What started as a “give something back” effort by Daniel Josephs, Spruce Industries Executive VP and COO, resulted in a surprising bonus to his company’s bottom line. Spruce Industries, a janitorial wholesale product and services company based in Rahway, New Jersey, agreed to participate in Dr. Ronald Cook’s consulting project that he runs for Rider University graduate students. Josephs, whose father and grandfather are Rider alumni, agreed to enlist four Rider graduate students in assessing the implementation of a software program designed by Spruce to better manage the labor and supplies of various businesses, office settings, and schools. The tool is capable of rendering the most efficient modes of time allocation as well as equipment purchases to reduce maintenance costs.
While Spruce Industries had this technology readily available, it was Rider University MBA graduates Matt Nowlin, Brian Janovsky, and Jeremy Hopewell, and current MBA student Kimberly Cook, who were given the task of researching and developing how to best market the software to yield the greatest profit.
The big question at hand for Josephs was whether or not the company should charge its customers to use this software.
After months of careful data acquisition and analysis, the grad students advised Josephs to promote the software as a “value add” rather than to charge for it, a risky move forgoing revenue in pursuit of strategic marketing. Ultimately the risk paid off, as Spruce introduced the tool to a cleaning contractor who then secured a three-year contract with a major customer. This client then required further services from Spruce and in turn, Spruce saw a 20% increase in company profits.
Josephs has been very impressed with the results that the Rider students yielded for his company, citing real-world contributions that they have made while still in academia.“The more work you do while in college, the better off you are,” says Josephs. “I was shown what the students can offer us, out of the box, and our company was able to benefit greatly from it.”
An added reward to all participants in this program was the Rider students winning first place in the annual Small Business Institute (SBI) Project of the Year competition in Las Vegas. Dr. Cook shared what this means to Rider and the students. “The SBI program allows students to integrate their academic and life experiences in a consulting project with clients who gain from the fresh perspectives provided by the students. This faculty- guided, experiential approach provides an outstanding learning experience, and the being recognized nationally for the quality of the solution is simply icing on the cake.”
