| SLCEC St. Louis Enterprise Centers Supportive Environments for Business |
A St. Louis County Economic Council & St. Louis Development Corporation Partnership |
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| The following articles represent SLCEC news coverage of Client Companies. The articles appear by date in order of most recently published. |
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New drug laws right 'script for DynaLabs New laws governing compounded prescription drugs are compounding revenue at DynaLabs LLC, the St. Louis-based pharmaceutical analysis company. Michael Pruett, 53, and Russell Odegard, 52, two former Sigma-Aldrich Corp. employees, founded DynaLabs in 2003 with $180,000 in startup capital. Odegard said the company projects revenue of $2.7 million this year, compared with $1.5 million last year, $675,000 in 2006 and $276,000 in 2005. "Our revenue has been doubling almost every year," Odegard said. "I think we will maintain that growth for the next couple of years." The gains come as more states and pharmacies adopt higher compounded prescription-drug safety standards. DynaLabs' 17 employees, who are based at the St. Louis Enterprise Center-Midtown at 3830 Washington Blvd., ensure that compounded pharmaceuticals meet the standards for potency, purity and integrity developed by the U.S. Pharmacopeia in Rockville, Md. Pruett and Odegard launched Dyna-Labs the year that Missouri became the first state in the nation to pass a law that requires all compounded prescription medicines sold in the state to be randomly tested. Compounded medicines are prepared by pharmacists who mix different drugs or adjust ingredients of standard prescriptions to meet specifications for individual patients. Odegard said DynaLabs' services are sought by pharmacies in Missouri and all over the country. The Missouri Board of Pharmacy conducts random tests of compounded drugs in the state by law, he said, and many pharmacies do their own voluntary tests to maintain USP standards. "The need for compounding keeps growing due to more demand for personalized medicine," Odegard said. "There is also more regulation, and we were ahead of the curve." Among DynaLabs' more than 100 clients is Earth City-based Medicine Shoppe International Inc., the nation's largest franchisor of independent community pharmacies and a subsidiary of Dublin, Ohio-based pharmaceutical distributor Cardinal Health Inc. The company's other clients include Express Scripts Inc. and Children's Hospital Boston. Compounded drugs currently account for about 1 percent of 3.8 billion drug prescriptions written in the United States annually, according to the Missouri City, Texas-based International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP). L.D. King, IACP's executive director, said that means there are about 38 million compounded drug prescriptions written annually. He said that number is bound to expand with the growing trend of customized medicine. Pruett said the number of compounded drug prescriptions has risen about 20 percent annually since 2002, from about 42,000 prescriptions per day that year to over 100,000 today. Despite the increase in prescriptions there hasn't been a related rise in the number of analysis labs that specialize in testing compounded drugs. USP standards for testing sterile compounded drug prescriptions were created in 2004, and about 15 states have adopted those rules to perform audits checks on compounding pharmacists, Odegard said. Among those states, though, Missouri remains the only one that does actual random tests on compounded drug samples. DynaLabs counts only three other companies in the nation as its competitors: Analytical Research Laboratories of Oklahoma City, Eagle Laboratories Inc. in Dallas, and Loveland, Co.-based Front Range Laboratories Inc. Pruett said DynaLabs' next goal is to begin marketing a handheld device it has been developing over the last three years that will allow pharmacists and nurses to test compounded drugs on the spot. The company began developing the device, known as a DynaLyzer, in January 2006. It will begin marketing DynaLyzer late next year, with plans to lease the equipment to pharmacies and health-care institutions. The equipment has the potential to help grow DynaLabs' revenue to $50 million within the next five years, he said. Odegard, a native of Canada and microbiologist by training, was director of projects at Sigma-Aldrich prior to co-founding DynaLabs. Pruett, a St. Louis native and registered pharmacist, was a business consultant prior to DynaLabs' founding. He also had worked as a supervisor at Sigma-Aldrich. The two, who both have MBA degrees, became friends at Sigma-Aldrich through their common interest in Taekwondo. They each hold black belts in the Korean martial art. In addition to their own start-up capital, Pruett and Odegard -- who own 80 percent of DynaLabs' shares -- received a $100,000 loan from the Business Finance Division of the St. Louis County Economic Council in 2004, and $150,000 from the St. Louis Development Corp. in 2005 to finance the company. Professional services: DynaLabs' attorneys are David Braswell of Armstrong Teasdale LLP and Ned Randle at Polster, Lieder, Woodruff & Lucchesi LC. Bob Fasani of Hauk Fasani Ramsey Kruse & Co., and Steve Crouse of The True North Group are the company financial advisors and accountants. |
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From St. Louis Small Business Monthly Vol. 20, Issue II, September 2007 Innovative Idea, Business Knowledge Spawns
Entrepreneurial Company: Foot Healers Combines Podiatry
Expertise, Products In One Location Clifford Holekamp saw a problem and
made up his mind to fix it. With a stepfather
who was a podiatrist, Holekamp had some With an innovative idea and a strong set
of business skills, Holekamp came up with
the business plan for Foot Healers while he “Going to the doctor is intimidating,”
says Holekamp. “By the time patients get
up the nerve to actually go see a doctor, Holekamp says that with over 100
podiatrists in St. Louis, Foot Healers does
face significant competition. However, he Foot Healers’ clinics are intentionally located in shopping centers in and around the St. Louis area. According to Holekamp, that makes a more convenient and comfortable atmosphere for patients, thus increasing the number of people coming through the doors. “A lot of clinics are located by hospitals,
because that’s near where the doctors work
and live. For their convenience, we decided By designing his business from the customer’s point of view, Holekamp has experienced success that might not have come from a more traditional approach. He adds that by introducing a new style of medical service, perhaps people will expect change in the future. “I do believe that the bar will rise on the service level that people will expect from their health care providers. The practices that will earn growth will be the ones that provide the most expertise in both medicine and service. It is my goal that Foot Healers helps to raise the level of expectations that people have of their health care providers,” says Holekamp. His perspective as a business owner can be a valuable lesson to many entrepreneurs in virtually any industry. “I enjoy studying people and finding better ways to cater to what they want or need. Foot Healers is delivering a much needed service in a way that makes it easier for people to get the health care they need.” As Holekamp began growing his dream company, one of his first strategies was to get involved in the St. Louis County Economic Council’s St. Louis Enterprise Centers business incubation program. The program not only offered valuable office space, but advice and counsel to help grow his business. “Foot Healers utilized our St. Louis Enterprise Center in South County in exactly the way an entrepreneur looking to grow should. The company took advantage of our available resources including office space, equipment and conference rooms. Our Enterprise Centers offer a great support system. Having the opportunity to network, bounce off ideas with other business startups, and share the aches and pains that undoubtedly come with being a small-business owner also benefited their growth,” said Denny Coleman, president and CEO of St. Louis County Economic Council. With the concept of Foot Healers, Holekamp ventured into a field in which he was not an expert and built a successful business. He advises others that leaving their comfort zones can be rewarding, but not to underestimate the amount of work it takes to reach their goals. “I encourage other entrepreneurs to conquer their fears of the unknown, but only if they have done the research and planning to make known all that can be known,” says Holekamp. “Detailed planning and thorough research are the best methods to manage the intimidations and trepidations that entrepreneurs face when starting a new venture.” After the initial stages of operation for any business, Holekamp says the key to maintaining success is to “be a perpetual student of business—always studying your business and making decisions accordingly.” “Foot Healers is truly an entrepreneurial success story and its founder, Clifford Holekamp, a rising star in the St. Louis business community,” said Jan DeYoung, executive director of St. Louis Enterprise Centers. |
