In this interview, Andy Slawetsky from Industry Analysts talks with Toni Gorveatt, President of Cobb Technologies in Richmond, Virginia. The conversation covers their experiences with the Ride for Jillian event, Cobb Technologies’ growth and operations, and Toni’s journey in a male-dominated industry. Toni shares how she started in the industry by accident and worked her way up to become President, while also discussing the importance of mentorship and building relationships with industry peers.
Cobb Technologies, celebrating its 33rd anniversary, has six offices across Virginia, employs about 120 people, and focuses on Canon and Konica as their primary lines, with some HP and Kyocera offerings as well. Toni discusses her experience of being a young woman in the industry and attending industry events dominated by men. She emphasizes the significance of forging relationships in the industry and learning from mentors and peers, regardless of gender. As Cobb Technologies continues to grow, Toni highlights the need for greater representation and diversity within the industry.
SOURCE Industry Analysts Inc.
Full Transcript
what’s happening Andy here I am joined
0:10
is wonderful to see you I uh I haven’t
0:13
been down there I guess in a little bit
0:14
last time I saw you we were doing the
0:16
ride for Jillian
0:18
or yeah just about a year coming up on a
0:20
year
0:21
um our always are just great last stop
0:24
you and then another dealer down the
0:26
street from Museum we stop and and see
0:28
the two you guys and it’s just an
0:29
awesome Epic ending for a long long week
0:32
on the road
0:33
um and the hospitality we always get
0:35
from Cobb is just awesome it’s our first
0:38
stop that morning uh always great
0:40
breakfast sandwiches big smiles from
0:42
lots and lots of people there it’s it’s
0:44
a treat for us and I have a monthly
0:46
meeting
0:48
um here at Cobb with all the employees
0:49
and we just had it last week and so I
0:51
said I know a lot of you are probably
0:53
gearing up for the Patriot pack to roll
0:55
through 10 and I just want to let you
0:56
know they’re taking a different tour and
0:58
I got these big size oh yeah you know
1:02
after all these years share the magic
1:04
with those other dealers so
1:06
um and we will we will there’s a lot of
1:09
dealers all these guys are gonna get get
1:11
a visit for the first time and yeah
1:13
they’ve been asking for years so it’s
1:15
nice it’s sad though because we’ve we’ve
1:17
come accustomed to seeing this you know
1:18
a lot of the same people every year and
1:20
it’s just really really been fun and you
1:22
guys have been you know wonderful and
1:23
even coming out meeting us the day
1:25
before and doing dinner and everything
1:26
so
1:28
um threatening I’m gonna I’m gonna pop
1:30
out on your ride yeah maybe you can come
1:32
and ride in the RV with us or yeah I
1:35
just might do that or I might find a
1:37
stop that you’re making and show up
1:39
because it’d be super fun well that
1:41
would be awesome because we will miss
1:43
you this year and and
1:45
um that brings me to uh to just wanted
1:47
to kind of touch base with you we uh uh
1:49
we were supposed to do this a couple
1:51
weeks ago and Canon um really wanted to
1:54
uh highlight the diversity of of one of
1:56
their dealers uh during women’s month
1:58
and and you’re just obviously a a poster
2:02
child for that it’s just a very
2:03
successful dealership
2:05
um male-dominated industry yeah they set
2:07
us up with usherwood and the women up
2:09
there last year and and so this year
2:11
we’re talking to you and and so I
2:13
thought I would um check in I guess
2:14
first let’s let’s start with you know
2:16
tell tell the viewers uh for those who
2:18
don’t know who’s cop Technologies yeah
2:21
Cobb Technologies we’re located in
2:23
Virginia and I’m here just outside of
2:25
Richmond this is our corporate office
2:27
and we have six offices across the state
2:30
so we we service most of Virginia
2:33
excluding Northern Virginia
2:35
um you know internally we have about 120
2:37
employees
2:38
we do Canon and Konica are primary lines
2:42
and we throw some HP and Kyocera in
2:44
there and yeah we’re we’re about 30
2:47
we’re actually this month we’re 33 years
2:49
old so
2:50
well congratulations 33 years old that’s
2:53
pretty good that’s pretty good in this
2:55
day and age
