Our Story

	Donna Reeves-Collins Founder and CEO Cole & Parks As a former officer at Frontier, Donna Reeves-Collins is on her way to creating a leading brand in the quick-casual restaurant segment – by combining her proven business abilities with her lifelong passion for gourmet cookies and specialty coffee. Her educational background combined with 19 years of marketing, operations, management and sales experience provides Cole & Parks with a solid foundation for success. Ms. Reeves-Collins began her professional career in sales in 1983 after graduating from the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business & Economics with a bachelor’s degree in hotel management. She steadily progressed into management roles in marketing, operations and human resources within the telecommunications industry. In 1993, she started a direct mail business for Frontier. In less than a year, she grew revenues to $82M and built the infrastructure for continued growth in what became a very profitable business for Frontier. At the same time, Ms. Reeves-Collins spearheaded a pre-paid calling card business that also experienced dramatic revenue growth. As president, chief operating officer and managing partner for Frontier’s wireless joint venture with Verizon Wireless, Ms. Reeves-Collins was selected to turn around the struggling venture. Her success was a result of building distribution and the opening and successful positioning of retail stores across the Upstate New York foot print as well as building a world-class organization. In 1996, Ms. Reeves-Collins was promoted to Frontier’s Long Distance Division. She relocated to San Francisco to run the division in the 14 western states. Having proved successful once again, she was soon appointed senior vice president of sales for North America. In 1999, Frontier was acquired by Global Crossing. Ms. Reeves-Collins left the company in 2001 and began developing the concept and business plan for Cole & Parks.
	William Collins President, Cole & Parks After working in the restaurant business for six years and then graduating with two degrees, Mr. Collins spent the next 14 years in sales, sales management, training, and vendor management. These experiences provided him with the critical skills, experience and leadership necessary to operate a successful business. While in college, Collins spent four years in the food service industry, including restaurant management. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire in 1981 with a master’s degree in education, Collins immediately became employed at the Rochester Telephone Company. Mr. Collins was later given the responsibility to create and develop a new training program at RCI, a Rotelcom subsidiary focused on becoming a leading long distance company. Collins created a new strategic plan in just a few months, helping RCI compete head-on with the likes of MCI, AT&T and Sprint. The training program was instrumental in attracting and retaining employees as well as in increasing sales. In 1990, Collins sought new challenges and became a manufacturer’s representative selling electronic components for a prominent firm in Rochester, New York. He was responsible for managing twelve manufacturers in the upstate New York and Ontario, Canada area and gained experience in working within small, privately-owned companies. Collins leveraged his knowledge of customer service, purchasing and distributor education to build multi-year contracts with a variety of businesses, including Fortune 500 companies.