A Brief History

Bob Spiegelman, the founder of BENETEMPS, began in the recruiting business in 1976 and almost immediately became a specialist in the placement of Employee Benefit and Human Resource professionals. The post-ERISA focus on benefit plan design and administration quickly created a significant need for benefit professionals in a variety of roles and Bob formed Davenport Associates in 1977 to help identify and place qualified employees to meet these needs.

As ERISA statutes and regulations took effect, employee benefit departments and service providers faced rapidly increasing work loads which made benefits the fastest growing area of the human resources function (still known as 'personnel' in those days). The new focus on benefits was amplified in the early 1980's by steeply escalating health care costs, the advent of flexible benefit plans and the arrival of a new retirement vehicle, the 401(k) plan. Employees' growing interest in their benefit programs and the associated 'hidden paycheck' led to significantly increased needs for employee counseling and communication. All of these factors led to the need for many new professionals in all areas of benefit and human resource administration and Davenport Associates supported a wide variety of employers in meeting those needs.

In addition, special projects resulting from plan redesign, administrative system development, the new flexible benefit approach, to name just a few, led to an increasing need for temporary assistance in all areas of the field. BENETEMPS was established in 1991 as a supplier of contract employees to meet a wide variety of needs in both the benefit and human resources arenas.

In addition to providing permanent placement services, since 1991, BENETEMPS has filled almost 3000 contract positions and today is a leading resource for contract benefit professionals throughout the US.