Joseph Cook Edens III is the Chief Operating Officer of The Edens Group, LLC. Cook joined The Edens Group in 2008, bringing over two decades of expertise in sales management and corporate operations from his previous experience in the finance and banking industry. Prior to joining The Edens Group, Cook operated and managed divisional relationships with several large banking institutions and served on the board of numerous financial services associations. He parlayed that experience into running the day-to-day operations of The Edens Group, which includes all infrastructure and support functions within finance, telecommunications, technology and operations. In an additional capacity, Cook manages and coordinates client needs with our recruiting staff to make sure all expectations are met and all delivery objectives are accomplished. He also staffs and manages our strategic recruiting partners and project-based solutions division. In an ongoing effort to spearhead process improvement, Cook is also responsible for originating SmartSearch™, our recruiting methodology which incorporates The Edens Group’s Recruiting Best Practices model with our core values of professionalism, integrity and perseverance. SmartSearch™ is our framework and guides our formal business conduct and the processes and services that we provide to our market. A native Virginian, he is a graduate of The Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia and received a B.A. degree in English and Economics from The Saint Lawrence University in New York.