Q&A with LabConnector Jake Lachewitz, Business Development Director

What are some of your job responsibilities?

I have the privilege of representing LabConnect every day. From creating initial interactions with clients, serving as a company representative at conferences & industry events and leading the pursuit team in formal proposal. I work to establish trust in LabConnect’s central lab and FSP capabilities in every interaction.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Every study is different. That makes our work fun. The challenge of figuring out what the right thing is for our clients, the patients they are working to help, and matching our clients’ intensity in execution all make this work rewarding. Being able to collaborate with our subject matter experts and scientists, our network partners, and clients on a daily basis is the best part of my role at LabConnect.

How would you describe the company culture and what do you believe makes it unique?

We have a great combination of long-tenured, passionate, and committed LabConnectors, and now a growing group of newer LabConnectors equally invested in helping deliver services, as we continue to grow globally. We get the benefit of an entrepreneurial environment that supports the development of long-term relationships with colleagues and clients. This sets us apart and demonstrates our core values of Partnership and Collaboration.

Pick one (or more) of LabConnect’s values and share a story of how you are carrying them out in your daily work: Partnership, Excellence, Execution, Forward-Thinking, Collaboration, Accountable, Informed, Nimble.

Nimble – Many of our clients need us to move fast, out maneuver others, and start the race sooner to help them succeed. Clients appreciate it when we can show them the entire timeline from Day 1 conversation to Kits On Site for their next study (and then deliver against that target). Using a working backward timeline is not just a tool for helping consensus; it’s a commitment to our nimbleness and also embraces many of our other values as well. We use this best practice on the business development team.

How do you like to spend your free time – hobbies, volunteer, other?

I enjoy a variety of outdoor pursuits, especially fishing with my children. I also travel the world every day through single-origin coffee, following the growing season around the global and buying new coffees from some of the same farms every year. My brother and I started this pursuit to stay close while living at a distance. Anyone who is interested in turning their morning coffee into a chemistry experiment should give me a call! Our family is invested in community supported agriculture through a local farm. We are actively involved in the Children’s Ministry at our church where my wife and I take turns coaching (I coach soccer, she coaches basketball). I also volunteer with the USDA in a local program.