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ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 08/02/2007 Kitchen incubator rolls out start-up food companies Rick Scharper was disgusted with the processed taste of frozen pizza, so he
started making his own. First he made them for his family, then for his friends
and now he and his wife, Meredith, are making 1,500 a month doing business as
Dogtown Pizza. |
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From the Chesterfield Journal, July 3, 2007
Michael Rothkopf of Chesterfield, Robyn Howes of Wildwood and Steve Brodbeck of West County recently received some special diplomas. They were the latest "graduates" of the St. Louis County Enterprise Centers (SLEC)/West County, a small-business incubator at 743 Spirit 40 Park Drive in Chesterfield. Their "graduation ceremony" was June 29. The SLEC/West County temporarily provides new and growing small businesses with affordable office and warehouse space, shared support services, access to expert advice and mentors, and networking opportunities. The center, along with three others in the St. Louis area, is supported through the St. Louis County Economic Council. The trio of recent grads outgrew their business space and have moved elsewhere in West County. Rothkopf is president of Professional Network Solutions, a firm he co-founded six years ago with Joe Walsh. It provides voiceover Internet protocol (VOIP) and data networking services. It has moved to 754 Goddard Ave. in Chesterfield. "The center has had all the assets we've needed, as well as mentoring," Rothkopf said of the SLEC. "You have a bunch of really smart people here, and the spirit is contagious." Brodbeck is a partner in Callisto Communications. It was formed in 2003 at the SLEC and markets communications equipment. It has moved to 18075 Edison Ave. in Chesterfield. "This center gave us a safe harbor to launch our firm and resources to grow it, so we now are able to lease a 25,000-square-foot building and have 25 full-time employees," he said. "I'll miss the camaraderie here, being with a lot of other businesses cutting their teeth at the same time," he said of the SLEC. "It's a rare environment, and we wouldn't be where we are now without getting a head start here." Howes is president and director of engineering for Certified NETS. She founded the firm in 1996 in her home and moved to the SLEC in 2003. Certified NETS provides information technology services for small- to medium-size businesses. It has moved to 1353 Bauer Blvd. in the Olivette area. "The Enterprise Center gave us a home; access to resources like much-needed furniture and a loading dock; loan and entrepreneurship programs; and the chance to network with other tenants," she said. Denny Coleman, president and chief executive officer of the St. Louis County Economic Council, praised the graduates. "It's rewarding to see those who risk everything to pursue a dream; we're pleased to be able to provide assistance to see you grow," Coleman said. The business incubators help boost the local economy, said St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley. "Our mission is to nurture success, support diversity and impact area job growth," said Jan DeYoung, SLEC executive director. "These graduates are rising stars in the West County business community." For more information on the SLEC program, visit the Web site www.slcec.com. You can contact Mary Shapiro at mshapiro@yourjournal.com. |
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Three years ago, Bill Canfield, then chairman and chief executive of Talx Corp. gave away a sliver of the business because it didn’t fit at his fast-growing, Web-based payroll services company. Now the grateful recipient of that gift, Gerry Claunch, and his spin-off business, GDC Integration Inc., are on the verge of making it big, or at least bigger. Like Talx, GDC develops and sells Web-based services, but its niche is small. It sells technology, primarily to government agencies, that enables employees to perform specialized human resources services via the Web. Talx started the line of business, but revenue was relatively small – about $1 million in 2002. “It was just a piece of business that didn’t fit,” Canfield said. Meanwhile, other lines of business at Talx were booming. “While at Talx, I attempted for a year to find a buyer, but because the numbers were so small, people weren’t interested,” said Claunch, who was national director of federal systems at Talx. “Finally Bill Canfield said, ‘If you can get th clients to accept you as a spin-off corporation, then have at it.’” And Claunch did, paying nothing for the business and renting space from Talx for the first 14 months. He brought with him another Talx employee, Brian Ware, who is the “the cornerstone” of client relations, Claunch said. Ware’s title at Talx was applications specialist. GDC’s biggest client by far is the U.S. Forest Service, which started with Claunch when he was still at Talx. It buys niche Web services that GDC has developed, such as a uniform procurement system for its rangers and other employees, generating $1.2 million in annual revenue. Other clients have included the U.S. Department of Justice, EDS Corp. and St. John Vianney High School. GDC also developed an employee time-entry system that helps the Forest Service manage its variable work force, which grows to 55,000 from 35,000 during the forest-fire season. The service launched last month. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which overseas the Forest Service, has taken notice. “Now the Department of Agriculture wants a new time-entry system,” Claunch said. “I have the very real possibility that my client base could be the entire Department of Agriculture, going from a user base of 55,000 to 140,000.” That would bring annual revenue to $2 million to $2.5 million by end of 2008, Claunch estimates, even if GDC adds no other clients or contracts. GDC gets paid for developing the niche applications and for providing the ongoing service. But there’s more to come, Claunch hopes. The Forest Service is considering hiring GDC to unify its scattered Web sites and to develop and run a digital catalog and library system for its thousands of historic photographs and future photos. Claunch has submitted a bit of $46 million for five years and should hear if he is the successful bidder later this summer. “It would certainly mean stability,” he said. “It’s great he has made more of a business out of it than we gave him,” Canfield said. “I’m proud of him.” If GDC wins the $46 million contract, it will work with another small St. Louis company, e-data Solutions Inc., whose services include Web site development, image restoration and archiving. Leslie Decker, the company’s president and chief executive said the deal would triple the size of her five-member staff and her revenue, which she declined to disclose. “It would help us to grow very quickly,” she said. Claunch likens the system that GDC is developing for the Forest Service to an assembly line. It would require more than 100 additional employees at GDC, which currently has seven full-time employees at its 2,400-square-foot office in the Globe-Democrat building in downtown St. Louis. GDC’s employees include Victor Happens, a project manager; Mike Biggs, head of sales and business development; and Jeff Kyker, a Microsoft-certified software engineer. Claunch said another important player is Aaron Kaufman, chief technologist and a contract employee from AJK Consulting in St. Louis. “We’re on the verge of very exciting times,” Claunch said. Things aren’t so bad at Talx, either; it was acquired last month by Atlanta-based Equifax Inc. for $1.4 billion. |
