Terri Alpert
Terri Alpert is a serial entrepreneur[1] and consumer marketer. Currently the CEO of Stony Creek Brands, LLC which operates two direct-to-consumer companies, Uno Alla Volta,[2] LLC and Cooking Enthusiast,[3] LLC from a common infrastructure. Alpert’s first entrepreneurial venture was Professional Cutlery Direct(PCD) founded in 1993 with $8000.[4]
In 1996 Alpert invited her brother-in-law, Jay Alpert, to join her as her business partner. By 1999, the company revenue was over $9 million.[5] 2000 Moving to its current North Branford, CT headquarters in 1999, the company brought in management, made extensive leasehold improvements, and for the first time had considerable debt.
In 2002, she formed Uno Alla Volta, LLC and created a test catalog which mailed three times in the holiday season. Learning from the marketing and merchandising results of the test, she honed the UAV concept and launched it officially in July 2003.[6]
With the help of her brother-in-law and business partner, Jay Alpert, they evolved PCD into Cooking Enthusiast,[6] The Passionate Cook’s Resource, broadening its range of products.
Education
Terri graduated from Brown University in 1985, magna cum laude, with an A.B. degree in physics. A strong advocate for the benefits of a well-rounded liberal arts education, she served as a student representative to University President Howard Swearer’s Curriculum[7] Review Committee, an adhoc committee of deans, faculty, and students to examine Brown’s New Curriculum on its ten-year anniversary. While at Brown, she resurrected the long dormant Brown Flying Club, creating the club, and finding funds for an aircraft. Krasner, Steven (October 22, 1983). "Brown Students Flying High Again, Terri Cohen has revived airplane club". Providence Journal-Bulletin. The plane was owned and operated by a separate entity, Brown Soaring Inc., and not the university’s club.
Entrepreneurship
Alpert is a founding member of Connecticut’s only organized angel investment group.[8] She is a frequent coach and mentor of entrepreneurs.
Having supported Brown University’s Entrepreneurship Program[9] since its inception, she serves as a board member, lecturer, frequent business-plan judge and board-mentor for the annual business plan competition. She is a founding board member of Zeo, Inc. (formerly Axon Labs),[10] She has advised Kassie Rempel of SimplySoles since the inception of company.[11] and is a strategic advisor to RJ Julia’s Booksellers and Just The Right Book.
Alpert has received coverage in publications such as Inc.[1][12][13] and Entrepreneur[14] magazines. She was the subject of a cover story on CNNfn’s “Entrepreneur’s Only” television show in 2000 and has appeared on radio talk shows.[15][16][17]
Awards and recognition
In 2009, Uno Alla Volta, was one of only 56 US businesses to win the 2009 US Chamber of Commerce Blue Ribbon Award.[18]
In 2007, Alpert was one of three women selected by Working Mother magazine for their first ever “Entrepreneur Mom” award and she is a member of the Classes of 2008 and 2009 Enterprising Women of the Year.[19][20]
In 2002, Alpert was the received the Award of Excellence from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.[21]
In 2000, Alpert was selected by BusinessNewHaven Magazine as its Small Business Person of the Year.[4] and named by CatalogAge Magazine as one of its New Breed of Innovators.[22]
In 2000, PCD was the runner up of the CISCO Growing With Technology Award for using technology to innovate customer service.[23]
Professional Cutlery Direct, LLC was a three-time winner of the Inc 500 award of 500 fastest-growing privately held companies in the US. It won in the years 1999,[5] 2000,[24] 2001.[25]
Uno Alla Volta, LLC is a three-time winner of the Inc 5000 award in the years 2007,[26] 2008,[27] and 2009.[28]
Notes
- 1 2 "ALPERT: Serial Entrepreneurs – They Just Can’t Stop Themselves". INC.
- ↑ "One At a Time - From the Hands of Master Artisans". Uno Alla Volta.
- ↑ "The Passionate Cook's Resource". Cooking Enthusiast.
- 1 2 Phelan, Fiona (January 22, 2001). "On the Cutting Edge". BusinessNewHaven.
- 1 2 "Company Profile: Professional Cutlery Direct". Inc.com.
- 1 2 Del Franco, Mark (December 1, 2003). "Professional Cutlery Direct Carving Broader Niche". MultiChannel Merchant.
- ↑ "Brown's New Curriculum". Dean of College of Brown University.
- ↑ "AIF". Angel Investor Forum.
- ↑ "Advisory Board". Brown Entrepreneurship Program.
- ↑ "Sleep: Who Needs It? Students Mix Business with Studies". Inside Brown.
- ↑ "A Chat With Kassie". CatalogSuccess.
- ↑ "ALPERT: Motivating Employees". INC.
- ↑ "ALPERT: Growing to Big to Stay in the House". INC.
- ↑ "ALPERT: Class Act". ENTREPRENEUR.
- ↑ "Launchpad with Liz and Joan Hamburg". WOR Radio.
- ↑ "KGO Radio, Dining Around with Gene Burns". DiningAround.com.
- ↑ "WNPR Food Schmooze with Faith Middleton Burns". WNPR.
- ↑ "2009 Blue Ribbon Winners". US Chamber of Commerce.
- ↑ "2008 Enterprising Women of the Year" (PDF). Enterprising Women of the Year.
- ↑ "2009 Enterprising Women of the Year" (PDF). Enterprising Women of the Year.
- ↑ "Awards of Excellence". International Association of Culinary Professionals).
- ↑ "ALPERT New Breed of Innovators". CatalogAge Magazine (now MultiChannelMerchant).
- ↑ "Growing With Technology" (PDF). CISCO Awards).
- ↑ "#181 of 500". Inc.com.
- ↑ "#303 of 500". Inc.com.
- ↑ "#815 of 5000". Inc.com.
- ↑ "#1915 of 5000". Inc.com.
- ↑ "#2973 of 5000". Inc.com.
External links
- BrownHEN An Interview with Terri Cohen Alpert on Entrepreneurship, October 18, 2007
- Good Housekeeping Magazine Bounce Back with Emotional Resilience, May 2007
- MultiChannel Merchant Uno Alla VoltaGets Personal, February 1, 2009
- New York Times Magazine Connecticut At Its Best – You Can Go Home Again, December 12, 2004
- MultiChannelMerchant Carving A Broader Niche, December 1, 2003
- USA Today Square Spoons Work Better for Cooking, January 2000
- Business Week The Kindest Cut, December 6, 1999
- Pink Magazine The Hardest Challenge is the Most Appealing, 2008