By ADINA GENN -- The U.S. Small
Business Administration has named Brian Drum, president
of Drum Associates, the New York District Small Business
Person of the Year.
Located “300 yards from the World Trade Center,”
Drum Associates, an executive search firm, persevered
through the 9/11 attacks and managed to survive the
subsequent economic downfall at a time when other
businesses downsized or closed.
“There
was zero business,” Drum recalled. “It
was the first time I ever had something fall off the
map.”
To retain his 32-per-son staff, Drum switched employees
from commission to salary. Grants and insurance for
loss of business “got us through the next period,”
Drum said. As work trickled in, Drum altered his business
structure. Rather than assign five-person teams to
specific accounts, Drum devoted 15 people to a project.
“If we filled positions faster, if we worked
harder at it, we’d be better off for it,”
he said.
As Drum told his staff, “We’re in a lifeboat.
We’ll row together. Those that can will be fine.
Otherwise, we’ll need life vests.” Already
working with Asian companies that owned New York financial
institutions, Drum saw opportunities in that market.
He started up a Japanese business practice, hiring
a Japanese former client to run the division. “It
was a more focused revenue stream,” Drum said.
By the summer of 2003, business began to pick up.
“The economy turned a bit, too, which has helped,”
Drum said. Companies became “less gun-shy about
hiring.”
Today, his employees are happy with the new business
structure. “We’re a much better team,”
Drum said. Of 9/11 and the months that followed, he
said: “It was a bonding experience. But if it
was a day I could give back, I would.”