2:56
um and what is your role there what what
2:57
do you do I’m the president you are the
3:00
president well I’m the president you’re
3:01
the president yeah
3:04
um I was told that that just means that
3:06
we’re in we’re the ones that were in
3:07
trouble for any of the hacking or
3:08
lawsuits that go on yeah the ultimate
3:11
responsibility it stops there right yeah
3:14
that’s no fun
3:15
um but being the president you know I I
3:17
think the theme that we had initially
3:19
talked about
3:20
um chatting about and our on our
3:22
interview here yes it’s still perfect
3:24
right like you um you’re not as unique
3:27
as you as you once were right
3:29
um you know there’s a lot of uh very
3:31
powerful women in this industry running
3:32
all sorts of dealerships and branches
3:35
and you mentioned Konica Minolta um
3:37
Canon they both have uh senior uh very
3:41
senior uh women who are running those
3:43
organizations uh and president
3:46
um some in president roles some in
3:48
executive roles executive VP roles
3:51
um what was your journey like how did
3:52
you get to where you’re at and and you
3:54
know coming up from uh yeah I actually
3:58
when I sold copiers I wound up in
3:59
Richmond for a very short period doing
4:01
some sport around yeah we did um that’s
4:04
a whole nother story for another day but
4:06
you know how did you wind up
4:08
in your spot and and just in that role
4:11
you know what was your attorney I um
4:15
probably like a lot of people I I landed
4:17
in this industry by accident right I you
4:20
know I I was young early in my career I
4:23
was looking for something to do I knew
4:25
somebody that worked for a Canon
4:27
dealership here in town so I just ended
4:29
up there right and
4:31
um it just clicked I loved it and I went
4:35
into sales very quickly I was in a
4:37
support role when I entered the company
4:38
went into sales and then shortly after
4:41
that all those Acquisitions started
4:43
right
4:45
um so I I one of the other dealerships
4:49
in town a sharp dealership purchased the
4:51
Canon dealership that I worked for and
4:54
that’s where I met Freddie Cobb
4:56
um and I don’t know if you’ve ever met
4:57
Freddie Andy but
4:59
um Freddy’s the founder of Cobb and so I
5:02
started working uh with Freddie there
5:04
and then we both ended up leaving that
5:07
organization through some of those
5:08
Roll-Ups at the time
5:10
and Freddie left and he started cop Cobb
5:14
Office Products actually was the name of
5:16
the company back then and it was it was
5:18
organic he just opened the doors he went
5:21
knocked on mita’s door at the time
5:23
Kyocera Mita
5:25
and picked up that line and then he came
5:27
and knocked on my door and
5:30
um I was home painting one day and he
5:32
said hey come on I want to show you
5:34
something and I was walking out the door
5:35
and I said to my husband I’m not going
5:37
back in that industry yeah
5:39
and then I came back in the industry
5:42
um you know we drove downtown and saw a
5:45
little spot that he you know got a lease
5:48
on and he said let’s do this and I said
5:50
yeah yeah let’s do it so it was such a
5:53
fun ride right because you’re starting
5:55
from nothing and you’re just building it
5:57
as you go and you’re bringing people on
5:59
so
6:00
um and I can tell you he was definitely
6:02
a mentor to me he was
6:05
um you know how did I get to where I am
6:07
I attribute a lot of that
6:08
to him because we were very
6:12
um
6:13
you know we were Partners through the
6:15
whole thing and even when I uh was an
6:18
employee early on I always felt like I
6:21
was
6:22
um
6:23
an instrumental part of what was going
6:26
to make that organization grow so I’m
6:29
grateful for that because it gave me a
6:31
lot of opportunity so he’s he’s sailed
6:33
off into the Key West Sunset right so I
6:37
know he asked me the other day he goes
6:39
when did you actually become president
6:40
and I don’t even remember but it’s many
6:43
years ago
6:45
um because I I was I went into
6:47
um I obviously was a sales manager early
6:50
in my career and that’s when it was
6:51
difficult you talk about being in a male
6:54
dominated industry I started to go to
6:56
Industry events in that position
6:59
um you know leaving the nest and going
7:01
outside your dealership into the
7:03
industry and it was just all men and I
7:06
