Verrett launches HudsonTree Holdings

PHILADELPHIA - Cody Verrett, a 21-year veteran of the industry, has started a consulting company called HudsonTree Holdings to help complex rehab manufacturers take their businesses to the next level.

Verrett now counts ROVI, the complex rehab division of Shoprider, where he previously served as president, as a client. His previous work experience also includes stints at Quantum Rehab and ATG Rehab (now Numotion).

“I'm branching out and hoping to do what I did with ROVI's brand awareness with other companies,” said Verrett, who spearheaded promoting the company on the web through social media and on the streets through a nationwide tour. “I don't know too many ATPs who haven't heard of ROVI.”

That level of awareness may not be the case for two other companies now in HudsonTree's portfolio: Plainview, N.Y.-based BioDynamics LTD and Quebec City-based Motion Composites.

For BioDynamics, a manufacturer of wheelchair seats and backs, Verrett aims to take a company that is well known regionally and make it well know nationally.

“They have a line, the BIO ST, that is affordable and well loved in the Eastern market—the product quality is great, the customer service is great,” said Verrett, who has become a part-owner of the company. “I plan on using good, old fashioned guerilla marketing to increase their awareness and brand position.”

For Motion Composites, a manufacturer of ultra-light manual wheelchairs, Verrett aims to take a company that is well known in Canada and help them stake a claim in the United States.

“They've been around for about 10 years, but they're just getting started in the U.S.,” said Verrett, who's serving as the company's Eastern sales manager. “It's a company I'm excited about because they have perfected the application of carbon fiber—other companies have tried and haven't done it right—and their CEO Eric Simoneau is like the Steve Jobs of manual wheelchairs—he's excited and passionate about their products and where they're going.”

Although Verrett's still very much involved at ROVI, it's bittersweet for him to “step back” from the company whose X3 he helped launch in 2013. But he felt it was necessary for the company's next stage of growth.

"I took a haircut compensation wise to protect my team members and to keep the company healthy,” Verrett said. “ROVI is competing with companies that have been in the market for two decades and it needs more time. My stepping back allows us to breathe a little bit and breathes more life into the team and future products.”