24 Years of EDI: An Inside Look

This month marks EDI Staffing’s 24th complete year of business. That’s almost a quarter of a century spent providing exceptional staffing services to our clients. It’s an accomplishment we’re all proud of, and it’s caused many of us to reflect on our time at EDI and what the company means to us.

Wayne Marshall, VP of Professional Services, shares his thoughts on his own personal experience with EDI, and what makes this company stand out above all the others.

“Call it fate, call it a mere coincidence, or call it just pure luck. I was offered a job at EDI Specialists, now EDI Staffing, more than 19 years ago. The president of the company, Joe Gilbody, approached me at a meeting of the New England EDI Users’ Group and asked if I would like to come and work for him. (Ironically, I had blown off an interview with Joe years earlier when he was an EDI manager at a company in Cambridge. I just wasn’t ready to make a move at that time.) He knew I was in a period of transition with Polaroid, and in my personal life; he also knew I would be new to the staffing industry, but that I was an expert manager of EDI, and that I had built a personal relationship with many companies and individuals through my involvement with various vendors and associations.

A month or so later, I accepted the job and have never looked back.

What type of person is Joe Gilbody? He’s gracious, generous, honest, demanding, sometimes frustrating, but always moving forward to grow his people and his company. Joe had a vision in 1994; he knew he could make a difference, because he knew good EDI people were hard to find. When I look back, those were the golden years of the great EDI veterans, many of whom have now retired. (Think of it as The Greatest Generation!)

Joe literally mortgaged everything to see his vision come to life. He started the company on his front porch, with a common booklet of U.S. EDI Coordinators, a fax machine, and a part time administrator.

Joe gave me carte blanche to define my role – how many bosses would do that? I’ve known Joe to be trusting to a fault, but he always gives people and employees the opportunity for a fresh start and rewarding career, without prejudice. I’m not canonizing Joe. Once you get on his bad side, your goose is probably cooked. But that’s a rare occurrence.

Our company culture is really unique in some ways. We are a very flat organization, and there is autonomy among our “islands” of talent. Yet, we all work together in a harmonious fashion. We may disagree at times, but in the end, we come together as a family of hard working, respectful, and cohesive individuals rowing in the same direction.

Let me close by saying that the staffing industry has to be one of the toughest industries in which to work and prosper. You need a thick skin to survive rejection and disappointment. So much has changed. Rules and regulations place an enormous burden on our staff. Cutthroat competition erodes margins, and candidates aren’t always truthful about some things. Clients can also be demanding, and rightfully so.

In the end, however, there is no better reward than to play a part in helping someone get a better job, or helping a client gain an exceptional employee. I have but one regret – that I have but one career to give to this company, which has given me so much.”

EDI Staffing has always made it our goal to help our customers meet their technological needs by helping them find short- and long-term staffing solutions, and offering consulting and professional services to help businesses grow. We feel a sense of responsibility and commitment to continue providing this important service in the future—for the next 24 years and beyond.