The idea for Kopos & Baker grew out of a discussion around the kitchen table. George Charokopos had been increasingly aware of a shortage of nurses to provide care for an aging America. Merrit Baker, with years of experience in the recruiting industry, considered the growing problem with a recruiter’s eye. Both successful entrepreneurs in their own right, George and Merrit had grown up in the same Philadelphia neighborhood. They decided to invest in their brainchild; a recruiting firm that focuses on those industries with the highest need. Though both were considering early retirement, the idea of building something new, a business that fostered best practices and created new opportunities for early to mid-career professionals, was just too appealing.
MedX was formed in early 2003 to help address the nursing shortage that had captured George’s attention. With their industry contacts, George and Merrit (CEO and COO respectively), along with son, Dean Charokopos (CFO) and brother and recruiting industry veteran, Reid Baker, were able to attract some real talent. They knew they’d have to bring some leaders experienced in healthcare recruiting and a serious driver of sales to achieve real, long-term success. So they scoured the competition and identified Jennifer Santoleri and James Stewart. Jennifer and James had 20 years collective recruiting industry experience. They were well-seasoned business people and experienced when it came to building an effective nurse-recruiting program. James’ ability to attract new business combined with Jennifer’s passion for delivering results to her clients and Reid’s skill at training new recruiters was a winning combination. MedX had its first client by its second month of operation, July 2003.
MedX quickly proved to be exceptional in its ability to deliver. This reputation, combined with a focus on building long-lasting relationships, resulted in increasing and unusual requests. Not only was MedX asked to find nurses and other medical staff for health systems, requests for engineers and high level information technology placements were rolling in. The result was the formation of 21st Century Staffing in late 2003. The idea was to create a team of highly specialized, laser focused recruiters. 21st Century specializes in engineering, defense industry and high level information technology placements.
Many health system clients struggled increasingly with tapped out candidate pools and a growing shortage of nurses. In response, the leadership team looked for a new source of skilled medical professionals. Once again, strong relationships offered a solution. George Charokopos suggested a partnership with long time associate and entrepreneur, Willie Santos. Kopos MedX International was formed in 2004 and an office in Pasig City, Philippines was opened later that year. In 2006, Kopos MedX International became one of only a handful of companies in the US, affiliated with a Philippino company, to receive approval of its Philippine Overseas Employment Administration License.
Increasing exposure in the health and life sciences space brought to light another opportunity to apply the team’s skill in the human capital arena. Understanding that a skilled Clinical Research Coordinator can make or break a clinical trial’s success, MedX saw that there was a shortage of nurses who knew about these opportunities. Armed with a ready-made workforce of nurses looking for extra hours already built by MedX, the team founded a new practice in the biotech and pharmaceutical arena. Antean was formed in 2005 to serve the clinical trials industry with resources, education and skilled human capital.
Clearly the organization was growing and diversifying. A centralized administration and leadership was necessary to efficiently manage resources across the organization. Kopos & Baker, an international holding company was formed in 2005 to ensure that the original mission and entrepreneurial spirit remains intact.
Future plans for Kopos & Baker are simple: continue to grow both human capital management and international lines of business, become the best service provider in our niche markets, be known for world-class service and results, and expand our offerings in a way that makes us increasingly valuable to our clients without compromising our core mission and values. Finally, we value the broad experiences, industries and relationships offered by our own team and will continue to pursue new ventures that can build on this core of exceptional worth. |