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Cathy Villhard’s company’s tale is a case study in the resources it takes to make it as a small business – starting with the inspiration, which she found during her previous life as an interior designer. For years, she baked batches of homemade cookies to give to her clients during the holidays. The cookies, always a hit, came from her mother’s recipes. When she found herself juggling the demands of family and career, she began to wonder if baking might be the key to a better work-family balance. Even though she worried about the challenges of starting her own business, Villhard knew she had a product that people liked and a market that might be willing to pay for it. “[It] made me think, ‘Hmmm … you know, [corporations] always need good gifts…’” For two years. Villhard kept her design job while learning everything she could about professional baking and business ownership, including pricing, marketing, packaging and distribution. She took continuing education courses at St. Louis Community College, worked with a mentor from the Small Business Administration’s Service Corps of Retired Executives program and enlisted a certified master baker to help her expand her recipes for commercial baking. She also zeroed in on her market niche – creating logo and special event “gift” cookies. One of her biggest breaks came when a former colleague suggested she rent commercial kitchen space from Food Outreach, which provides meals, groceries and nutrition counseling to people living with HIV/AIDS and cancer. “I would never have been able to get as far as I am now without Food Outreach,” said Villhard. Villhard baked her first official batch of Batter Up! Cookies in November 2003. Today, she bakes everything from traditional favorites – chocolate chip and peanut butter – to logo cookies, with the latter representing the biggest part of her business. Those cookies, which are baked from Villhard’s own shortbread recipe, are either stamped before baking with a custom-designed logo stamp or embossed by a color food printer. The visual effect is pretty impressive, but Villhard said taste is just as important. “We wanted it to not only look good and [make] people say, ‘Oh, isn’t that cool?’; we [also] wanted people to taste it and go, ‘Oh my gosh!’” Apparently, they have. Since its first batch for A.G. Edwards, Batter Up! has provided logo cookies for clients at Anheuser-Busch, Scottrade and numerous other companies. Last year the company began supplying creamy coconut confections to Bissinger’s, which covers them in dark chocolate to create a bon bon. “They want all natural [products] and we do all natural … no added preservatives, none of that stuff,” said Villhard. The tiny treat is listed as a “patron favorite” on Bissinger’s Web site. As she prepares for the all-important holiday gift season, Villhard is looking forward to supplementing her workforce through another important partner – the International Institute of St. Louis, which matches new immigrants with willing employers in the city of St. Louis. The institute’s clients are drawn into her labor supply year-round, which she said she wanted to do because “it would help those individuals provide for their families, and they are incredibly conscientious and hard workers. It is a win-win.” After the holidays, Villhard plans to move the St. Louis Enterprise Center’s commercial kitchen in Midtown. In the future, she hopes to open her own baking facility and hire full-time, permanent employees. “I am looking forward to the day when our company is doing so well that I am in a position to make positive things happen … in the region,” said Villhard. “When you are in that position and you can [give back] …how wonderful is that?” Batter Up! Cookies 314.348.2552 |
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After-hours entrepreneurs try to create their own cookie monster When the owners of DB Gourmet Cookies leave their corporate jobs at 5 p.m., the second part of their work day is just beginning. Tony Edwards, Kenneth King and Joseph Westbrook, all 32, trade in their BlackBerrys for cookie dough and oven mitts – baking cookies until the wee hours of the morning. It is an ongoing balancing act for the partners. Edwards is a sales manager for Verizon Wireless, King is a sales manager for T-Mobile USA Inc. and Westbrook is a regional manager for General Electric Co. They bake about 1,000 cookies a week from Sunday to Saturday in the kitchen of the St. Louis Enterprise Center on Washington Boulevard. Their online store, www.dbgourmetcookies.com, is the hub of the business where cookie bags, arrangements, tins and trays can be purchased for $5 to $75. The owners use their salaries to fund the business. But DB Gourmet Cookies has been a longtime ambition for all three. Indeed, DB is actually on its second life. The guys came back together last year after a nine-year hiatus. They first started the cookie business when they were 17 and seniors at Sumner High School in St. Louis. "We actually started the company with about $10 in our pockets,” said Westbrook. “We went to Schnucks, bought all of the ingredients and sold some cookies.” The guys are tight-lipped about the recipe, but Westbrook credits his grandmother for the inspiration. She also gave her blessing to use the recipe. “It’s my grandmother’s recipe with a new edge,” he said. “It’s modernized.” The seeds of entrepreneurship for the three began in the summer of 1991, when they attended the Minority Youth Entrepreneurship Program sponsored by Washington University and the National Urban League. “The program basically taught all the students entrepreneur skills and everything you needed to know about starting your own company,” said Edwards. The entrepreneurship program “laid the foundation” for the start of the cookie company, Edwards said. Westbrook worked at a restaurant while in school. That was the first outlet where the cookies were introduced. Customers were able to get the cookies free with a purchase at the restaurant. The initial response to the cookies was enthusiastic, and the owners decided to start selling them – setting up shop at school. They sold cookies for $1 each during breaks and at sporting events and began selling the cookies at the restaurant. After graduation in 1992, the cookie sales kept coming. Eventually, DB became overwhelming. Baking cookies was not part of the plan for three guys in young adulthood. “We wanted to do other things,” Edwards said. Besides, the profits were less than impressive. “When we got money in, we were putting money back out on supplies,” Edwards said. “We earned a lot of money, but we were not seeing a lot of money.” So in 1996, they dismantled DB Gourmet Cookies and explored other work options. An insecure job market prompted the guys to bring back the cookie company. Westbrook lost a job at AT&T Inc., and the others wanted to gain more control over their futures. This time around, they also wanted to give back. The owners work monthly with about 20 youths involved in the Washington U. entrepreneurship program that led to the first incarnation of DB Gourmet. Westbrook said they help kids understand money and how to save and invest for future. The three are planning to open a store next summer. They are working to make sure the business remains viable. “We hope, eventually, our full-time job will be running our company,” Edwards said. “We are a year into it now, and we are getting closer and closer to that.” DB Gourmet Cookies Owners: Tony Edwards; Kenneth King and Joseph Westbrook |
