanded from three employees at the beginning to more than 1,800 employees in the U.S. and Europe today.
"S3 has grown to more than 20 locations in the U.S. and Europe because we create solutions for our customers and our community that lay a solid foundation and have high growth potential," she said. "It is our philosophy that the S3 team becomes partners with the organizations we work with and we work to earn their business and trust every day. We have been doing this for nearly 7,300 days, since we opened on October 1, 1990, and we are proud of the success we have achieved."
That record of innovation and partnering with customers continued this year when S3 opened its Detroit Development Center in the city's Central Business District in April with its first anchor customer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The center opened with 53 IT professionals in May, has already grown to 100 employees and is expected to expand further to 150 employees by the end of the year.
"Business ventures like this are a prime example of how businesses can work together and secure opportunities that are beneficial for both of our bottom lines and our community," said Pasky.
In addition to that commitment to innovation and growth, S3 also is known for its community involvement and philanthropic endeavors.
Every S3 branch in the U.S. and Europe adopts one or more local charities for which it provides active support. In the last 20 years, the company has donated more than $5 million to charities in more than 20 locations in the U.S. and Europe. In Detroit, S3's two signature fundraisers, the Grand Prix Shakedown and Detroit Charity Golf Outing, support 2-1-1 On the Go!, a Detroit homeless outreach program that was conceived by S3 in conjunction with the Downtown Detroit Partnership and the United Way for Southeast Michigan. In the past three years, S3 has generated $107,000 in donations for 2-1-1 on the Go!
S3's progressive business and community initiatives have garnered the company several notable recognitions. For the last eight years, the Michigan Business and Professional Association has listed S3 as one of its 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For, and this year, Corp Magazine named the company a Michigan Economic Bright Spot. Additionally, Pasky was named one of DBusiness magazine's Most Powerful Women in Business.
In S3's tradition of celebration and fanfare, the company is planning several exciting events and activities to commemorate its 20 years of service to its customers and communities.
Starting in late September, the streets of downtown Detroit around S3's Penobscot Building headquarters will be flanked with light pole banners with S3's distinctive logo and the words, "Celebrating 20 Years of Service." Additionally, there will be light pole banners around the Detroit Athletic Club, where the company will hold its 20th anniversary gala the night of October 1.
On October 1, S3's birthday, the company will have a day-long open house at its offices on the Penobscot Building's 29th floor, welcoming business and community friends and family to celebrate with the S3 team. At 5:30 p.m. the lights on the Penobscot Building and Detroit Athletic Club will go green to signify the start of S3's private gala celebration. The private event will be attended by S3's business and community partners, globally, with special confirmed guest, the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Anne Derse. The 500-some guests who are invited to the gala event are also asked to donate to one or more of S3's signature charities, including 2-1-1 On the Go!, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Forgotten Harvest, the Humane Society of Michigan, Mariners Inn, Vista Maria and YouthVille Detroit.
S3 has several other celebratory happenings planned throughout the fall:
* Detroit's Thanksgiving Day parade will get a dose of S3 spirit with the company's first-ever float, decorated with dancing cats and dogs and an S3 birthday cake. Additionally, along with the company's sponsorship of the S3 Stuffing Strut, Pasky will kick-off the Fifth Third Turkey Trot.
* When you call S3, you will be serenaded by Detroit's Mosaic Youth Theatre choir, who recorded a special birthday song for the company.
* S3 commissioned a commemorative Pewabic tile.
S3 now has offices in Detroit, Atlanta, Ga., Boston, Mass., Los Angeles, Calif., San Francisco, Calif., Charlotte, N.C., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Chicago, Minneapolis, Minn., New Orleans, La., New York City, Philadelphia, Pa., Richmond, Va., St. Louis, Mo, and Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, Texas.
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