After more than 20 years as an award-winning broadcast journalist, Stephen Gendel decided to take his knowledge of both journalism and the fast-growing biotechnology field and combine them. In 2002, he and Barbara Lindheim, a renowned communications strategist, joined together to form BioCom Partners, a biotechnology consulting firm specializing in providing biotechnology companies with media relations positioning and investor relations.

Following the biotech boom of the mid-90s, the opening of the shop in 2002 was a risk. The biotechnology industry bubble had just burst and the industry was clearly struggling, in part due to the amount of companies that had entered the marketplace and the fact that Wall Street’s expectations were just not being met. Lindheim, an expert in public policy in the pharmaceutical industry, somehow saw potential in advising biotechnology companies. She understood how to communicate to the media. Gendel, a seasoned reporter, understood what the media wanted.

If the two learned anything from watching the dot.com era’s downfall, the overhead associated with real estate and office space often was a burden to these start-ups. The two quickly asked themselves the following questions: What if we don’t succeed; how will we pay for office space rent? How can we afford to hire staff? How do we impress clients with only a small rented office?

The answer came when Rockefeller Group Business Centers opened its 48 Wall Street business center. Not familiar with the business center concept, Gendel and Lindheim proceeded cautiously. The first thing they learned about business centers was that leasing office space from a business center is affordable. The first thing they saw was that the business center was professional and modern. The receptionist promptly answered the phone call more than a dozen times while they were waiting. Each time she politely and personally stated the company name for whom she was answering the phone for – about 10 different companies within the business center. The next thing they noticed was the conference rooms at 45 Rockefeller Center, a popular mid-town location, were made accessible to them for clients who were not familiar with downtown. Lastly, and certainly not least, BioCom partners realized that they could sign a lease on their terms, which at the time was 3 months. For a year, BioCom partners renewed their lease every 12 weeks, until finally signing a 1 year lease in 2004, at their choice.

The downtown location was also ideal. The Wall Street address automatically added prestige to their company brand; it was a short commute to Gendel’s Brooklyn Heights home; and all the major subway lines either converged in their building or just two blocks away.

Experts in biotechnology, the two didn’t have degrees in telecommunications, something many new business owners feel they need just to get into a new space. At the business center, IT phones were already there and so were computers, Internet access, and computer technicians ready to help. In fact, within the first week, the company experienced e-mail problems. Rockefeller Group Business Center’s technicians quickly contacted Microsoft and within minutes, the problem was solved. You couldn’t ask for quicker service.

While Gendel and Lindheim admit that someday they may move on as their three-year old shop grows, they may never be able to explain just how much the Business Center experience has meant to them.