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Minority Business Council Plays Matchmaker Annetta Vickers credits the St. Louis Minority Business Council (SLMBC) for getting her company’s relationship with Enterprise Rent-A-Car off the ground. “If I hadn’t been certified by the council, I wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in today,” Vickers said. “As a certified MBE, I had the opportunity to connect with the council’s corporate members, which eventually led to my contract with Enterprise.” Vickers is founder and president of T.A.B. Company, a distributor of office, construction and electrical supplies. In eight years, T.A.B. – named after Annetta and her two children – has generated more than $5 million in annual sales and outgrown building space three times. Her customer list includes school districts, construction companies and government agencies, among others. Mention Enterprise, and her enthusiasm rises to a new level. “I’m in love with Enterprise,” Vickers said. “My family is in love with them. My church is in love with them. Because they bless us all.” In 1999, Vickers met Enterprise’s Director of Corporate Purchasing and Supplier Diversity Gene Roth through her connection with a leading office supply distributor. After presenting her wares to Enterprise, Vickers and Roth brokered a contract centered on T.A.B.’s distribution of toner cartridges to multiple locations within the Enterprise network. Over time, toner cartridge deliveries expanded to include remanufactured toners. About a year ago, Vickers sealed a deal to provide Enterprise’s stationery products, including business cards, letterhead and envelopes. All told, T.A.B.’s business with Enterprise has increased 70-fold in just seven years. “Our relationship with T.A.B. started small, but we knew early on that this was a well-run organization with great leadership, so we wanted the partnership to grow,” Roth says. “The Enterprise-T.A.B. partnership is proof that forming long-term strategic alliances pays off.” Roth identified numerous advantages of working with T.A.B. and other minority business enterprises: flexibility, fast response time, access to the president, innovative and creative solutions, competitive pricing and opportunities for growth and expansion. “Some of our greatest partnerships come from MBEs,” Roth said. Roth said that the certified MBE status is important to most corporations that want to do business with diverse vendors and that want to ensure that MBEs have the opportunity to compete for contracts with large companies. “Certification is an assurance that these companies are MBEs – at least 51 percent owned, operated, and controlled by minorities – with viable, competitive businesses,” Roth says. “The networking opportunities that SLMBC presents to its corporate members are incredible. We have very high service and quality expectations at Enterprise, so our goal is to find vendors that work well for us and to stick with them for the long-term. Through the council, we have an effective way to find MBEs that can deliver above and beyond expectations.” Vickers’ benefits from working with the council extend beyond her partnership with Enterprise. “I’ve also participated in some of the nation’s top minority business training through the Dartmouth and Northwestern schools of business,” Vickers said. “These are programs I didn’t even know about until I got involved with the council. I know that if I go to large companies and say that I’m an SLMBC-certified MBE, then I’ve at least established the opportunity to do business.” |
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Market opens creative door to keep garden beautiful Janice Denham Of the Suburban Journals 10/04/2006 Foods, handcrafts and ornaments energetically mingle in the mind for a renewed style. The event will give earlier fans of the Chihuly "Glass in the Garden" exhibit an opportunity to see it in the Garden's mature setting. The benefit for the Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd., is in its 15th year. Cooks will enjoy demonstrations by the Kelly Twins, sister chefs heard on KTRS (550 AM) and seen on Charter Communications' CCIN, and Ed Goodman of KEZK (102.5 FM). Children will have their own priorities with pumpkin decorating, cow milking, a petting farm and live music. Large tents allow rain-or-shine browsing among 120 food producers and artisans, 30 of them new to the market, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, Oct. 7 and 8. Admission to the event is free with Garden admission of $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, $3 for Garden members and children ages 3 through 12, free for members' children (12 and younger). As always, a new array of foods will be available, including locally made sweets. Maureen Missimore will bring specialties from Armando's Flan Factory, which she started after she adopted Armando in Guatemala. Using the expertise of cooks in Guatemala, as well as other countries in Central America, she adapted the custard dessert. "Mine is closer to a cheesecake, not as eggy," Missimore says. "Mine is creamy." In her business, she started with traditional vanilla flan, then added coconut at the suggestion of a relative from Mexico. Missimore will bring those favorites, as well as coconut almond, Kahlua and chocolate Kahlua flavors, to sell and sample. She hopes to feed more tummies than those here. After seeing firsthand the poverty in Guatemala, she hopes to use funds from her business to help the efforts of the adoption agency Children of the World Inc. to establish day care for mothers so they can work and keep their children. "'Mando weighed 4 pounds 13 ounces," Missimore says. "He would have died if his mother had not put him up for adoption. The only way people who are not rich in Guatemala can give their children a chance is to give them up." Her desserts are sold at select Straub and Schnuck Markets and are on the menus of restaurants such as Barcelona, Momos, Boogaloo and Mosaic. Her repertoire includes bread puddings, chocolate cake and dulce de leche cake. The full selection of her desserts is found on the Web site http://www.armandosflanfactory.com. Cose Dolci, under the baking thumb of Beth Thompson, is another dessert bonanza waiting for the kitchen timer to ring. After four years of fame by word of mouth, she feels "it's time for others to know me." Thompson bakes an array of cakes, breads, pies, scones and cookies to sell every Saturday at the Ferguson Farmer's Market. The youngest member of the family and her mother baked after-school cookies for her three sisters and two brothers. "I'd beg her to bake," Thompson says. "She let me take over when I was 8 or 9 in the kitchen whenever there was a dessert to make." The flour is thick in Thompson's kitchen this week. She will bring a variety of sweets, from pies and tarts to pound cakes and bar cookies in flavors that include carrot cake and honey pecan. The recipes are either from her mother or other family members or have been tweaked to become favorites of her own. Each will be packaged, with the help of her sister, Jackie Masuli, for less than $5 to enjoy at the Market or take home. "My extended family makes very willing taste testers," Thompson says. Masuli and other sisters will help in the Missouri Market booth. Thompson's next goal is to open a small bakery. "I'd like to find a little storefront for a bakery -- nothing fussy; just carryout," she says. Her Web site http://www.cose-dolci.com will list her wares soon. DB Gourmet Cookies also will provide sweet rewards for the first time at the Market. The brainchild of three Sumner High School friends, they baked their first cookies with $10 worth of baking supplies in 1993 to make and save money for after graduation. After gaining educational and business experience elsewhere, Kenny King, Joe Westbrook and Tony Edwards resumed their business again last year. This time the bakery has a new twist. Edwards says, "Now we are the business model, letting high school students learn about inventory, the baking process all the way to shipping and delivery." Youths from Missouri and Illinois are part of the bakery operation from concept to fork. The cookie recipes came from Westbrook's grandmother. "I went to Joe's house one day in high school and he was making cookies. I wasn't much of a cookie or chocolate eater, but those double-chocolate cookies sold me," Edwards says. At the Missouri Market, they will bring their six varieties of cookies in baker's dozens, two-packs and big slices. Attendees can sign in to receive information about DB's future holiday cookie tins and cookie-of-the-month club. Edwards says they hope to open a coffee shop in a St. Louis city neighborhood by spring. Their cookies can be ordered on the Web site http://www.dbgourmetcookies.com. On the savory side of the kitchen will be fresh pasta from Mangia Italiano. All items, including its seasonal specialty, butternut squash ravioli, will be packaged for sale. Food themes, as well as floral and holiday items, will be offered by Beth Kamman of Wildwood. Her wooden bowls, plates and platters are food-safe. She also paints floor cloths, nightlights and birdhouses. Kamman started preparing for the Missouri Market in January. After the fifth-grade teacher corrects papers and prepares for the next day's class at Carman Trails Elementary School in Manchester, she goes into her studio to paint with acrylics. "It's my reward," Kamman says. More information and a schedule for the event are available on the Web site http://www.mobot.org. The recipe for Cranberry Cheesecake is from Maureen Missimore of Armando's Flan Factory. The sauce is delicious over ice cream, too. CRANBERRY CHEESECAKE 2 tbsp. graham cracker crumbs Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 9-inch (3 inches deep) springform pan and dust with graham cracker crumbs. In food processor or blender, process cottage cheese until almost smooth. In large bowl, using electric mixer at high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Beat in cottage cheese. Add sugar. Beat until well blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Using mixer on low speed, beat in cornstarch, lemon juice and vanilla. Add margarine and sour cream. Beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven about 70 minutes until firm around edge. Turn off oven. Without opening door, let cake stand in oven 2 hours. