Every year, Michael Cohen, president and CEO of The DBL Center, recognizes his employees and celebrates the year’s success with a holiday party. Past parties have been at trendy Long Island location’s like the speakeasy-style bar, The Founder’s Room, in Huntington’s Paramount Theater and other first-class eateries.
This year, The DBL Center team celebrated with classic Italian fare and fresh seafood dishes at Angelo’s in Huntington Village. The intimate, quiet setting offered plenty of room for catching up with friends and colleagues.
We captured more photo memories than ever before and celebrated personal triumphs and company-wide success.
Make sure to watch Mike Cohen’s speech in the video above, which captures the spirit of the year for the rapidly growing insurance wholesaler.
“It was a unique year for many reasons, and especially for health reasons,” he began.
Cohen shared and celebrated long-time DBL Center employee Eugene Puleo’s return to work after a stroke, and also raised a glass to Annette Sperandio, who is a cancer survivor after battling through 2022.
“There’s always something,” Cohen acknowledged. “Whether it’s personal or it’s business, it’s a lot.”
He recognized that what people see on the outside doesn’t actually reflect what’s going on beneath the surface – as it is with many successful companies. “A lot of people say [you look like] you’re doing well… …. I tell them talk to me privately,” he said with a laugh.
And this line, more than anything, summarizes the success of any company, but particularly The DBL Center. We will keep paddling beneath the surface, through personal and professional challenges, while appearing cool and calm on the water, to deliver our brokers the service they deserve.
The fact is, no challenge is insurmountable as long as we continue to operate as a team, lift each other up, and grow by bringing the right people onboard in the right positions.
Or, as Jim Rohn said in his book Good to Great, “Get the right people on the bus… then make sure the right people are in the right seat.”
Our staff is here to help brokers and their clients with white-glove service and technology tools, no matter what’s going on behind the scenes. You won’t hear excuses from Cohen or his team, although he won’t hide his struggles if you ask. You may hear honest stories. But you will also see unmatched results.
It’s the same with the way he treats his employees. He has high performance expectations but also creates a company culture where people want to do their best and deliver to clients.
“Everything we’ve done here,” Cohen continued in his speech, “I’m very happy with my playbook, if we’re using a sports analogy. This is the best team I’ve had in my career. We’re really grateful for that. We may have a bench that isn’t very deep, but we know how to manage that bench.”
He noted that when the company started back in 1973, there were only two or three employees. Now, The DBL Center employs nearly 12 workers across the northeast and is rapidly expanding to Colorado, the mid-Atlantic states of Maryland and Delaware, and other areas as paid family leave benefits grow. This year, The DBL Center welcomed Bill Quinn to our team.
With unmatched industry support, a healthy team, top carriers, and a growing list of brokers taking advantage of our technology and white-glove support, The DBL Center has more reasons than ever to celebrate in 2022 and look forward to 2023.
Take a look at some of the special memories we captured at our holiday party, as well as Michael Cohen’s annual Holiday Toast for 2022. Then reach out if you are ready to work with our team for your statutory and ancillary benefits for your clients in 2023.
