Dan Rootenberg, PT, DPT, CSCS
Dan Rootenberg is the CEO and Co-founder of SPEAR Physical Therapy, the American Physical Therapy Association’s 2017 Practice of the Year. Dan co-founded SPEAR in 1999 working out of a small treatment room. SPEAR has since grown to fifteen locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, employing over 250 people.
Dan’s focus on organizational leadership and career development has resulted in several honors and recognitions from medical, academic and business communities. SPEAR recently received Columbia University’s Award for Leadership in Clinical Education, given to the top 1/10th of 1% of practices. SPEAR was named four times to the Inc5000 list of fastest growing private companies in America, as well as having been named by SmartCEO magazine as a Future50 company five times. SPEAR was also chosen to appear in Chase Bank’s National Ad Campaign, Mission Main Street, as a thriving small business committed to serving community interests. SPEAR was the first private practice to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange when on May 4th 2016, during small business week, they were featured on MSNBC.
Dan is an active member and thought leader within the APTA, having held numerous leadership positions in the Private Practice Section and was the keynote speaker for their first national Peer to Peer event. Dan began his career at the Hospital for Special Surgery, the nation’s top orthopedic hospital, where he developed advanced clinical skills in orthopedic and sports injury management.
Prior to becoming one of the premier sports physical therapists in NYC, Dan played professional baseball on three separate continents. Recently, he had the opportunity to work with Major League Baseball as the Physical Therapist/Strength and Conditioning Coach for Team Israel in 2012, and in Seoul and Tokyo at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Dan received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Binghamton University in 1994, along with a Master of Science in Physical Therapy from Touro College in 1997. Dan earned his Clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the EIM Institute of Health Professionals in 2010, winning the Capstone Project Award for business development.
Dan is also on the Board of Directors of Peter Stuyvesant Little League and the Bonnie Youth Club, two organizations devoted to teaching children lifelong values, self-worth and responsibility through baseball. Dan has made numerous guest spots on Sports Talk radio, and was featured in the award-winning documentary “Holy Land Hardball”. Dan lives in NYC with his wife and three children.
Listen to Dan’s podcast on Core Values, Leadership and Self-Improvement
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