By Lorrie DeFrank
Soon after Ed Baldwin participated in JAX Bridges’ initial years of 2014-2015, his 2-year-old ProfileGorilla business began seeing annual expansions in clients, services, and revenue that continues today. Aware of the many enhancements made to JAX Chamber’s entrepreneurial growth program since then, he intends to go through the JAX Bridges process again. Meanwhile, he has taken advantage of numerous educational opportunities provided by JAX Chamber and frequently floats ideas by Chief Innovation Officer Carlton Robinson.
“I’ve seen a number of those conversations over a lunch table turn into new programming that they offer,” Baldwin said as a testament to Robinson and his team continually raising the bar and keeping JAX Bridges fresh and pertinent to entrepreneurs of all stages.
The CEO said that although the core of his business of providing credentialing and vetting solutions for vendors has not changed since it started, it has evolved to focus heavily on providing tools to help businesses and consumers get connected to its network of pre-vetted service professionals for the insurance industry.
“Ultimately, there are a number of well-known websites out there where people can search and find vendors. But where we differ is that they don’t necessarily do all the vetting that we do, and we are largely focused on the insurance industry, and that makes us unique,” Baldwin said.
Before vendors are available for selection, ProfileGorilla verifies that they have the proper business insurance, licenses, and certifications, and they order and review background checks on all vendors’ personnel. The Software-as-a-Service company stores and manages documentation for businesses and their vendors in a platform that Baldwin and his team created.
Another change, which Baldwin attributes to the knowledge he gained through JAX Bridges, is how customers access services. In 2015, ProfileGorilla was 100% business-to-business, where all customers were other businesses. It now offers a business-to-consumer solution where, in the case of an insurance claim, insurance agents can use its services directly to find a pre-vetted service professional to come to their clients’ houses in the event of a fire, pipe break, or even hurricane, he said.
“One of my favorite sessions in JAX Bridges was customer development. Largely, our opening a solution directly to consumers came at the request of insurance carrier clients for their agents to be able to search our network directly to support their policy holders,” he said. “So, by listening to our customers and using those same principles, we launched this new solution in the last year.”
Baldwin maintains that the original core principles of JAX Bridges are so solid that they are still being leveraged in his business today to significant success. “We’ve grown every year by at least 40% and we continue to grow,” he said.
His business had four personnel when he participated in JAX Bridges in 2015 and 13 by 2020. It now has more than 50 full-time employees around the world, including resources in India, supporting its 24-hours-a-day operation. In addition to its headquarters at Avenues Professional Park in Jacksonville, it added a second location near North Main Street. More than 15,000 service providers on its platform serve customers throughout the U.S. and Canada. Its diverse provider database has grown from mainly contractors, plumbers, and electricians to include engineering firms, expert service firms, auto body shops, and various companies, Baldwin said.
ProfileGorilla was named JAXUSA Partnership’s Innovator of the Year over the last 12 months and was among GrowFL’s Top 50 Companies to Watch.
“They could have stopped with JAX Bridges 1.0, but the team continues to innovate and improve. As an observer and supporter, I think that is valuable and to be applauded,” he said. “It would have been easy to say, ‘OK, we have our programming in year one to replicate for 10 years,’ but they tried to improve it every single cohort every single year. JAX Chamber is committed to small business owners and entrepreneurs, and they continue to push the boundaries of additional support and innovative concepts. A lot of that support and encouragement has led to our continued success and growth and our goal to become a Jacksonville Brand.”
To contact Ed Baldwin:
ProfileGorilla