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BulbAmerica: Innovation in Long Island City creates an eCommerce Success Story.

Long Island City's BulbAmerica talks to OurLIC about its growth and success with employees that come from the East River Development Alliance (ERDA) Workforce Development Program.

Original ERDA Workforce Developmeent Special Report: [ Go to ERDA's Workforce Development Program Trains People, and Helps Place Them in Jobs ]

Abraham Cohen, President, BulbAmerica, Storage Plus, and Avi Moving and Storage Go to BulbAmerica   Storage Plus   Genny Hernandez, Regional Office Manager   Part 3: Abraham Cohen, Founder of three growing Long Island City Companies, talks with OurLIC about Storage Plus, Avi Moviing and Storage, and BulbAmerica, an eCommerce company, 5/4/2010 Part 4: Abraham Cohen, Founder of three growing Long Island City Companies, talks with OurLIC about BulbAmerica's success with employees that have been hired through the East River Development Alliance, ERDA Workforce Development Program 5/4/2010 Part 1: BulbAmerica's Genny Hernandez, Office Manager, Talks with OurLIC about ERDA's Workforce Development Program, 5/4/2010 Part 2: BulbAmerica's Genny Hernandez, Office Manager, Talks with OurLIC about ERDA's Workforce Development Program, 5/4/2010

Long Island City, New York May 4, 2010 - One would not expect to find a thriving eCommerce company emerging from a storage company. Innovation, leadership, and creative management has made it happen. The result is positive growth, and improvement for the community. Abraham Cohen is founder and President of three Long Island City companies that are headquartered just off Van Dam Street, inside the building that displays Storage Plus. His company now employees approximately 60 people across BulbAmerica, Storage Plus, and Avi Moving and Storage. The largest of these companies is BulbAmerica, an eCommerce seller of bulbs and lighting. The BulbAmerica.com website says it is the largest wholesaler provider of quality lighting fixtures and light bulbs for the US market since 2003. It goes on to explain, "Since day one, our goal has been to earn the trust of our customers. We offer competitive prices along with top notch customer service. We are committed to providing honest and upfront service during every interaction with our customers. We understand that long-term customer satisfaction depends on our ability to maintain a knowledgeable and courteous customer service staff that is assisted by the best support system." We wanted to meet with Abraham Cohen to follow through on a previous Special Report on the ERDA Workforce Development Program. After touring the facilities, we spoke with both Abraham and Genny Hernandez, the Storage Plus Regional Office Manager. Full video interviews with BulbAmerica Executives are available in the left column in 4 segments of approximately two minutes each. Highlights: Avi Moving and Storage was the first company started by Abraham Cohen in 1990. It then developed into a self-storage company. Now there are five self-storage locations. BulbAmerica serves every industry from medical to aircraft, and has a crew of about 30 employees supporting their eCommerce business. Overall there are about 60 people employed by the three companies. Employee growth has primarily come from the BulbAmerica part of the business. The original connection with ERDA was established through a connection at LICBDC. Overall, the ERDA program is the most successful recruiting program that BulbAmerica has. Everyone hired throuh the ERDA program is still employed at the company. Abraham Cohen says that the ERDA screening process eliminates the problem of trying to screen through massive amounts of resumes from people who apply for a job. Their candidates are "ready to work" and enjoy living and working in Long Island City. They are good employees and stay. He says that every businessman knows the problem of screening candidates, and then keeping the people you decide to hire. The employees who have originally come through ERDA are in the BulbAmerica operations. BulbAmerica plans to continue hiring candidates through ERDA. The relationship started two years ago, and the company has hired 4 people. Genny Hernandez says that candidates from ERDA come in with great resumes, they are prepared for their interview, and send followup letters after the interview. The ERDA Job Fair turn out about 15 companies doing interviewing. There are lots of great candidates, and BulbAmerica has been successful hiring directly as a result of participating in the ERDA Job Fairs. BulbAmerica is another good example of a successful company in Long Island City that is creating jobs, and investing in the future of Long Island City. Original ERDA Workforce Developmeent Special Report: [ Go to ERDA's Workforce Development Program Trains People, and Helps Place Them in Jobs ]