Entrepreneurship & Growth
Aquent was founded in 1986 by three friends residing in a Harvard dorm, originally as a desktop publishing and design firm. As business picked up the founders asked their friends and relatives to go out on assignments and even open remote branch offices. That strategy seemed to work, for within five years Aquent (then called MacTemps) had expanded internationally and was ranked by Inc. magazine as the 12th fastest-growing private company in America.

Innovations & Accolades
Though Aquent has long been regarded as the dominant force in creative (and then marketing) staffing, the company is most proud of its impact on the staffing industry overall and in pioneering new ways to work for marketing professionals.

In 1992 Aquent became the first national staffing firm to offer comprehensive medical and retirement benefits to temporary employees. Competitors called us crazy, but then, one by one, they attempted to copy our offering. Also that year we introduced our 110% money-back guarantee, a commitment to quality still unmatched by any other firm.

In 1996, when most staffing firms still called their workers “temps” and viewed them as transient, Aquent again defied convention. Our success was heralded in a Harvard Business School case study, “Building Loyalty Among a Contingent Workforce,” which for a time was taught to every MBA student.

And in 1998 Fast Company wrote a cover story on Aquent, concluding, “If you want to chart the economy’s future, look at where Aquent is going.”

Recent Awards
In 2007, the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) awarded Aquent the coveted Corporate Plus® designation, the highest designation for a minority supplier. Aquent was also recognized in 2007 as a Partner-level Supplier for 2006 in the John Deere Achieving Excellence Program, the eighth consecutive year we received this recognition. In 2006, Aquent was named the Best Specialist Recruiting firm in both Australia and New Zealand (by SEEK, the region’s number one job board).

Aquent Today
The three cofounders are all still involved, the first employee is now our Chief Operating Officer, and our regional managers average 11 years with Aquent. And our first temp? He’s now our CFO.