GORDY BROWN
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer

Gordon C. (Gordy) Brown is viewed by his friends and contemporaries as a visionary leader and entrepreneur. His business life has been dedicated to building companies based upon ethics, customer focus, employee empowerment, a commitment to change and team building.

Brown was an original founder of NAPEO and he started a staff leasing company, "Your Staff," in 1979, serving as majority owner, president and CEO until 1994. He served as president, vice president and chairman of government affairs committee in NAPEO over a 10-year span.

Brown directed the sale of the first major PEO to a public company (Kelly Services) in 1994. At the time of sale, Your Staff, Inc., was a $100 million PEO operating in three states. Brown served as an officer of Kelly Services and was chief operating officer of Your Staff from 1994 to 1997. He helped build the company to over $200 million, operating in more than 40 states.

Brown was recognized in 1996 by the mayor of Los Angeles and the governors of California and Michigan for "dedication and vision, excellence in service and providing outstanding service in the PEO industry."

A licensed California insurance broker and life insurance agent from 1971 to 1995, Brown founded Canopy Insurance in 1971 and was nominated in 1990 as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young and Inc. magazine.

In recent years, Brown has taken an intense interest in the Internet, helping launch several online companies. He is chairman of the board of advisors for Firstuse.com and is affiliated with FirstSourceTravel.com.

Brown also has maintained a lifelong interest in baseball. After playing baseball and football through high school, he began volunteer coaching. Later, when his son, Chris, became old enough to begin playing, Brown managed teams at Woodland Hills (Calif.) Sunrise Little League at all levels for 10 years. He also was responsible for the league's corporate fund-raising for five years.