was very young so it probably was some
7:08
intimidation factor and I probably
7:10
didn’t have the confidence early on that
7:13
I needed to have but I think what you do
7:16
is you you know you find your
7:19
I found when I got into organizations
7:21
like CDA that were copier deals
7:24
Associated a little a little bit more
7:26
intimate right not quite as large and
7:29
you start to build those relationships
7:31
and then you start to think okay you
7:34
know you’re not looking at men women
7:36
they’re they’re your Co your peers in
7:39
your industry and made such great
7:41
friends there and they
7:44
um you know regardless of what gender
7:46
they’re the ones that are your mentors
7:48
to run things by and how do you do this
7:51
and how do I do this and you know tell
7:54
me about this and that’s how you grow
7:55
your organization so I think it’s really
7:58
important to if you’re in those
8:00
situations to just start working on the
8:02
relationship side of it right and some
8:06
of my best friends are are in this
8:08
industry now so that’s how I got here
8:11
um
8:12
and I’ve you know our Cobb has got you
8:15
know I still look and we have 120
8:18
employees I think was our last count 118
8:21
120 and
8:23
yeah yeah we are growing
8:26
um uh you know and we’re we’re growing
8:29
in people we’re growing in Revenue but I
8:31
would say probably still a third of
8:34
that’s women so you know still even at
8:36
Cobb you know it’s um
8:38
you know I think it’s because you have
8:40
your whole service sector which is
8:42
typically predominantly yep you know
8:45
mail driven but um but the sales force
8:48
isn’t the sales force is really um yours
8:50
seemed pretty easy to make sure yeah
8:53
um the executives you know and that’s I
8:55
think that’s kind of been
8:57
a Hidden Gem in our in our in our world
9:00
maybe maybe I’m wrong but you know even
9:01
my dealership back when I worked and
9:03
that was you know the early 90s mid 90s
9:06
um we had three sales managers two of
9:08
them were women we had
9:10
um
9:11
you know the the second in command in
9:14
our dealership Julianna mckish you
9:16
probably know her she’s uh Meridian and
9:18
now I think what uh kanikov and Ulta she
9:21
um she was my boss’s boss right like she
9:23
was second in command and so
9:26
um you know that’s that Lair has always
9:27
been there but now you know when you
9:29
look around the room when you look at
9:31
all of the people uh you know that the
9:32
the daughters the wives the
9:35
um sisters that are taking over these
9:37
these these dealerships it’s it’s slowly
9:39
getting there right it’s slowly opening
9:41
hours yeah yeah it’s slowly getting
9:44
there um you don’t even really notice it
9:46
anymore like when I you know it’s just
9:48
kind of a blind thing because there’s
9:50
just so many talented and that new
9:52
generation coming up they’re just you
9:54
know they’re amazing
9:56
and what do you do you know do you have
9:58
a mentor program now to encourage
9:59
because you know it is
10:02
I don’t know I don’t know maybe I’m just
10:04
showing my age but you know I would
10:05
think that you know you would want to
10:07
Market to different people differently
10:09
right and and if you’ve got a path
10:11
um for empowering uh one group of people
10:14
is that something that you encourage is
10:15
that something that you highlight do you
10:17
have a program for that yeah actually
10:19
it’s it’s interesting you ask that
10:20
because that’s that’s a topic of
10:22
conversation with our executive
10:24
leadership team now it’s really trying
10:26
to determine who who what is the next
10:29
group that’s going to sit at this table
10:31
you know because we’re all you know
10:34
we’re all 50s and up sitting at that
10:37
table so who are the individuals in the
10:40
organization not only sitting at that
10:42
executive leadership but just even
10:43
middle management so we we
10:47
do a lot for development with our
10:49
management team at all levels of
10:52
management but we’ve been having those
10:54
conversations lately to start
10:55
identifying those Future Leaders right
10:59
and starting to develop them so when we
11:02
have openings on that management team or
11:04
leadership team that you have people
11:06
that can roll in there and start putting
11:08
them through some of the leadership
11:09
training that you’re offering to the