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Before serving, remove side of pan. Place cheesecake on serving plate. Spoon Cranberry Glaze evenly over cheesecake. Garnish with orange sections. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cranberry Glaze: In 1-quart saucepan, combine 1 cup fresh cranberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp. grated orange peel and 1/4 cup orange juice. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. In small bowl mix, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water until smooth. Stir into cranberries. Stirring constantly, bring to boil over medium heat and boil 1 minute. Pour into small bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours or until well chilled. Makes 12 servings with about 1-1/4 cups sauce. |
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| Business Incubators SLDC has developed and owns two business incubators in the City, and provides support to a third. These facilities offer tailored space and critical support for emerging business operations. Each facility provides client companies with a host of on-site amenities, including conference rooms, loading docks and materials handling equipment for shipping and receiving, copiers, and fax machines. Center for Emerging Technologies SLDC owns and helped to renovate the initial building of the CET incubator/accelerator complex located at 4041 Forest Park Avenue. CET is governed by a nonprofit board of directors and its staff is affiliated with the University of Missouri-St. Louis. CET’s second building, which is privately owned, opened in 2001 and included tax credits and grant funding in its financing. CET has 92,000 square feet of wet and dry lab, office and production space devoted to start-up biomedical and advanced technology businesses. Since its opening in 1998, CET has assisted 25 companies that have created 300 jobs with payroll of over $117 million and have attracted $710 million and have attracted $710 million in venture capital, corporate contracts and federal grants. St. Louis Enterprise Center Developed 12 years ago, this 36,000-square-foot facility located in Grand Center offers office, warehouse and production space for emerging businesses. Eighteen companies, ranging from construction tool-makers to environmental testing, are currently housed in the incubator. The Center is administered by a joint City-County Board, which also oversees two incubators in the County. Last year, the City and the County invested $220,000 to expand the facility. Nine new offices were created, and a newly equipped kitchen is allowing the incubator to better serve clients who operate food-related businesses. “The new kitchen is going to allow us to grow,” said Joseph Westbrook, owner of DB Gourmet Cookies. “We have four employees now; within six months, we expect to have between 10 and 15.” Another incubator success story is DynaLabs, founded by Russell Odegard and Michael Pruett in 2003. Revenues from its pharmaceutical testing and consulting services were $276,000 in 2005, its first full year of operation, and are on track to top $650,000 by the end of 2006. Even greater growth is expected when DynaLabs begins marketing a hand-held analytical instrument that will enable compounding pharmacists, other health-care professionals, and even law enforcement professionals to conduct cost-effective, point-of-use testing. Technology Entrepreneur Center This technology business incubator opened in 2004 with funding assistance from SLDC. The 10,000-square-foot incubator, located in the Bandwith Exchange Building at 210 N. Tucker Boulevard, is tailored to the needs of emerging information technology companies. The Center has developed and is administered by a nonprofit corporation with a board of directors made up of representatives of the region’s information technology companies and venture capital companies. Like the other City incubators, it offers tailored support, assistance in fundraising and mentorship opportunities. The Technology Entrepreneur Center also assists companies located off site. In September 2005, TEC welcomed its sixth client company, iMobile Access Technologies, winner of a prestigious Washington University Business School Olin Cup competition. Founder Stephen Foster, who was born with a hearing disability, plans to bring talk radio to the nation’s deaf and hard-of-hearing population through a patent-pending wearable mobile device, similar to eyeglasses, with spoken words transcribed and projected as text into the user’s field of vision. “Having iMAT incubate its operations at TEC does two key things,” Foster said. “It provides us with an entrepreneurial environment for ongoing collaboration, and allows the company to leverage its mentor team when facing unique challenges that may be outside of our team’s experience. It also helps maximize our chances of success by avoiding common and uncommon pitfalls that may doom many early startup ventures,” he said. Sean Gallagher |
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St. Louis 'Kitchen Incubator' Cooks Up New Businesses During the day, Joe Westbrook, Tony Edwards and Kenney King work for other people. But in the morning, at night and on the weekend, they’re “the boss” of their own business: DB (Dark Brothers) Gourmet Cookie Co., a one-year-old cookie-baking company that operates out of the St. Louis Enterprise Centers’ kitchen incubator in midtown St. Louis. Located at 3830 Washington Ave., the kitchen incubator nurtures “baby” food businesses by providing low-cost access to the facilities, equipment, guidance and resources they need to succeed. Client companies do pay rent, but at rates that fall below the market average. The SLEC raises those rates 10 percent a year to prepare companies for the realities they’ll face when they leave the incubator. “The objective is to bring businesses in at below-market rates, give them an opportunity to grow … [in] a supportive environment until [they] can stand on [their] own, and then … spin [them] out” into the marketplace, said executive director Jan DeYoung. For start-ups like DB, the incubator offers a windfall of savings. “It would easily have cost us $45,000 to $50,000 [to buy commercial] equipment,” Westbrook said. He and his partners are well aware of the alternative. Before joining the incubator, they were forced to fill an order for 500 cookies – using a home oven. “We’ve done it,” Edwards said. “But we don’t want to do it again,” Westbrook laughed. Because of the small size of the incubator’s current kitchen, only DB and TECM LLC, a hot-dog vending company, have been able to use it. However, this summer, the SLEC will use funding from the St. Louis Development Corp. to help expand and upgrade with new equipment, office space and more room for packaging and storage. DeYoung said in addition to the grant, two private companies, Ford Hotel Supply Co. and Kaemmerlen Electric Co., are donating time and expertise to the redesign effort. When the work is complete, four more businesses will move in: Batter Up! Cookies, The Brownie Factory, Armando’s Flan Factory and Kolache Concepts. All of the businesses had a hand in designing the new space, a process that led them to discuss other collaboration ideas, such as buying supplies together to increase their leverage with vendors. DeYoung said that a sense of community spills into other areas, as well. When a recent oven problem threatened to derail a DB baking