Boardroom’s fresh breeze
Marty Edelston, founder and president of Boardroom Inc. in Stamford, says the mission of his company is to help people make it in a hostile world.
Recently Edelston underwrote and funded a course that was introduced to his alma mater, Rutgers University. The course is titled “Love and Money,” and was quickly expanded into two sections of 120 students each.
“It teaches students what they really need to know after college,” said Marjory Abrams, Edelston”™s daughter and publisher at Boardroom Inc.
The course teaches insights in saving and investing, managing credit, relationships, negotiating, dealing with grief and change, and even how to approach car and home buying.
Edelston, 79, began Boardroom Inc. in 1972. Boardroom publishes the Bottom Line series of national periodicals and is one of the nation”™s largest publishers of nonfiction books.
“There”™s so much information out there that it”™s easy to be overwhelmed,” said Edelston. “We distill the information, and tell you only what you need to know.”
The Boardroom office is filled with art that Edelston has brought into the office, each with its own story and meaning. In one corner sits an ammunition box filled with pencils to impart the message, “The pen is always mightier than the sword.”
Edelston has a unique perspective. Having suffered a stroke seven years ago, he remains mobile with the use of a wheelchair, though when entering his office you will see balloons with large sevens on them.
“We celebrate the anniversary of his stroke because though his walking was affected his mind is very sharp,” said Abrams.
Edelston has countless artworks and encourages his staff to be part of his interest in art and expression.
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“One day everyone came in to find mobiles on their desks,” said Abrams. “The office was abuzz with everyone on their desks hanging their mobiles from the ceiling.”
“It inspires me to inspire them,” said Edelston.
After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing Edelston moved the business first to Greenwich and then to Stamford, bringing 72 of 75 employees with him.
Boardroom employees average 10 years on the job, even with Edeslton, his wife, Rita and his three on-staff children included.
Edelston holds unique gatherings each month, called boardroom dinners, in which he invites 20 to 30 experts from diverse fields to come and share opinions, ideas and food. The dinners that began in Edelston”™s apartment are now held at The Four Seasons in New York City.
“There was something about being surrounded by such smart people that blew my mind,” said Edelston. “People are there to exchange ideas.”
The Edelston perspective is even applied to his weekly editorial and staff meetings with a method he calls “I-Power.”
“I-Power is a system of continuous improvement,” said Edelston. “They submit two suggestions every week about how the company could operate better. One idea will inspire another idea. It”™s about the sharing of information.”
Edelston has found that large ideas can come from many places. A lower-level employee was able to bring to the table the idea to make their books smaller and lighter, which enabled the company to save $500,000 per year.
The ideas are recognized monetarily. Edelston rewards each suggestion with a few I-Power bucks, each good for one real greenback on employee paychecks.
“Some are simply incremental improvements,” said Edelston. “When you have an idea, you should capture it and it will be more likely to be acted upon.”
Edelston, originally from Newark, N.J., holds a high school reunion each year, which has become so popular that he can only allow those who graduated between 1942 and 1946 to attend.
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“My father has always been provocative and open,” said Abrams.
His compassion and innate ability to socialize has stimulated Edelston to buy anniversary gifts for his staff, send a boy with a brain tumor a gift everyday and has even helped a woman who was wrongly convicted.
“Some things are simple, but I feel good,” said Edelston.
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