11:11
others so that’s definitely something
11:13
that I think we need to do and plus you
11:16
you know you want to talk about employee
11:18
retention and engagement you’ve got to
11:21
start setting those those Lanes in place
11:24
in your organization that people feel
11:26
like they have a place to go because if
11:28
they’re not if they’re not getting it
11:30
with you they’re they’re gonna go
11:32
somewhere else right that’s right yeah
11:35
so we’re we’re definitely looking at
11:37
that we don’t have the program nailed
11:39
down yet but it’s definitely a
11:41
conversation we are part of um you know
11:44
building Quality Companies with Joe
11:46
goodreau and Larry sudbay and we’ve had
11:48
some conversations with them about maybe
11:50
using them a little bit to help develop
11:52
that program
11:53
it’s important
11:56
very cool very cool well you guys are
11:58
just such a an interesting company and
12:00
you’re a big one right I mean you know
12:01
there’s a lot of dealers out there
12:02
you’re definitely
12:04
um on the larger side I would say and
12:06
and you know hearing how that started
12:08
with you know just the two of you
12:10
basically opening up in a little shop
12:12
and writing invoices yeah yeah you know
12:16
I’ve taken a few customers from from the
12:18
early days in your earlier jobs and
12:21
um I don’t know it’s almost like an
12:22
episode of The Office that I saw once
12:24
right but it’s just such a it’s it’s it
12:27
was an exciting time back then right and
12:28
you know technology was easier to sell
12:31
um I wouldn’t say it’s less competitive
12:33
but it was it was different it was the
12:36
Wild West right yeah like the wild west
12:38
is exactly what it was I got the tail
12:40
end of that um I didn’t quite get enough
12:43
of it but I got a little taste of it and
12:45
you know it was different back then and
12:47
you could start something from scratch
12:49
and you know if you had the right people
12:51
and you can still do that today it’s
12:52
it’s not as easy but um and it wasn’t
12:54
easy back then but it’s you know you
12:56
have to have a good team around you
12:57
right you have to and that’s why he
12:59
chose you and you guys had a clearly a
13:02
good a a great
13:04
um it worked well a great chemistry yes
13:06
absolutely and now you’ve got 100 plus
13:09
employees and you’re you know tens of
13:11
millions of dollars in revenue and and
13:13
so going forward you know looking
13:14
looking you know we’re already a third
13:16
of the way through the year I can’t
13:17
believe that um but but you know what’s
13:19
on the plate what’s on the horizon for
13:20
Cobb this year what are you excited
13:22
about
13:23
well I think the areas you know if we
13:25
were just to look at the the landscape
13:27
of our business and where where are we
13:30
trying to put the resources that we
13:32
think can move the needle with growth
13:34
right
13:35
um production is one of those I mean
13:37
we’re
13:38
we we’ve done well we’ve put a lot into
13:40
production the last few years and it I
13:43
would say production is what really
13:46
um
13:47
was a
13:48
was an asset to us through covet
13:52
um we we were able to really pick up
13:54
some of the revenue we lost in some
13:55
other buckets with production so it
13:58
continues to be a main focus for us I
14:00
think that’s that’s an area of growth
14:02
for us certainly you can always you know
14:04
I think we can pick up market share on
14:06
Imaging but that’s going to move the
14:07
needle
14:09
um you know and and managed I.T Services
14:10
I think we like a lot of dealers started
14:13
with that early on and took a few years
14:16
to figure it out right it is it’s not in
14:19
your lumps yeah yeah we did that but I
14:22
think we finally have that that engine
14:25
running so we’re looking for some really
14:27
strong things there that’s where I’d
14:29
like to maybe try and get an acquisition
14:31
done in that part of the business to
14:34
help get us to the next level there so
14:37
there’s there’s quite a few things there
14:39
that we’re looking at
14:41
um and also just looking at you know
14:43
we’re we’re also looking at trying to
14:46
figure out how do we do an e-commerce
14:48
site for some of those fours and you
14:51
know you get so many buckets Sandy you
14:53
just gotta well that’s a buzzword right
