Richard B. Cohen Biography

Richard B. Cohen (born 1952) is an American billionaire; and the CEO and sole owner of C&S Wholesale Grocers, the largest wholesale grocery supply company in the United States.

Biography

Cohen was born to a Jewish family, the son of Lester Cohen. In 1918, Cohen's grandfather, Israel Cohen, co-founded C&S in Worcester, Massachusetts. His son, Lester Cohen, a bomber navigator during World War II, expanded the business into supplying military bases. In 1970, Richard Cohen graduated from the Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts and then in 1974, he graduated from the from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in accounting and joined the family company. After a painful union strike, he persuaded his father to move the company to non-union Brattleboro, Vermont.

Cohen took control of C&S Wholesalers in 1989 after his father retired. In 2003, he moved the company headquarters to Keene, New Hampshire. As the food distribution business is very low margin and customer retention is critical, Cohen has grown the company by focusing on efficiencies and customer support. C&S has been able to attain excellent efficiencies - less than 2 percent of the orders processed have errors or omissions - by using generous performance incentives combined with self-managed teams of workers who are responsible for assembling customer orders thereby eliminating costly supervisors. If a customer is having trouble, rather than letting them go bankrupt (and losing them as a customer), Cohen will often purchase them outright, restructure their operations, and then sell them later for a profit.

Since 2008, Cohen has been a director at the Food Marketing Institute and is a director of Food Distribution Institute.

Philanthropy

The Holocaust studies center at Keene State College was renamed after the Cohens in thanks of their financial support. In 2002, Cohen was a national finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Assumption College. He serves on the Board of Trustees at the Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts.

Personal life

Cohen is married to Jan Cohen. His wife is executive producer of the Kaddish Project, a touring musical on genocide. They have three daughters: Perry Cohen, who works at C&S as vice president of corporate learning and talent management; Rachel Cohen, a high school teacher; and Jill Cohen.