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Barry E. Coyle Memorial Scholarship Fund
Barry E. Coyle Memorial Scholarship Fund
Barry Edward Coyle, 63, a highly regarded consultant in the contract furniture industry, passed away peacefully on the evening of November 15, 2010, at his home in Ojai, California, in the company of his wife and son. Death was due to complications of esophageal cancer.
With the establishment of BEC in 1992, Barry became a full-time consultant to the contract furniture industry, providing business operations evaluations, benchmarking analyses, dealer development programs and materials, sales and marketing materials, and other work product. In 2003, he partnered with David J. Solomon to form Solomon Coyle, LLC, to provide consulting services, staff development programs and business tools for office furniture dealer development. Between the two practices, Barry consulted with more than 125 dealerships, installation companies and furniture manufacturers in the United States, Canada and Mexico. He is widely regarded as a man who was generous with his time and talents and deeply committed to his clients’ success.
As part of his commitment to industry best practices, Barry worked extensively with industry associations and peer groups. He was a tireless contributor to the mission of the Office Furniture Dealers Alliance (OFDA), including service on the OFDA Board of Governors from 2001 to 2009, and was a regular speaker at OFDA conferences and NeoCon. During his Board tenure, he spearheaded efforts to develop the OFDA Dealer Financial Comparison & Benchmarking Survey, which incorporated his analyses.
With support from its Board of Governors and Barry’s wife, son and close friends, the OFDA has established a special fund within its Association Scholarship program in memory of Barry and his extraordinary commitment to higher education, training and continuous improvement through best practice exchanges. The goal is to raise sufficient funds to create a named scholarship in Barry’s honor. Tax-deductible contributions may be made in Barry’s name.
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