Nurturing Alumni for the Right Reasons

By Steve Jandrell - Co-Founder, CandidAdvisors

As a former Principal with Ernst and Young, I attended the Atlanta Alumni meeting at Villa Christina on November 19, 2009.

I have to commend E&Y for a well organized and productive Alumni meeting.   It was a real pleasure to reconnect with some great people – former colleagues - who are friends and thorough professionals. While the evening was primarily social - catching up with where folks are and what they are doing - it was also a good opportunity for networking.

It was also a great reminder of the caliber of people who are part of the E&Y family: John Fridley, Bill Hartman, Jim Jancik, Ian Cooper, Steve Bucalo, Ron Barton, Chris Clark, Matt Rodgers, and Harlan Graiser, just to name a few.

In this economy, where there are challenges at every turn, the notion of client service and offering value has never been more important. As we’ve watched the consulting model become more of a commodity where  cost is the primary criterion for clients to buy advice, to be among folks who know how important it is to add value and make a difference is so refreshing.

The E&Y Alumni model is a good one. In building our new company CandidAdvisors, we have adopted the standards, ethics and client service focus that are part of the E&Y DNA. Thank you E&Y for a great evening and for the values that the Firm lives and each of us have adopted.