Meet the Authors

Larry Colin is a 37-year veteran of the 92-year-old family business, Colin Service Systems, Inc. From an entry-level position in his grandfather’s small window-cleaning company, he became president, CEO, and ultimately, chairman, of the facilities support services company. Larry helped build the company into two multi-state enterprises, including Effective Security Systems, with 10,000 employees and sales approaching $200 million. On December 22, 2004, Colin Services was sold to a large publicly traded competitor.

Larry and the family business have been featured on CNBC and in Crain’s New York. Quoted in the best-seller 1001 Ways to Reward Employees, Larry has been a guest speaker at trade associations on a variety of business topics including mergers and acquisitions, customer service, and business development.

Laura Colin graduated from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Business. After completing the program, she moved to New York City to work as an investment banker at Salomon Brothers and in economic development in North Africa. Laura subsequently worked in Larry’s family business, both part-time and later full-time. As vice president of finance, she played a major role in selling the company in 2004.