When Brent Stork earned a communications degree from the University of Colorado in 1992, he latched onto a job that most college graduates would covet: marketing name-brand products to students on college campuses.
As a sales rep for MarketSource, a New Jersey-based company, Stork hawked wares for Fortune 500 companies like American Express and Honda.
Although Stork enjoyed the peer-to-peer sales gig, it wasn't long before he was looking for a more long-term opportunity. At a career fair in Boulder, he met a recruiter from an information technology staffing firm.
"I didn't know anything about it, but I was looking for an IT career opportunity versus my peer-to-peer sales job," said Stork, who was completely elated when the recruiter hired him for what turned out to be a three-year boot camp in the staffing industry. Soon after, Stork partnered with a colleague and started a firm that collected $1 million in revenues the first year. But all was not well when Stork and his partner bucked heads over the company's underlying philosophy.
"I was adamant about building relationships rather than going for a quick buck," said Stork, who eventually set up shop in 2001 with his new bride, Holly, as his business partner. Their two-bedroom condo served the dual purpose of home and company headquarters.
Genesis Group Consulting Corp., the Aurora-based business services and staffing company, is this year's fastest-growing small business. From it's humble beginnings in 2001 with revenues of just $12,100, the Genesis Group last year saw revenues jump 2,987 percent to $373,558. The company's niche is providing staffing in a variety of industries, including information technology, health care, defense contracting and engineering.
"We have really been blessed," said Stork, who along with his wife Holly credit their faith in God for their newfound success.
And even though the young entrepreneur is confident that Genesis Group can continue to maintain impressive revenues for its three-person office, Stork has much higher aspirations.
"It's so much more than making the money. It's about providing more opportunities, especially for employees who want to come alongside us and strive for excellence," Stork said.
The success of the Genesis Group was anything but certain a few months after Stork created his home-based staffing business.
"I realized that I wasn't seeing the activity I had been seeing," he said, noting his pessimism grew even before the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11 and the subsequent economic disaster. Fortunately, Holly Stork was working full-time as a nurse, her salary covering the basic family needs.
Another plus? No debt. The Storks financed their new venture with $10,000 in savings.
Even so, the pressures built up when Holly Stork learned she was pregnant. Tired and overwhelmed, she couldn't see the point in going on.
"I said, 'Let's just quit and you go get a job,'" Holly recalled.
Stork convinced his worried bride otherwise and stayed focused on developing a new game plan.


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"I knew everything would come around, I just had to diversify," Stork said.
With the information technology industry shrinking by the hour, Stork focused on the obvious.
"Health care staffing was picking up steam. That was a no-brainer with Holly in that industry," he said.
At the same time, Stork's persistence in cold-calling paid off when Northrup Grumman Corp., one of the nation's largest defense contractors, hired Genesis Group to fill some of its Colorado job openings. Then ICG Communications decided to give Stork a shot at filling a sales executive position. By mid-2002 business was booming and the Storks' personal life was blooming with the birth of a daughter, Halle Lu -- as in "hallelujah."
The Storks weren't the only ones singing praises.
"One of Brent's strong characteristics is understanding what a business needs from both a technical and management perspective," said Craig Steinebrey, a human resource manager for one of Denver's largest media companies who consulted with Stork throughout 2002. "He's also extremely honest and genuine."
Meanwhile, Stork's persistence impressed Mike Gloven, president of Bass-Trigon, an international oil and gas company based in Littleton. Although Gloven didn't have any immediate personnel needs, eventually some IT and management positions opened up and Genesis Group immediately came to mind.
"Brent had kept coming at us. We really like the attention he gave use," Gloven said. Compared with other firms, "it was impressive the amount of care and the personal attention Brent gave us. He's definitely looking at the long term."


For Holly, she's glad that her husband clung to his long-term vision during the early months of discouragement.
Today Genesis Group is based out of an office near South Parker Road and Quincy. Even with a small child to care for, Holly Stork doesn't mind cleaning their offices, sometimes at 5 a.m.
"We do whatever it takes," she said. When her daughter naps, Holly Stork begins cranking out administrative work and other necessary duties to support the business that now includes a new recruiter.
Although Stork regularly travels locally and sometimes nationally to meet with clients, a larger share of his time is spent on the telephone, building business and interviewing candidates from the comfort of his new office.
"Sometimes he works until 1 in the morning," said Holly.
Despite the long hours, the Storks are determined to maintain and grow their fledgling staffing business, so they can employ more people and provide comfortable incomes for other families.
That includes some families in places as far away as Myanmar in Southeast Asia, where the Stork's home church has opened an orphanage. The couple has visited the orphanage twice and gives generously to its financial support.
"That's part of our vision -- to produce enough money here to create wealth for other people in other parts of the world," Stork said.