14:55
and I just did a great interview
14:57
um yesterday with a different
14:59
manufacturer that were you know one of
15:01
the few that you’re not carrying um but
15:03
same conversation right it was
15:04
e-commerce we spent a lot of time
15:05
talking about it there’s a uh you know
15:08
there’s a few different options out
15:09
there key Point intelligence is a great
15:11
one that everybody knows and is
15:12
comfortable with
15:13
um because you’ve all worked with them
15:15
for years for your spec checks and all
15:17
that but there’s others out there but
15:18
everybody realizes you know you have a
15:21
website and what are you doing with it
15:23
right you know you should be doing more
15:25
yeah and it’s interesting how we all in
15:28
the inrs keep evolving right you know
15:31
okay if we want to get there we’ve got
15:33
to do this so we got to do that so and
15:35
you have to and you look at it you’ve
15:37
got the sales team and where do you want
15:38
them spending their efforts
15:40
yeah what copies won’t be here forever
15:42
right and they’re here now
15:44
um they’re in a slow decline but they’re
15:46
in a decline it’s not type Raiders
15:48
they’re not falling off a cliff but you
15:50
know if you can use that to fund growth
15:52
in other areas fund your expansion into
15:54
new things and and then when you know
15:57
when it’s not paying the bills like it
15:58
does today well then you’re already set
16:00
up in a new industry yeah yeah be silly
16:02
not to look at other things for sure for
16:05
sure I’m not surprised to hear you say
16:07
that about production that that um yeah
16:09
you know that that was uh those engines
16:13
just chugged along in every every
16:15
industry during coven because it was the
16:17
only way to really communicate and and
16:20
um I mean it wasn’t that the only way
16:21
but it was in a critical way to
16:23
communicate you’ve got great brands for
16:25
that as well and and so
16:27
um that’s really about expertise you
16:29
know you can’t just walk into that and
16:30
say okay we’re in production now you’ve
16:32
got to have people who have sold it for
16:34
years even better if you had people who
16:36
were buyers on the other side of that
16:37
working for you yeah it’s very grateful
16:40
because I can tell you the production
16:41
guy that we have on our team we competed
16:44
with him for for years and I just kept
16:47
hearing this guy’s name and here yeah
16:49
and finally
16:51
um went to lunch with them one day and
16:53
you know all the stars aligned and it
16:55
was just the right time for both of us
16:56
so he came on board and he helped put us
16:59
on the map and our team has grown since
17:00
then
17:02
um and gosh the the service team really
17:04
got to get that thing ramped up yeah
17:06
well you’ve no no accidents there it’s
17:08
not like um I mean it’s bad enough if
17:10
you have a you know a networked mfp
17:13
that’s down and they’re and they’re kind
17:15
of stuck but when you’re when you get
17:17
paid on prints you gotta get it that’s a
17:20
problem that’s you know there you’re
17:22
taking money out of your mat you’re you
17:24
know now you’re staying late uh you
17:25
might be working over the weekend now
17:27
just because you know that thing was
17:29
down and you need redundancy you need it
17:31
you need it working right and it’s not
17:33
it’s you know to get it going properly
17:35
When people’s you know livelihoods are
17:38
at stake it’s it’s it’s pretty important
17:40
so yeah absolutely well this has just
17:43
been absolutely awesome I love catching
17:44
up with you I’m sorry we’ll be catching
17:46
up with you in in June uh and getting
17:48
our breakfast
17:49
um but hopefully maybe I’ll get down
17:51
there at some point within the next year
17:52
or so and I hope so that would be
17:55
awesome to see you guys it would it
17:57
would this is all this is just great
17:58
though thank you to Canon for setting
18:00
this up for us and Tony just great
18:02
seeing you any last shout outs to anyone
18:03
no no I’m just um you guys drive safe
18:07
ride safe in August and who knows maybe
18:10
I’ll pop in and visit we will keep in
18:13
touch I’ll let you know where all the
18:14
dates are maybe you could stop by
18:15
somewhere that would be awesome I would
18:16
love it great seeing you thank you thank
18:19
you bye