session, TECM owner Frank Merrins came in to help fix it. “That’s the way the environment is,” DeYoung said. The businesses also have access to advice from seasoned professionals through partnerships with Saint Louis University’s Hospitality and Food Service Management program and the Hospitality Studies program at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park. “It’s like a mini-consulting firm for us,” Westbrook said. DeYoung said most businesses should be ready to “graduate” from the incubator after four years. “Our focus is not to help people create a job for themselves. It’s to create a business opportunity that [will create] jobs … and has an impact on our economy.” DB’s owners said that’s their objective, as well. The company already employs a part-time workforce off middle – and high-school students through Washington University’s Minority Youth Entrepreneurship Program. Edwards said the partners would like to franchise their concept – including the youth entrepreneurship component – in other cities. He and his partners were Sumner High School students when they began selling fresh-baked cookies to make money for college and senior-year activities. Now, more than a decade later, they and the SLEC are empowering a new generation of entrepreneurs. “We want to work with the students,” Edwards said, “to give them the knowledge we wish we had.” |
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| My Vote For Entrepreneur Of The Year By Mary Bufe mary@bufe.com Let's face it. Most of us will never make it as entrepreneurs. We are just too darned conventional. Cindy, after all, has been in the critter sitting business for a dozen years now. In that time, she has met a LOT of pet-owners, including many in the Webster-Kirkwood area. And, well, I'd like to tell you more. But Cindy is a professional. And she has this thing about sitter/pet confidentiality. I'm talking about: dog waste removal. Or, to use the more technical term, "pooper-scooping." It's also known by about a hundred other marginally offensive terms - all of which appear to be officially sanctioned by the Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists, of which Critter Sitters is a proud member. Cindy, of course, is not the area's first pooper scooper. But she is the first person with whom I have personally had the pleasure of discussing the pooper scooping business. So, you know I had lots of questions. For example: (1) Couldn't you have found a slightly less disgusting side business, like, say Porta Potty cleaning? (2) Hey wait a minute, a Porta Potty for Pooches! Do you think there's a market for that? (3) What? Someone's already invented one? See, this is why I could never be an entrepreneur. All the good ideas are already taken. But things like that don't faze Cindy. True entrepreneurs such as herself are driven by a higher purpose. Or, as they like to say in the dog waste removal business: Doody calls |
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| Incubators spawn more than technology babies By Christopher Boyce Though most entrepreneurs are familiar with the sheltered environment that business incubators provide for startups, the name "incubator" became entwined with petri dish research and dot-coms in the late 1990s. Mention the term business incubator and many people locally think tech first: the Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise, the Center for Emerging Technologies and the Technology Entrepreneur Center. But there's a lot more to incubators than tech, said Jan De Young, executive director of the St. Louis Enterprise Centers, the set of incubators run by the St. Louis County Economic Council. Today, a local hot-dog vendor, a chiropractic clinic and a pet-sitting business all make use of incubators. "It's a matter of simply doing a better job of creating visibility for the success stories that come out of the incubators," De Young said. According to the National Business Incubation Association, 47 percent of the incubators are mixed-use, while 37 percent are tech specific. Currently, 45 of the 64 companies at the St. Louis Enterprise Centers are not tech related. Cheap rents attract companies from an array of industries. The enterprise centers offer 100 to 1,200 square feet of retail and office space from $12 and $23 per square foot annually, including utilities. River's Edge Business and Industrial Park in Granite City offers office suites starting at $5 per day, and warehouse leases starting at $2 per square foot annually. Companies applying for space at the enterprise center must be for-profit, have a business plan for future growth and have the potential to have an impact on economic development, as evaluated by the St. Louis Enterprise Centers. At River's Edge, each business much be registered with the state of Illinois and have no more than four employees. There is also lease space at River's Edge for larger, established businesses. Despite the potential cost benefits, incubators still are not the first place new businesses consider to open shop, said Dennis Wilmsmeyer, general manager for the Tri-City Port District, a special-purpose unit of the Illinois government that owns River's Edge. "As more incubators come online, I think there's more attention that they exist," he said. "We're still running into people on a daily basis that had not heard of incubators and did not know of the service available." Molly Hunter, co-owner of PS Kids, is one incubator graduate who initially hadn't considered the incubator option. Hunter and co-owner Chris Lloyd were performing speech and occupational therapy at clients' homes when they began looking to expand in 2001. A fellow entrepreneur's recommendation led them to investigate the incubator. By May 2005, PS Kids had grown out of the enterprise center with more than 200 patients. "Once we grew, we needed an outpatient center," Hunter said. "We didn't know if we'd be able to afford it. We moved up (in space and cost) gradually and it was safe. … There's no way we could have gone into taking out a loan. We would have been sunk." Cost isn't the only motivator for incubator occupants. Tammy Tvetene of Critter Sitters decided with her business partners to open a headquarters at the enterprise center on Lemay Ferry Road after operating from her home for eight years. As the business began growing, Tvetene grew uncomfortable with interviewing employees at her home and, likewise, worried about her company's image. "I think it's uncomfortable for people when they're interviewing for a job," Tvetene said. "It made it seem like it's not a real or legitimate business." The small office space also provides a more secure place for employees to pick up and drop off customer information and house keys for pet-sitting appointments and dog walks. |
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Owners reminded to scoop the poop: The tail end pet pourri This is not a joke, so no snickering, please. Pet owners need to be aware of National Pooper Scooper Week, April 24-30. |
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Startups incubate faster by helping each other out By Rick Desloge More companies in business incubators are doing business with each other, and that is helping them graduate faster, said Jan DeYoung, director of the St. Louis Enterprise Centers. St. Louis Enterprise Centers graduated seven companies last year, the largest number of new businesses spun out in 2004 of any incubators in the region. It was one of the larger graduating classes from St. Louis Enterprise Centers. The city-county partnership had three incubator sites operating last year -- Chesterfield, south St. Louis County and Midtown St. Louis, which have 52 businesses. A fourth site in Wellston is expected to open in March. The operation is similar to two incubator sites that St. Charles County Economic Development Corp. operates. Those locations had no graduates in 2004, but expect two companies to graduate in early 2005. Jon Hodgins, president of TOP Marketing, a sports marketing business that graduated from the Chesterfield incubator in May, said working with other companies in the incubator was key to his expansion. Hodgins, who formerly was director of marketing for Rawlings Sporting Goods Co., had never started a business. Then he launched TOP Marketing, which uses sporting goods as premiums. "There was a lot of other stuff to do, and I didn't know how to do any of it," he said of his incubator days, which put him in touch with people in the shipping