(From left to right) Genesis Medical Education Consultants C.F.O. Richard Birdsall, Richard’s mother and co-owner Sherri Birdsall, Orange County SBDC director Leila Mozaffari, and Richard’s wife and office manager Nicki Birdsall celebrate the company's national honor.
Genesis Medical Education Consultants (GMEC), a Brea-based continuing education provider for California’s health care professionals, was recently honored by the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) and Google with a Google Uptick Award. GMEC is one of five small businesses nationwide selected for this honor. The Uptick Award contest invited businesses to submit a 350-word essay outlining how they used Google products to grow their businesses.
GMEC offers certification and renewal classes in IV therapy for RN’s and LVN’s, advanced cardiovascular life support, American Heart Association CPR certification and renewal, and more. The enterprise has relied on Gmail, Google Adwords™, Google Analytics™, and Google Maps™ as go-to business tools. They were encouraged to use and leverage Google tools to expand their reach by Orange County Small Business Development (SBDC) consultant Manal Richa.
“Working with the Orange County SBDC consultants like Manal Richa and Mark McCallick has helped make our company much sounder financially and structurally,” said Richard Birdsall, GMEC C.F.O.
After each consulting session with the Orange County SBDC, the GMEC management team—Richard Birdsall, Richard’s mother and co-owner Sherri Birdsall, and Richard’s wife and office manager Nicki—has work to do. They take their assignments seriously and since GMEC’s launch in 2007, the family-owned business has grown from its original three full-time employees with the addition of eight part-time employees. Its revenue has increased by 328 percent in four years.
The company attributes much of its growth to its increased online presence. They worked closely with Orange County SBDC consultant Richa who helped them begin using Google Adwords.The heightened search engine presence is boosting company referrals. Because of the increase in demand for their services, they have added a Long Beach location, and plan expansion to Santa Barbara soon. As they grow, they will continue to take the Orange County SBDC advice to heart.
“It is difficult to find someplace that you can trust and that’s worth working with,” said Richard Birdsall. “I now understand how many things can fall between the cracks. The SBDC is the first place I tell anyone to call when they want to start or grow a business.”
For more information about the Orange County SBDC, call (714) 564-5200 or visit www.ocsbdc.com. The Orange County SBDC is an economic development program of Rancho Santiago Community College District.
