New York Solution Provider Executive Frank Basanta Passes Away, Remembered For Always ‘Helping’ Others, Going Extra Mile For Clients

Frank Basanta, executive vice president of the Jeroboam Group, passed away suddenly of a heart attack on Sunday.

Frank Basanta, 69, a New York technology solution provider executive and technical recruiter who had a passion for helping others and always going the extra mile for clients, passed away suddenly of a heart attack on Oct. 4.

Basanta’s career as a technical recruiter and solution provider services executive spanned more than four decades, from helping customers gain competitive advantage with PCs to placing highly skilled technology specialists to bring AI solutions to clients.

For the last decade, Basanta (pictured), who had countless technology certifications, was executive vice president of the Jeroboam Group, a New York turnkey technology staffing and service provider for businesses of all sizes started by his brother, Joseph, who is president of the company.

Before the Jeroboam Group, Basanta spent nearly 22 years as managing director of technology for Systems Solutions, a New York solution provider, and two years as a partner at Nowack Consulting Services.

Basanta grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, in New York as the son of Spanish immigrants. His mother was an executive secretary for the New York advertising agency BBDO and his father was a sous chef.

Basanta graduated from Newtown High School in Queens where he was a state high- school wrestling champ and attended Hunter College where he was also a member of the wrestling team.

Joseph said Frank initially worked as a salesman for Paragon Sports, an independent New York sporting goods store, and at flea markets. “With the gift of gab he went to a recruiter and the recruiting company hired him to do staffing,” said Joseph.

When Joseph started working at Egghead Software, a legendary software reseller in New York, Frank’s recruiting career took a turn into technical staffing and computer services. “After work I would hang out with him and we would have fun working with computers,” Joseph said.

Joseph laughed at the memory of Frank attempting to rapidly install Novell NetWare one disk at a time with 30 floppy disks. “NetWare would let you finish the 30-disk installation and then let you know you messed up,” he said. “We let him do it three or four times until we got him to slow down and he got it right.”

When Frank went for an interview at Nowack Consulting, he borrowed Joseph’s suit and tie to make a good impression. “Everything was mine because when I was working at Egghead you had to wear a suit and tie,” Joseph recalled. “Frank enjoyed recruiting. He would come down to Egghead and see any new stuff we had. He was a nerdy geek who knew the technology products.”

Frank, in fact, would often install new software on Joseph’s systems to test out new products. “It would mess up my machine and he would tell me, ‘I can’t do it on my machine because it’s a production system,’” he said.

Over the years, Frank placed thousands of executives in technology jobs, always going the extra mile to get his clients into a hard-to-get position. “Where most recruiters let it go and would give up, Frank would never give up,” he said. “He just wouldn’t let things go. He always went the extra mile for clients.”

Basanta, in fact, had one of the lowest fall-off rates for placing executives who did not last the three-month probationary period at a company. “Frank had the lowest fall-offs because he took the time to place the right person in the right position,” said Joseph.

In one case, a young woman failed a drug test because she would eat two poppy bagels each day. It was only when Frank asked about her daily routine and discovered the reason why she failed the drug test that she got the job, said Joseph.

“Frank called HR and asked them to give her one more chance because he had discovered what the issue was,” said Joseph.

One of Joseph’s fond memories is working alongside Frank in the early days of SUSE Linux. “We were IBM business partners and created an Open-Xchange open-source prebuilt server with small, medium and large configurations,” Joseph said. “In just three months, we were the No. 3 SUSE reseller worldwide.”

Kathy D’Elena, Frank’s partner of three decades, recalled Frank as a “sweet man” who loved his work as a recruiter helping people.

“Frank loved helping people to meet their goals,” said D’Elena. “He would help anyone. You don’t know how many people loved him and have reached out because he was such a nice person. He gave so much to people.”

Outside work, Frank was an aquarium enthusiast who filled each of his aquariums with exotic fish and unusual plants and rocks. Each Wednesday evening, Frank volunteered at a local pet shop to help with the aquariums. “He would clean up the tanks and if the fish were not well, he would take care of them,” said D’Elena.

Frank, an athlete and passionate New York sports fan, also mentored a 12-year-old boy, Sasha, who lived in the same building, said D’Elena.

“Frank taught him how to skateboard and ride a bike,” said D’Elena. “Frank would play ball with him every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Frank did everything for him. That child loved Frank.”

D’Elena said tearfully that Basanta was her soul mate and she will miss him terribly. “We did everything together,” she said.

Frank had celebrated his 69th birthday on Oct. 1 with D’Elena and family and friends. “He said to me this was the best birthday he ever had because we were together,” she said. “He was so happy.”

Editor’s Note: I spoke to Frank on Oct. 2, two days before his passing. Frank would always start each conversation by asking how my family was, asking about my wife and son. Frank would always share the latest ups and downs of the recruiting and tech services business. I always told him after each phone call I should pay him for sharing and giving me an education on life and business.

The last time I spoke with Frank he spoke passionately about helping a recruit who had sent out hundreds of resumes but had failed to get a job. Frank advised the recruit to get online certifications for Anthropic and IBM security. It was classic Frank, always going the extra mile for clients and his friends. Miss You and Love You Frank. Rest in Peace.