Joe Erato was on the founding team at Spaulding Clinical Research 17 years ago and through the years, he has worn many hats as the organization grew from five people to 200. According to his staff, as the current COO, Erato has been a positive force that people love to follow.
“He helped write many of the original SOPs in the business, helped open the doors and secure some of our largest early partners and was always keeping the spirit of optimism and fun amongst employees,” said his staff. “He was willing to dig in and learn all aspects of the business and perform many roles.”
Spaulding Clinical Research conducts Phase 1 pharmaceutical research for clients in biotech and pharma. The firm is passionate in its pursuit of ingenious solutions that save time and money for their clients and heroic in their ambitions to ensure the health and safety of patients.
As the COO, Erato has been confronted with a series of significant challenges, stemming from what were once considered unprecedented events. “However, in our evolving landscape, these occurrences are becoming more commonplace – the world’s pace is accelerating,” he said. “Besides the stress of the pandemic, we were encountering a lot of classic growth issues, particularly in the culture which compelled us to reevaluate our cultural priorities.”
Erato confronted the challenges head on by addressing underlying issues that were driving staff away and causing operational delays while overseeing three major departments. “Progress was remarkable and we entered the year with signed contracts poised to drive nearly 30 percent year-over-year growth,” said Erato. “It is said there can be no growth without challenges, but we discovered that our team could withstand adversity on a scale that few companies can endure.”
All of the hard work to navigate change has helped to grow the business to $35 million in revenue today. “Building a department up from nothing is very hard work and Joe has persisted through all of that,” said his colleagues. “Overall, Joe has helped to grow the company from nothing to the 250-person company that it is today with customers all over the globe.”
Erato has led the teams at Spaulding Clinical Research to deliver faster while building up the sales team to deliver the company’s vision to the pharmaceutical world, said his staff. As a result, Spaulding Clinical is a major player in the industry. “Without him in the early days or today, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” his staff said.
For overcoming challenges to propel the company and its staff toward success, Erato has been named a Titan.
