Three Rockwell Generations

We really do go way back – to 1977.  With a five-thousand dollar bank loan, Bea Rockwell started her placement agency - it was enough to pay one employee, buy 2 phones, order business cards and rent a small office for 3 months.  She was a digger, and there was no way she was going to fail.  

After taking a job as Receptionist at a large downtown placement agency in downtown Vancouver when she moved her family west from Nova Scotia in 1972, Bea shone in the setting, and was soon promoted to Recruitment Consultant, and later division manager.  Hanging her own shingle as “Rockwell Personnel” in February 1977 was the next logical step for the transplanted Bluenoser with so much pluck, smarts and plain old charm, she had fifteen employees, four locations and hundreds of clients within five short years!. Truth be told, we think the charm also had something to do with her early Newfoundlander roots.  She grew up with a “work hard, don’t make excuses and treat people right” attitude.

Over the eighteen years she ran Rockwell Personnel – later renamed Rockwell Placement Agencies, Bea built her reputation on great instincts, great humour, and even greater humility.  She was generous to a fault, and always rooted for the underdog.  Her family has treasured the incredible stories that came out of running an agency when the only technology was the phone and photocopier.  Bea hired her 3 kids at one point or another through years, and expected them to pull their weight.  

Karla remembers being at the front desk one day, doing payroll for fifty some-odd temps, when Bea came to the front desk to ask “what size are you wearing?”  Within minutes, Karla was wearing her slip under a coat. Bea asked her to take off her clothes and give them to a young lady who had just moved from a small town with nothing to wear to an interview.  Back in those days, you often left our office after your interview, and headed straight to the client’s office for the job interview.  Bea would call her client and tell them “I’ve just sent over the person you’re going to hire – they’ll be there in 10 minutes.”  Clients loved her because they knew they could trust her instincts and know she had their best interests at heart. 

We have taken to heart the principles of our beloved family matriarch, who left us due to a battle with cancer in 1995.  She believed people could experience deep satisfaction and lasting purpose when they could do what they love and be recognized for their achievements among a great team.  She was somewhat selective about the companies she’d work with – never wanting to place a candidate in a tough environment.  She had integrity, she loved her family, was kind and fair to all, and left a rich legacy that we honour today.