Thank You Sandy Cooper!

Cooper Roberts Research just celebrated our 18th anniversary. It is hard to believe it was over 18 years ago that Sandy (Sanford) Cooper approached me about starting a new marketing research company. I first crossed paths with Sandy when I worked for a research company in Cincinnati. It was the early 1980s and he had recently left Burke, after a very successful career as their President and CEO. He had tired of being an “administrator” and wanted to get back to being a “researcher”. My company hired him on a short term contract to help improve the quality of their consumer research division. By the time he finished, most of the staff was people he recruited from Burke. I was one of only a handful of original employees that remained. Having become a business partner with him about ten years later, I have always found this somewhat ironic.

Sandy eventually went on to found Cooper Research, a very successful firm that specializes in healthcare research. I moved to the west coast with my original company. We stayed in touch over the years. In the later eighties, Sandy approached me about starting my own firm, with him as a founding partner. I would run the business; he would provide guidance and access to resources. Most importantly, he provided credibility. I rebuffed his suggestion for a number of years, but eventually I said yes. I think I would have probably started my own business anyway. But without Sandy, I probably would have waited another 5-10 years.

Sandy has been retired for sometime, but I know he stays informed about the industry. He even reads Merrill Dubrow’s blog. While I have thanked Sandy many times, I would like to use my public forum of this blog to once again say ‘thank you”. The first 18 years have been fantastic!