by, Shannon Gleba, Copy Editor
While the landscape of the business world has changed drastically over the past few months due to the threat of COVID-19, Manhattan College alum Justin Logerfo ‘11 used his time in quarantine to make his business plan a reality. During May of 2020, Logerfo founded his data analytics consulting firm, Final Approach Consulting, with the knowledge he gained as a student in the O’Malley School of Business.
Final Approach Consulting has been a goal of Logerfo for over 12 months and has been the result of almost ten years of experience in the field of marketing.
Their mission is to work with existing businesses to drive better return on investment and business outcomes through the use and understanding of their own data.
“I think there are a ton of opportunities in terms of data and insight and analytics,” Logerfo said. “There are a ton of companies that say they are data-driven, but they are not or they have a lot of data that they don’t know what to do with and they just need a little bit of guidance in unlocking the power of all of those rich insights they are sitting on.”
JUSTIN LOGERFO / COURTESY
Despite the global pandemic, Final Approach Consulting has still been able to land some meetings with important companies looking for data analysis. Many of these meetings come from the hard work and outreach Logerfo does in his daily work, and through the connections he made in past jobs.
“Since we have been an entity, we have had four or five meetings with fortune 100 and fortune 500 companies,” Logerfo said.
When Logerfo entered the workforce after graduation, it was during the tail end of the financial crisis and recession. He was able to land a job in marketing research at an advertising firm through a Manhattan College alumni.
Right now Logerfo’s own company is made up of two full-time employees, including himself. But, Final Approach turned to the College’s Center for Career Services to find their inaugural class of interns for the summer of 2020.
Two of the interns for this summer included Kelly Cwik and Timothy O’Brien who are both students in the O’Malley School of Business. Cwik is a sophomore at MC and is currently undecided on a major, but worked as a social media intern for Logerfo.
“I would research information and news articles that were relevant to the company (data analytics, artificial intelligence, etc.)” Cwik wrote over email when describing her role. “Then, with that information, I would make social media posts on Canva. After that, I would put them in their content calendar to use for their social media accounts”
O’Brien, junior analytics major, was as a Business Analyst Intern this past summer and worked on a number of different projects during his time at Final Approach.
“I wrote a White paper on consumer privacy v. public safety in the age of COVID-19 and created an infographic on food delivery during COVID-19,” O’Brien said.
Both interns enjoyed their time working for Logerfo and the benefits of working alongside an MC alum.
“It was a pleasure to work with an MC alum,” wrote Cwik. “Justin Logerfo applied his education to start his very own business which I found very inspiring. He is very knowledgeable and willing to share his knowledge. After working with an MC alum I now have a professional reference and someone who I can rely on to help with my future career.”
O’Brien describes that one of the many benefits of working with an MC alum is how sympathetic Logerfo was because he too was once in their shoes.
“The benefit of working alongside an MC alum was the understanding he had towards his interns and he was very flexible to help me.”
This internship program was not the first time Logerfo had been involved with MC since his graduation, as he has returned to campus a number of times each year. When attending the Fall Business Dinner, he was introduced to Min Jung Kim, Ph.D, who is an assistant professor of management and marketing at the College. After connecting, Kim has invited him back to speak at her classes about his experience in entrepreneurship.
All in all, much of the success Logerfo has had in his career is a result of the skills he learned during his undergraduate years. Logerfo also recognizes that the small class sizes at Manhattan College allowed him to adapt and grow in the business world.
“The Lasallian education taught me how to think critically, and how to problem-solve, and really how to think outside the box,” Logerfo said.