Florida SBDC at UCF’s Advisory Board Council Makes Important Contribution to Growth of Cohen Grossman Attorneys at Law
Custom Selected Board of Volunteers
Make a Difference at No-Cost
Monday, February 22, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hal Thayer, Communications Director, FSBDC at UCF, 407.420.4850 or hthayer@ucf.edu
Orlando, FL – Law firms are more than a group of lawyers coming together to practice the law. In fact, they are businesses that face many of the same challenges as other kinds of businesses; how to manage growth, deal with human resources issues, improve financial performance, drive marketing effectiveness and more.
Cohen Grossman Attorneys at Law is precisely that kind of law firm: a business entity comprised of a group of lawyers engaging in the practice of law. Led by founder and owner Harvey Cohen, the firm has practices across multiple legal specialties, including insurance claims, personal injury, criminal law, family law, wrongful death, renters’ rights and the list goes on.
Cohen Grossman is a successful firm and was becoming more successful every day. And that success was demanding that more and more of Harvey Cohen’s time be spent managing the daily operations of the company. As he became more businessman than attorney, Cohen started to ask himself how he could make himself the best business owner possible.
Through networking and a friend, he was referred to the Florida SBDC at UCF and its Advisory Board Council (ABC) program. “My friend told me she’d really enjoyed her Advisory Board and that it had helped her business tremendously,” remarked Atty. Cohen. “I was intrigued and my friend put me in touch with Jill Kaufman, a consultant at the FSBDC as well as the program manager of the ABC program.
The Advisory Board Council is a no-cost board of experts providing advice and council to help businesses grow. It acts as a matchmaker between established local businesses and area professionals who volunteer their expertise as members of an advisory board, with the volunteers selected to address the specific needs of the FSBDC client.
“Jill Kaufman put a great board together for me,” says Atty. Cohen, “and we had our first meeting in July of 2013. Since then, my Board has been an invaluable resource and gets some of the credit for our ongoing success. We’ve been growing rapidly: we have seen a 167% revenue increase from 2012 to 2015; our employee base has grown more than 160% over the period; and very recently we moved our firm into our own, 33,000 sq. ft. building.”
“For me, one of the best benefits of my ABC was that it forced me to focus time on my business. Anyone who manages a business knows how hard it is to take time away from dealing with day-to-day operations, away from working in the business,” said Atty. Cohen. “My ABC made me take the time, with their help, to evaluate myself and my performance while sharing exemplary ideas to help the firm’s business. The Board’s different perspectives and experiences contributed significantly to how I run the firm today and how I will run it even better in the future.”
“I would recommend the Advisory Board Council to everyone, and I have. It can only help you. I can’t imagine where we’d be without it,” concluded Atty. Cohen. “I think it is such a valuable resource for small businesses that I have even gone a step further and become an ABC volunteer advisor myself.”
— FSBDC —
About the FSBDC at UCF
With its main office in the National Entrepreneur Center located at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) is part of the UCF Office of Research & Commercialization and the Florida SBDC Network (FSBDC Network). THE FSBDC at UCF provides business seminars and no-cost, one-on-one business consultation to emerging and established businesses. The FSBDC at UCF serves an eight-county area that includes Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties and maintains 10 service centers across Central Florida.
In 2014, the FSBDC at UCF served more than 8,200 entrepreneurs and small business owners through consulting and training, resulting in 12,387 Central Florida jobs created, retained or saved; $1.70 billion in sales growth; $26.1 million in capital formation; $39.7 million in government contract awards; and 105 new businesses started.
About the FSBDC Network
The FSBDC at UCF is a member of the Florida SBDC Network, a statewide service network funded in part through cooperative agreements with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, State of Florida and other private and public partners. The Florida SBDC Network is hosted by the University of West Florida and is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.
For over 35 years, the FSBDC Network has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development organizations, dedicated to providing emerging and established business owners with management and technical assistance, enabling overall growth and increased profitability for the businesses and economic prosperity for the state. The FSBDC Network is a statewide service system of 41 centers with 60 outreach locations, including the FSBDC at UCF.
In 2014, the Florida SBDCs served almost 30,000 entrepreneurs and small business owners through consulting and training, resulting in 42,644 jobs created, retained or saved; $5.8 billion in sales growth; $142.5 million in capital accessed; $210.2 million in government contract awards; and 486 new businesses started.
FSBDC at UCF | 3201 E. Colonial Drive | Orlando, FL 32801 | p 407.420.4850 | f 407.420.4862
sbdc@ucf.edu | www.sbdcorlando.com
