Celebrating 20 Years of EAS Consulting Group

By Dean Cirotta, EAS Consulting Group President

I would like to take the opportunity to use this month’s feature article to celebrate the 20^th Anniversary of the founding of EAS Consulting Group.

EAS’s beginnings can be traced back to the 1960s, however our current firm began in 2006, when our founder Ed Steele, a former FDA CFSAN and private sector regulatory official, formally established EAS Consulting Group as a private company based in Alexandria, Virginia. Our focus in the early days was providing food and dietary supplement consulting services, through many of Ed’s former FDA colleagues, who were true experts in their fields. However, EAS’s reputation grew quickly and led to the firm’s rapid expansion of services to include drug, device, tobacco and USDA meat and poultry consulting. The growth and reputation of EAS as a premier FDA and USDA consulting firm also led to the acquisition of EAS by Certified Laboratories in November 2019, becoming part of the Certified Group of companies. The expansion continued in 2021, when the Certified Group, including EAS, merged its operations and capabilities with Food Safety Net Services (FSNS) to expand the company’s platform of global testing and regulatory solutions. Today, EAS utilizes a network of over 200 independent consultants, including professionals with extensive career histories at FDA and USDA as well as former industry experts. Together, they assist clients with compliance, auditing, training, remediation, product approvals, and other regulatory needs.

I felt that no celebration of our 20^th Anniversary would be complete without a few thoughts from our Founder, Ed Steele, for without his vision we would not be here today.

A Reflection from EAS Founder Ed Steele

When I started the company in 2006, I had no idea that it would grow to its current size and earn the reputation it has today. It is especially gratifying to see what EAS has become and the contribution it continues to make to the FDA and USDA regulated industries. Since EAS joined forces with the Certified Group, the industry has enjoyed access to an exceptional breadth of regulatory and testing expertise and assistance. The past and current employees and consultants have made me very proud of what EAS has accomplished.

I echo Ed’s sentiments, as it has been my privilege to be with EAS for 17 years and celebrating my 14^th year as its President. I have had the opportunity to work with the most professional staff and consultants who are truly experts and have been the foundation upon which EAS has been built. We also would not be here today if not for the continued trust, loyalty, and confidence that all of our clients have had in us for the past 20 years. It continues to be an honor to work at EAS and I very much appreciate the opportunity to continue to work with our excellent staff and consultants and to serve our clients, many of whom have been working with us for years.

So, this month we take a moment to thank Ed, our staff, our consultants and of course our clients, whose support, dedication and commitment have allowed us to provide two decades of FDA and USDA expert regulatory consulting services, which now reaches over 1,300 clients in 45 states and 60 countries. It is an amazing success story, and we look forward to an equally exciting future.

Dean R. Cirotta
President, EAS Consulting Group