Values and Mission Statement
At KP Staffing, our mission is to empower the people and companies of DFW. We believe that finding the right career match is essential to us as people, and to us as a community. So we do everything in our power to make that happen. That’s why our mission statement is, “Building up our communities by empowering people with the right career match.” Whether you’re a person looking for a job that fits your needs and qualifications or you’re a company looking for staff to complete your team, finding the right match is essential to thriving; our light industrial and skilled trades staffing services in Dallas, Fort Worth, and various other locations throughout Texas want to make that happen.
Our core values are transparency, improvement, and empowerment.
We believe that honesty and transparency are the key to moving forward together; we’ll be honest with you as you search with us for a job, or as you search with us for new team members.
Our eyes are set on progress, but not just so our company can grow bigger; we want to grow better at what we do and how we do it. We continue to seek ways to improve our process and make it easier for our applicants to get to work and for our companies to find the right employees.
And at the core of our transparency and improvement is empowerment; we value the people who partner with us, whether in-house team members, independent contractors, or those who make up the companies we work with. Without the people we have connected with along the way, our family business wouldn’t be here today. We strive to empower people and companies with the right match; through the connections we forge, we believe we empower the DFW community and beyond.
We're proud of how far we've made it, and we hope you join us as we continue to outgrow expectations.
We put our money where our mouth is.
What we do for Texas and abroad
At the core of our mission and values as a company is empowerment; we believe in making a sustainable difference in people’s lives through employment. But we also invest in our community and abroad by sponsoring sustainable projects to empower the people who make up the global workforce.
KP Staffing has partially or fully funded projects in Southeast Asia building sustainable water sources and an orphanage, as well as building a school library in Luapula Province, Zambia. Our company also contributes to communities abroad via individuals - our company funded a poultry business start-up for a woman in Eastern Province, Zambia, who spearheads women’s groups and sustainable business projects in her community in Chadiza, Zambia.
We also ongoingly support a school librarian in Eastern Province, Zambia, who teaches literacy in his village to empower students with the tools they need to broaden their career options.
Locally, our company donates to nonprofits that empower those who need a helping hand, such as food banks, women's shelters, and a child advocacy center. Knowing that the pandemic has placed unprecedented hardship on families and individuals, we’ve given some of our associates who were laid off due to the pandemic (if we weren’t able to immediately place them on new assignments) groceries and rent assistance.
At KP Staffing, we see people as human beings, and we hope to share our success with our community as we grow.
This is our story.
Where It All Began
A Firm Foundation
The story of KP Staffing begins back in 1977 with valued member of the DFW community and founder, Jess Johnston. His roots ran deep in Fort Worth, and in 1977, after managing a national staffing franchise for 19 years, he opened up his own agency; he called it Jess Temporaries. His tenure in staffing was the longest of anyone in the metroplex at that time.
A Successful Start
Jess’ knowledge of and dedication to the city of Fort Worth ran deep; he graduated from Paschal High School, and – after serving in the United States Army – Texas Christian University. His connection to Fort Worth served him well; acquaintances and friends brought him a flow of qualified applicants and customers who still remember his enlightened involvement in community affairs.
Jess served two terms on the Fort Worth City Council from 1969-1973. The first term was highly contentious, and people thought he would suffer humiliating defeat, but he prevailed; he ran unopposed for a second term.
He loved big band music, and Frank Sinatra could be heard from his record player throughout his house, according to his daughter, Elizabeth.
When he wasn't working at his office, he could always be found puttering in his yard and workshop (where he kept an endless supply of rusty tools from, likely, decades prior), and “dumpster diving; he was infamous for never passing up a bargain," Nathan Doran, President of KP Staffing, said.
Passing The Baton
In 1993, Jess passed the baton to his youngest daughter, Elizabeth Doran, and her husband, George. They changed the business name to Key Temporaries, and eventually to Key Personnel. The duo worked well together, and they took great care of a small but loyal group of clients. In 2005, they opened their second branch in the city of Granbury.
Workaholics to their core, Elizabeth and George raised four children, participated in their local church, traveled abroad, and managed their hobby farm in Granbury – all while owning and running a successful small business.
After graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2012, Elizabeth and George’s oldest son, Nathan, joined the business as the head of marketing.
He broadened the company's focus and had his eye set on growth. From 2012-2015, Key Personnel made a splash in event staffing in the DFW market.
A small team of about 15 servers quickly grew to well over 100 event staff. They served at high-end country clubs, hotels and event centers.
Nathan was engrossed in every detail of the process. During busy events, he could frequently be found working the events alongside the staff or cleaning up afterwards to make sure the customers were always happy.
"The relationships that we made with the staff and the clients credited our success during this time," Nathan said. "We made a relentless effort to make sure that people felt valued when they decided to partner with us."
A Shift In Focus
In November of 2015, in an effort to provide more sustainable, long-term employment for job-seekers, Key Personnel pivoted toward a focus on light industrial, clerical and professional staffing. Since this adjustment, KP Staffing has seen over 400% growth. The company now places thousands of people on jobs every year.
Nathan was named CEO in 2018.
Welcome To Our Chapter.
In June of 2020, our company name was shortened to KP Staffing.
We now have locations in Duncanville, Irving, Carrollton, Arlington, Saginaw, Garland, and Houston in addition to the original two in Fort Worth and Granbury; each of our branches strives to empower its surrounding community and promote growth with employment opportunities.
We’ve kept our doors open throughout the COVID-19 crisis, constantly striving to ensure safe workplace conditions during the crisis.
We placed over 2,000 people on jobs between March 19th, when many Texas companies were forced to shut down, and the end of September 2020.
Nathan attributes our company's success to "never losing sight of what has gotten us here – passionately striving to build great relationships," he said. "We hope that, if you’re considering employment with us or becoming a potential client, you take the leap and become part of our story and future success."