and technology businesses. Businesses can make the same connections outside of St. Louis Enterprise Centers, but opportunities do not come as easy, said Mike Zambrana, president of Pangea Group, an environmental cleanup business that moved out of the Chesterfield incubator last year. "We identified seven (incubator) firms that we worked with," he said. That included companies that created Pangea's Web site, provided network security, embroidered shirts and hats, and handled numerous computer issues, he said. Their prices may not have always been the lowest, but you are dealing with a trusted source, and there is a value to having the solution right down the hall, Zambrana said. Doug and Sandy Nash, owners of The Smashed Chefs in the Chesterfield incubator, plan to spend $10,000 with another incubator firm, E-Data Solutions Inc., to develop a Web site. The site will allow The Smashed Chefs to sell its gourmet serving pieces made from recycled wine bottles via the Internet. Missouri retailers and sales reps now handle distribution for the company, Doug Nash said. Leslie Decker, president of E-Data Solutions Inc., also landed a Web site design project from her neighbor in the South County enterprise center, P.S. Kids. Meanwhile, Decker hired incubator company Strategic Technology Group to help E-Data add high-speed Internet connections and improve other technology. "We don't advertise that we rebuild Web sites, but a lot of times that's what it takes," said Decker, who brought E-Data to the incubator two years ago after she and three other employees left Vertis Digital Solutions Group in St. Louis. John Sagartz, president of Seventh Wave Laboratories, a Chesterfield incubator firm, said his company, which contracts for biomedical services from larger businesses, has preliminary deals with other incubator companies. More important, Sagartz said he and his partners likely would have followed another pharmaceutical company out St. Louis without the incubator here. Seventh Wave takes its name from the company's founders, who were in the seventh wave of layoffs at Pharmacia. Rent at St. Louis Enterprise Centers ranges from $13 to $24 a square foot, depending on location. The price includes utilities and access to benefits such as business mentors and other resources. "Some people look at incubators as places where people who lack skills and financing come," DeYoung said. "We look at all of these companies as emerging businesses, where the executives starting them are bringing skills from their previous jobs to a new venture." Companies that want to locate in an incubator need to go through a review to assure the owners' abilities and finances are realistic, DeYoung said. © 2005 American City Business Journals Inc. |
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Hard lessons shape entrepreneur's growth By Shera Dalin of the Post-Dispatch After being laid off from McDonnell Douglas for the second time, Annetta Vickers decided to determine her destiny by starting a business. Six years later, Vickers has built Tab Co. up from herself in a small office at a business incubator to five employees in a building she owns behind the former St. Louis Regional Hospital. Her company provides office, cleaning and industrial supplies as well as video production. It has $3 million in revenue. Vickers, 45, of St. Louis, has learned many lessons, several of them related to being a minority-owned enterprise. One of the first lessons was that traditional bank financing, even with a large customer in hand, wasn't forthcoming. Vickers said that she'd won a $56,000 contract from St. Louis to provide computers but that no bank would lend her the money to buy them from the manufacturer. She filled the city contract through a chance meeting at a networking event organized by the St. Louis Minority Business Council, of which she's a member. With a handshake deal on a Friday with World Wide Technology, she had computers to deliver the next Monday. "One thing I have learned is to build very good relationships with manufacturers," Vickers said. Because of her involvement with the Minority Business Council, she does business with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, St. Louis University and Graybar Electric Co. She's no relation to minority business activist Eric Vickers. Her other lessons have come by accident. When a company called to complain about the service it had received from Tab, she discovered that the company wasn't one of her customers. Another vendor was using Tab's name to do business. "How many times has it happened and I didn't know about it? It happens all the time," Vickers said, based on her conversations with other firms. Also, she has bid on work as a subcontractor to a larger company. But when the larger company won the bid, Tab didn't get the work. This happens frequently to minority firms, said James Webb, president of the Minority Business Council. "There are companies out there who are deliberately trying to bypass minority-business participation. That happens throughout the country and specifically with the state of Missouri. It really is an awful problem." In some instances, the big firms don't give work to subcontractors as promised, keeping the work for themselves. In other instances, he said, they set up shell firms that appear to be minority- owned. Vickers and Webb suggest several remedies. State agencies should be required to monitor their contracts to ensure that minority firms are given the work for which they co-bid. When violations occur, the bigger company should be penalized, Webb said. "In those cases, (the contracting agency) should make the general contractor pay the minority firm their portion of the contract," Vickers said. Webb, as part of a Missouri task force examining minority contracting, recommended these actions to Gov. Bob Holden. Webb conceded that monitoring would add costs to government contracts. But the issue is important enough to warrant an expense, he said. Vickers tries to protect herself by scrutinizing proposed contracts and refusing to accept elements that would weaken Tab or put the company at risk. Regardless of the difficulties, Vickers plans to pursue more government contracts, particularly at the federal level. From an office near Washington, she plans to seek contracts from the military, homeland-security and housing departments. Vickers has several long-term goals. One is to export products to Ghana. She said that the African nation is far more developed than people realize and that it's ripe for exports, particularly construction equipment and computer hardware. Another goal is to become a manufacturer of industrial fasteners or detergents, with which she has experience, Vickers said. "I'm a multitalented person. I believe God has a plan and purpose for my life." Tab Co. Owner: Annetta Vickers Employees: Five Incorporated: 1998 Address: 5561 Enright Avenue, St. Louis Web site: www.tabsales.net Phone: 314-531-2130 Republished with the permission of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch © 2004 St. Louis Post-Dispatch http://STLtoday.com |
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| Salute to Business honorees praise diversity By: Alvin A. Reid As 2004 Salute to Excellence in Business Entrepreneur of the Year, Brenda Newberry, founder and president of the Newberry Group, issued a challenge to fellow business owners in the audience at the Renaissance Grand Hotel. "It's all about reaping and sowing," she said. "Get involved in your community. I don't mean give back, I mean give first. Reap and then sow. Give of your time, talent and treasures." Newberry also called on large corporations to provide opportunities to area small businesses. "If (opportunities) all go out of state, we will have a vast wasteland in our own fields," she said. She added that the commitment to diversity at her firm is about more than skin color. "You don't handle diversity, you handle people," she said. "We try to find reasons to hire people. We are not trying to weed people out." Newberry was honored along with Corporate Executive of the Year Ed Adams, Enterprise Rent-A-Car vice president of human resources; the Centric Group, recipient of the 2004 Corporate Diversity Award; and TurnGroup, 2004 Emerging business of the year. The Top 25 African-American-owned businesses were also recognized during the luncheon. Adams thanked "my colleagues and 58,000 co-workers" upon receiving his award. "My name is on the award, but the real recipients