Our History
Cochran, Cochran and Yale (CCY) was founded in 1979 by Hale and Gloria Cochran. Gary Baker joined the firm as a partner in 1980, and bought out the Cochrans two years later. In 2008, Baker bought out the owner’s interest, becoming the majority owner. In 2018, Shawn bought out Gary and became CEO.
Gary Baker
During his 30+ year tenure, Gary has been instrumental in developing a unique and highly successful quantitative process for hiring. He has earned an impeccable reputation as a subject matter expert for the identification, evaluation, recruitment, and hiring process of top talent in accounting, finance, tax/treasury/audit, banking/financial services, human resources, and Boards of Directors across numerous industry segments. Throughout the years, offices were established in Buffalo, Denver and Phoenix with a staff of over 30 recruiters at its peak. Recruitment projects were global, having searches in Mexico, Ireland and Hong Kong for Fortune 500 companies. However, with the advancement of technology, the need for bricks & mortar became irrelevant and operations were consolidated into a single site in Rochester, NY.
On the personal side, Gary, who is an avid golfer, enjoys traveling as much as his schedule allows to Bonita Springs, Florida where he also partakes in boating and fishing. In addition, Gary is a disabled Vietnam-Era Veteran serving in the U.S. Army from 1968-1969.
Shawn Baker
With more than a decade of executive and professional recruitment experience, Shawn has quickly become one of the Top Guns in the Executive Search industry. He has successfully placed board chairs, CFOs, Chief Creative Officers, and sales & marketing managers.
Shawn cut his teeth working in the sports industry for powerhouses like Quicksilver, Benetton Sports, and Nordica, before creating his own search firms that now reside under the CCY umbrella.