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Rochester’s Cause + Effect Strategy completes planned shift in majority ownership

Eric Webber (left) has sold majority ownership in Cause + Effect Strategy to co-founders John Loury (center) and Mike Sutton. (Photo provided by Cause + Effect Strategy)

Eric Webber (left) has sold majority ownership in Cause + Effect Strategy to co-founders John Loury (center) and Mike Sutton. (Photo provided by Cause + Effect Strategy)

Eric Webber (left) has sold majority ownership in Cause + Effect Strategy to co-founders John Loury (center) and Mike Sutton. (Photo provided by Cause + Effect Strategy)

Eric Webber (left) has sold majority ownership in Cause + Effect Strategy to co-founders John Loury (center) and Mike Sutton. (Photo provided by Cause + Effect Strategy)

Rochester’s Cause + Effect Strategy completes planned shift in majority ownership

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Cause + Effect Strategy, the Rochester-based intelligence and analytics consulting firm, has completed a planned transfer of majority control within the ownership group.

Co-founders John Loury and Mike Sutton, through It Starts With Data LLC, acquired controlling interest from partner Eric Webber in a deal set into motion on March 1. Loury remains president of Cause + Effect Strategy, Sutton remains vice president of client services and Webber maintains his role as chief financial officer while also holding minority ownership.

The trio launched Cause + Effect in January of 2015 and the firm has enjoyed continual sustained growth.

“This was always the plan, to grow the company to a place where not only do we have a downtown office but where we could shift the ownership to the two founders,” Loury said. “This became the right time to hand it over and Eric was very kind to us in making the purchase easy.”

Cause + Effect has 22 employees serving 46 active clients. Of those, 21 have enlisted the services of Cause + Effect for two-plus years, and nine are publicly traded companies.

The firm saw 16 percent year-over-year topline growth in the first quarter of 2024, 19 percent topline growth from 2022 to 2023 and three-year growth of 25 percent between 2021 and 2023.

While continuing to focus on organic growth, Loury said the company now will become “much more active in the M&A (mergers and acquisitions) space.”

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