Making It Look Easy

Imagine starting a new job and walking into your new office on the first day. Do you know who put your office together and made it so immaculate? Do you know who comes in early during the winter months and lays down salt on an icy morning so you don’t slip? Do you know who replenishes the coffee grounds that you so desperately rely on to get you through the day? The answer is corporate services.

A team of four, consisting of Robin Whipkey, John Weilbacher, Phil Gray, and Larry Raine, make up the corporate services team at Franklin International. This department has an exceptionally long list of responsibilities that it manages flawlessly each and every day. The little things that some of us might take for granted are the workings and strategic planning of the corporate services team. Their main responsibilities include, but are not limited to: pickup / delivery services, office relocation and furniture assembly, installation, meeting room management, small repairs, mail room delivery and supplies, maintaining fax/copier/printer supplies, maintaining company vehicles, emergency and/or special- needs response, outside landscaping and maintenance, employee services, maintaining break rooms and vending areas, as well as assisting security as needed. Even with this long list of responsibilities, to say they make their jobs look easy is an understatement.

Corporate services are the most integral and high in-demand department throughout Franklin. This company could not operate at a functioning level without them. Robin Whipkey, executive administrative assistant, describes the corporate services team as a customer service department within the company. “The employees at Franklin International are our customers,” she stated.

With 88 years of combined experience, the department runs like a well-oiled machine. Everything is done in-house and with a personal touch. The members of this team know and work with every single employee at Franklin and, according to Phil Gray, corporate services supervisor, “the greatest part of my job is getting to work with all the different departments and seeing everyone work together.”