Grindstone Inc. is headquartered in Ellicott City, Maryland, USA and was founded by Brian Augustus Parnell in 2003. Brian’s vision was to quickly position the company as a highly professional, strategic business development company. The lack of integrity and professionalism within the B2B telemarketing industry paved the way for Grindstone Inc. to substantially raise the bar and set a new standard. This philosophy has driven the company from its inception. Grindstone is a leader in sales support and direct telesales services for the B2B market place. Services include Lead generation, Lead development and qualification, appointment setting, event promotion, and direct telesales.

Industry leader - Grindstone is a full service, outsourced Business Development Company providing professional sales support and complete sales outsourcing solutions to Domestic and International clients alike. Grindstone specializes in Business to Business programs including direct telesales, lead generation, database updating, customer retention, and appointment setting services. Grindstone recruits, manages, and maintains top level talent through a superior management infrastructure. Consistent communication, feedback, and strategy refinement are a core trait. Grindstone is an extension of each client’s business and operates at the highest levels of professionalism. Every client program starts with the goal of establishing a long term ongoing partnership.

Additionally, Grindstone provides services to all types of businesses including startup companies, small operations, companies that are in turnaround situations, as well as Fortune 500 companies. The company also assists International companies that are looking to penetrate into the United States market space. We are pleased to have serviced clients that include NASA, American Express, L3 Communications, Pitney Bowes, Securitas, Republic Financial and Panasonic. Grindstone is currently strategizing a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University/Software Engineering Institute.

Grindstone firmly believes in superior professionalism. All clients are treated the same regardless of their size and scope of program. Grindstone recognizes that all client programs are driven by results. The company has established proven operation models that ensure its clients receive top notch service. Additionally the focus is on its clients Return on investment. Grindstone is a process driven company that understands long term client relationships rely on consistency, quality performance, and professionalism. The company’s process flows have steps to make certain its clients receive direct and first hand communication from the entire staff. Additionally clients have complete access to real time performance reports via its proprietary web based contact management system. Clients are constantly aware of the progression of their calling campaigns.

Brian Augustus Parnell, President and Founder -a natural entrepreneur and leader, developed Grindstone Inc. with his extensive marketing, sales and call center management experience. Brian served as the Director of Marketing for one of the Largest Mortgage Brokers in the country. Under his management, his Business Development center produced record volumes of high quality leads, significantly expanding the company's reach into the mortgage refinance industry. Prior to that, Brian served as a Marketing and Operations Manager for the largest Debt Management service provider in the U.S., where his creative strategies and entrepreneurial spirit helped to grow their contact center to over 600 counseling professionals. Brian has a natural desire and talent to help companies grow. He has effectively bridged the gap between sales and marketing divisions, redesigned processes and communication flows to maximize revenue opportunities. Brian is a Towson University of Maryland graduate with a Bachelors of Science degree in Advertising and Communications. He is presently pursuing an MBA.

Jeffrey Streckfus, Vice President of Operations -Jeff is responsible for managing the operations of Grindstone and oversees the management of each client campaign. Jeff has executed and managed hundreds of campaigns in a wide array of verticals including everything from advertising sales, banking, consulting services, consumer products, employee benefits programs, financial services, information technology infrastructure, insurance, manufacturing, publishing, software, and supply chain management programs just to name a few verticals. Jeff’s primary responsibility at Grindstone is to assist our clients in gaining them the maximum return on investment by utilizing our services. Jeff has extensive experience with start up companies, turn around situations, and for those companies just looking to outsource to save costs. Additionally, Mr. Streckfus has a solid track record of project management, process redesign, documenting processes, and driven focus on continuous improvement with the campaigns he executes. Lastly, he has a creative drive that has played an integral part in launching new operational processes to release new products and turning them profitable in a short period of time.

Nathan J. Lewis, Vice President of Business Development - Nathan has served Grindstone since its inception and is responsible for top level business development. Nathan brings years of marketing, training, business development, management, and promotional skills to the company. He has trained and managed 90 plus marketing reps for a major financial brokerage focusing on script development, customer service, and time management. He continued his experiences in the financial industry as a Senior Loan Analyst. Nathan developed his experience working in the Business Outsourcing genre as an Inside Sales Associate, Team Project Leader, and Business Development Consultant. Nathan is a strong believer of premier customer service, technology, and proper business ethics. These strong core beliefs have allowed Nathan to succeed at every level where a challenge presents itself.

Ed Goldstein, Program Manager - Ed has over 20 years of business development, sales, team management, project management, and marketing skills. He has been active in a host of marketing endeavors for many different industries. At Grindstone Ed is responsible for valuable client feedback and consultation, and hands on management style. Ed is goal oriented, proactive, and understands how to lead his team in an effective client centered manner. Ed is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a degree in Liberal Arts and after 20 plus years removed from U.C. is presently enrolled in a dual degree program.

Shannon Ashworth , Program Manager- Shannon comes to us with both experience and knowledge in the position. She has been a top performer on our client's programs consisently beating goals..Shannon is a natural leader and motivator. She has over 13 years of sales and sales management experience, and she obtained her Bachelor’s degree from theUniversity from Arkansas.

Lee Ann Rife , Program Coordinator - Lee Ann has over seven years of dedication in the Telecommunications industry. She has worked within all areas of a call center environment. She was called upon to design and deliver training programs that result in an excited and more knowledgeable team ready to put their training to work. Lee Ann has developed and implemented training curriculum for multiple companies including SBC (the new AT&T). She excels in providing clients a knowledgeable workforce that results in quality customer service from start to finish. She currently enjoys working to help develop custom business development plans for each of Grindstones clients.

Courtneney Huff , Director of Recruiting -Courteney comes to us with several successful programs with Grindstone as well as 5 years of sales experience. Courteney obtained her Bachelor’s degree from Wright State University. Her primary focus is to provide great talent for Grindstone. Her innovative, goal-oriented, and creative approach strives her to excel with thin Grindstone to deliver results. She is a team player with outstanding interpersonal and problem-solving skills.