PHILADELPHIA BusInEss JournAL

January 22, 2016 Vol. 34, No. 50, $4.99

400 Market St. Suite 1200 Philadelphia, PA 19106

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Breaking news online PBJ.com

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Conshohocken tech firm Monetate is getting older and that could set it up for acquisition.

Here’s why the company could be a target this year.

DAn norton, 8

TECHNOLOGY

monetate: acquisition target? iNdusTrY NEws

What lawyer layoffs at Reed Smith meanStaffing decisions are weighing heavily on Philadelphia law firms this year as 67 percent say they have too many lawyers. JEff BLumEntHAL, 10

Campbell’s predicts the 2016 food trendsThe Camden-based soupmaker turns to its arsenal of chefs and other experts to find out what folks will be eating. kEnnEtH HILArIo, 6

social capital

‘always strive to improve’ 43

Legal judgments 12

people on the move

New hires, promotioNs 36

Suburban renaissanceRising rents and low vacancies in previously troubled office marketnAtALIE kostELnI, 4-5

A s P o t L I g H t o n t H E E v E n t s , P r oJ E c t s , I n n o vAt I o n s A n D P E o P L E t o wAt c H I n t H E r E g I o n t H I s y E A r 13-33

Bonus covErAgE of tHE PHILADELPHIA BusInEss JournAL’s EconomIc confErEncE 2016 22-23, 34-35

AdVerTiSeMeNT

2016 ECONOmiC prEviEw

January 22, 2016 43

What’s your essential business philosophy? Hire the best people, do the best work, and our clients will recognize this and recommend us to others.

What are the smartest and dumbest business decisions you’ve made? The smartest business decision is easy: deciding to focus on working with nonprofit organizations; all types, all sizes. The meaning behind their missions adds meaning to our work as accountants.

Dumbest decisions? Too many to list.

What’s the best way to keep a competitive edge? Always strive to improve. No matter how good we are, we can always be better.

Name a goal you have yet to achieve. Retirement. (Not really, I love what we do with our nonprofit clients.)

What do you think your employees say about you when you’re not in the room? That I am the best employer they’ve ever had! (After all, we won Best

Place to Work). Also, the tallest.

What three words best describe you? Mensch. (I try.)

What was your first job? First job out of school was working for a public accounting firm then located at 1845 Walnut St. It was a great learning experience and I’m still friends with some of the people I met back then.

As a child, did you know what you wanted to be when you grew up? In my family there were three career options: doctor, lawyer, or accountant (in that order). I decided against being a doctor because I was afraid I might misdiagnose something serious or botch a surgery. I decided against being a lawyer because I was not willing to defend someone who I knew to be guilty, or was worried that I might prosecute someone who was innocent. That left accounting.

What’s your first choice for a new career? Executive director of a social-service agency. Second choice: computer programming; third choice: architect.

What’s something about you that people wouldn’t expect? Though I’m 6-foot-5, I cannot dunk a basketball.

Do you have an exercise routine? I’m on the board of the Grand Canyon Association. To prepare for hikes at the Grand Canyon I walk up and down the stairs of my office building, while sometimes wearing a backpack.

What car do you drive and why? A 2014 Dodge Challenger. It’s a muscle car which helps ease my midlife crisis (a crisis I seem to have been having for most of my adult life.) I’d really love to buy a 1966 Corvette Stingray, but it is hard to justify the cost.

When you get time to relax, what’s your best vacation? The Grand Canyon. It is a place of indescribable beauty. Everyplace you hike has different magnificent views. The only time I can be free of thinking about work is when I am hiking there. My second best place to relax, Sea Isle City.

If you could have been present at any moment in history, a world event, an invention, a creation of great beauty, and so on, what would it be? At Mount Sinai when Moses received the Ten Commandments.

When you were a teenager, did you have a band or singer whose CD you just wore out? When I was a teenager CDs had not yet been invented. We listened to LPs. Van Morrison’s Moondance was a favorite (and still is).

If you were stuck on a cross-country bus trip, which famous person would you like to have sitting next to you? Jon Stewart.

And, conversely, who would you NOT enjoy spending a lot of time with? I’d better be diplomatic and leave this question blank.

What’s your favorite place in Greater Philadelphia? Schuylkill River Park, especially the West River Drive when it is closed to automobile traffic on weekends during the summer and I take my bike there.

Eric FraintCompany: your Part-Time Controller LLCCompany description: accounting specialists focusing on nonprofit clients.Title: President and founderNumber of employees: approximately 120.Age: 60Original hometown: Glen rock, n.J., though I’ve been in the Philadelphia area for more than 40 years. yikes, I’m getting old! Education: Wharton School, university of Pennsylvania. Graduated 1977 with a BS in economics, majored in accounting.Family: Married, three grown children, two of whom are married. Expecting our first grandchild in February.

‘No matter how good we are, we can always be better.’

JEFF FuSCo

SOCIAL CAPITAL

Eric Fraint on the 12th floor of 1500 Walnut St. where the company’s offices are undergoing an expansion.