Page 72 - BWA FEB 2013

72 | Business World Magazine | February 2013
An Eastern proverb claims that not one of us
is as a smart as all of us – a sentiment that cer-
tainly applies in accounting of the genius in
two entrepreneurial pioneers heralded with
Hall-of-Fame business distinction for their
unique creation of cooperatives in industry.
Howard Brodsky and the late Alan Green-
berg were the legendary founders of Carpet
One Floor & Home who went on to estab-
lish Carpet Co-op of America, an enterprise
that relied on cooperative strategies to ini-
tially unite independent carpet and floor-
ing businesses to maximize on buying power
and the acquisition of merchandise. Real-
izing that business model could be adapted
to encompass other industries and markets,
both foreign and domestic, they went on to
establish the powerhouse of CCA Global
Partners. Today, it is comprised by a com-
posite of affiliates in industries that include
flooring, lighting, bicycling, sporting goods,
and more. Beyond purchasing power, CCA
equipped co-op owners (the members are
the owners) with critical operating systems,
marketing support, training modules, which
again, was all about increasing efficiencies,
reducing costs and achieving greater prof-
itability. This model empowered small to
BizUnite Executives