This July of 2023 marks the 40-year anniversary of DeBellis Catherine and Morreale Corporate Staffing. We thought we’d take a quick journey back at the history of our company and share a few funny stories along the way.

Quick History

When the company was founded in 1983, it was initially called DeBellis & Catherine Associates. Mike DeBellis and Joe Catherine, who had previously worked together at AFCO Personnel, joined forces, and started the company that has now spanned four decades.

In 1994, Vince Morreale joined the company and in 2006 was made partner and the new name DeBellis Catherine & Morreale was formed.

The longest tenured employee is Mary Girasole, joining the company in 1990. Out of the remaining 5 employees, 3 have been with the company for over 10 years, a testament to the great culture Mike, Joe, and Vince have cultivated over the years in what we refer to as our DCM team.

A Time Without Technology

To honor how the company has evolved and changed over the past four decades, we thought we would share a few stories from a time with almost no technology. Back when there was a huge debate over whether a fax machine was a good investment and carbon copy paper was the standard.

Let’s go back to the 1980’s. Did you know it was common for recruiters to use a “desk name”? Not everyone did this, but for example, Joe Catherine is not only well known around Buffalo with his real name, but you may have also encountered a Joe Anthony or even a Marty Smith trying to recruit you for a new job.

The Bike Ride

Going back to a world without email, continue back further before the fax machine, and you have snail mail as the most common form of business communication. Yes, this is how recruiters once sent resumes to their clients. If you aren’t familiar with how the recruiting industry works, it is often a race against time. The first recruiter to submit a candidate’s resume will get “credit” for that candidate. Nowadays, it’s far simpler with email that tracks date and time, but things were quite different in the past.

One of the greatest, you could say legendary, stories of our company was when Mike encountered some obstacles in getting a resume over to his client. He was working from his home at the time, and his wife had their car. He had found the perfect candidate for a job and needed to get the resume to the post office. Unfortunately for Mike, there was a driving rainstorm, and his only mode of transportation was a bicycle. Did he give up? Absolutely not. He tucked that resume into a waterproof Ziploc bag and biked the 1.5 miles to the post office… then had to turn around and bike back home. In the end, the candidate got the job!

The Computer

If we go forward in time a bit, to the 1990’s, when computers did exist. However, they were less common and far more expensive. So much so, that not everyone could have their own. Instead, the company had ONE computer, yes, only one. To use it, you had to schedule time, almost like scheduling a time in a conference room in the modern era. When you were lucky enough to get some time on the computer, the first stop would always be with the original dial up online resume database, Headhunter.net. Here you could browse resumes of candidates that also happened to own a computer.

40 Years

It is funny how so much has changed over 40 years, but so much has also remained the same. While the technologies have evolved, we still take pride in matching people with opportunities that help to improve their lives.

Through the years, we’ve placed over 8,000 people into new roles, sometimes into a new job that projected their career, sometimes into a new city where they have grown their family, and sometimes into a new company where they met their future spouse. It’s nice to think we have been a part of our candidates’ lives, for even the briefest instance, that helped them to meet a goal or to change their lives for the better.

Whether you have worked with DCM for years, or have just come across us recently, we want to thank you for being a part of our community. We are honored to have served the WNY community and beyond over the past 40 years. Now, on to the next 40!