Dr. Denise Reading, president, Global Corporate College

Denise Reading, president, Global Corporate College

FINALIST: Services and Management Solutions
When a client from Dr. Denise Reading’s former business challenged her about the limits of her organization’s localized corporate training model, she didn’t disagree. Instead she launched Global Corporate College, a company whose national human capital training and development distribution model could close the “talent gap” for globally located companies, using a business network of public community colleges.
After getting investment from 11 colleges, Reading had to overcome numerous bureaucratic barriers to get the business running. To meet the particularly difficult challenge of raising $1 million in grant funding for the project, she and her team formed a management company, Global Collaborative Connection LLC to develop public/private partnership and successfully secure investor capital.
But in 2008, more financial obstacles emerged. The economic downturn prompted many of the company’s new clients to cancel training contracts and jump ship. As GCC’s president, Reading knew that investors wanted her to downsize but insisted that it was time for the business to get “all in.” She saw the chance to use innovation to position GCC as a leader in the market once the economy recovered.
Setting a course on this new path, Reading hired an experienced vice president of business operations and took on the role of senior sales representative. Next, she hit the market to find out about customer challenges, meeting with senior executives from nine Fortune 1000 companies to gather feedback on how to innovate the business.
With this input, she helped GCC invest in a new IP in supervisor and manager training, which got the company back in the black by end of 2009, while supporting revenue streams for its network of community colleges.
How to reach: Global Corporate College, www.globalcorporatecollege.com.