are the men and women of Enterprise." He said that Enterprise "makes it implicit" that diversity is part of its company profile. "I think that is part of good management," Adams said. Doug Albrecht, Centric Group president and CEO, said diversity is more than a word at his company. "It's a part of us. Thank you for recognizing what we do every day," he said. Albrecht said the firms that are under the Centric umbrella "try to mirror their communities." "We want diversity of opinion and outlook. If you are dealing with the federal government, there are many affirmative action programs. Diversity helps us understand and then better serve our customers. Also, if you look like your community, it is easier to recruit people." Keith Turner said his firm "wants to be a friend to our clients." He also wants more large firms to befriend smaller firms such as TurnGroup. "There is a 'let me get mine, you get yours' philosophy (in the business world). I encourage big companies to build relationships with firms like mine. In order for (small businesses) to survive, we need to partner with larger firms," he said. More than 600 people attended the 5th Annual Salute to Excellence in Business, which is sponsored by the St. Louis American Foundation, the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association and the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. "The RCGA is honored to again partner with the American Foundation and Urban League. It is a pleasure to help present these awards each year," said Richard Fleming, RCGA president and CEO. Jim Buford, Urban League president and CEO, said the award show profiled "the best of the African-American business community." He also recognized three members of the Urban League national board of directors in the audience: keynote speaker Calvin Darden, United Parcel Service senior vice president of U.S. Operations; Andy Taylor, Enterprise president and CEO; and Bunny Mitchell Fleishman Hillard. Article Published Courtesy of The St. Louis American Newspaper ©St Louis American 2004 |
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Keeping T.A.B. on success By: Alvin A. Reid Of the St. Louis American Arnetta Vickers, founder and president of the T.A.B. Company, said she has learned two important lessons since opening her business. First, something unexpected is always going to happen. Second, a solution or remedy for that problem shortly follows. "When times got tough, I prayed a lot," she said, speaking of the firm's earliest days. "Something would then happen that was good. Doors opened." Vickers is now celebrating the opening of the doors to her new warehouse and distribution facility at 5561 Enright in St. Louis. The newly renovated location was part of the old Connect Care/Regional Medical Center Hospital and has 10,000 square feet of warehouse space. It is enough space for Vickers to possibly add light manufacturing and assembly to the line of products it distributes. T.A.B. is a one-stop shop for supplies for office, construction and electrical needs, as well as maintenance supplies and equipment. It also provides video production services, including tape, CD and DVD duplication. In May, Vickers also opened a sales office in Washington D.C. to expand the business. She remembers an episode that "inspired to me stay in business." T.A.B. had been granted a contract with the city of St. Louis to furnish some new computers. However, the wholesaler learned that Vickers' firm was not large and would not accept cash on delivery. "The next day I was at an RCGA event and was telling someone what had happened. A person from World Wide Technology heard me and said, 'We'll get the computers to you next week.'" A former senior environmental engineer for McDonnell Douglas Corporation, now The Boeing Company, Vickers said she found herself victim to corporate mergers, downsizing and, ultimately, a layoff. In 1998, Vickers used personal savings and credit cards to finance the purchase of supplies, inventory and equipment to start a business which would distribute construction specialty products, office and industrial supplies and video production services. T.A.B Company, Inc. started in the St. Louis Enterprise Incubator office on Washington Avenue with 200 square feet. Rodney Crim, St. Louis Development Corporation executive director, said Vickers' success is an example of why the business incubators in the city and St. Louis County were created. "She is certainly one of our success stories," Crim said. "We want to keep this momentum going throughout the city." SLDC helped Vickers find her new space on Enright. T.A.B. Company's client list includes Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Renaissance Hotels, Washington University, Saint Louis University, UMSL, Adams Mark Hotel, Southwestern Bell, the State of Missouri, the City of St. Louis, Bank of America, METRO, Alberici, Paric, FruCon and McCarthy Construction, Alliance Community Services, Lambert Airport, Corps of Engineers, Job Corps, Graybar and the St. Louis Cardinals. Vickers has received the Bank of America Salute to Minority Business Award, the Small Business Award from Mayor Francis G. Slay, the St. Louis Minority Business Council Supplier of the Year Award, and was nominated for the Small Business of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Article Published Courtesy of The St. Louis American Newspaper ©St Louis American 2004 |
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Contracting Success Anthony Limón For St. Louis-based Pangea Group, government contracts are its lifeblood. The environmental and remediation construction company has flourished catering to agencies such as the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, General Services Administration,and various Army and National Guard entities nationwide. Last year, the company reported revenues of $31 million, 70 percent from federal contracting. Michael Zambrana, Pangea Group's CEO, says his company's path to procurement success was paved with a series of Small Business Administration-endorsed mentorships with larger government contractors such as The Washington Group International and the company's current partner, The Shaw Group. Through such mentorships, the company was able to gradually increase its knowledge of the procurement process. "Working for a large defense contractor, where they will flow down certain provisions of the government contract, is like dipping your toe in a little bit at a time as opposed to diving in head first," says Mr. Zambrana, whose company is No. 145 on the Hispanic Business 500 directory of largest Hispanic-owned companies and a member of Hispanic Business' Redwire network. "It gives you a look at the process and requirements before actually getting into the contract itself." Pangea Group is one of thousands of Hispanic-owned companies competing for a slice of federal funding each year. And the competition is fierce: From 1996 to 2001, the percentage of federal contracts awarded to Hispanic-owned companies fell to 24.4 percent from 27 percent – an estimated $370.5 million less. Still, some Hispanic-owned businesses such as Pangea Group have learned how to tap federal dollars consistently, and say the learning process is key to success. Mr. Zambrana says mentorships have been an invaluable part of that process. The best mentorships, he says, are based on genuine concern, providing advice and comfort for first-timers dealing with what can seem like overwhelming requirements of filling a government contract. Still, he suggests businesses considering such mentorships should develop legal agreements with their mentors to ensure everyone benefits. "You have to have a formal written plan, especially with larger companies. If you don't have a contract, good intentions could be lost," says Mr. Zambrana. "[But] if you do it right, you learn a new trade, you get to exercise the new trade and the government wins a new subcontractor." Mr. Zambrana also recommends business owners stay current on procurement policy and spending trends by getting in touch with national organizations like the SBA or industry-specific organizations like the Society of American Military Engineers, which offer members insight into upcoming contracts and trends. Matthew Martinez, CEO of Networx Inc, a New Mexico-based information technology services provider that has contracts with Los Alamos National Laboratory, White Sands Missile Range, and The Department of the Air Force, agrees with Mr. Zambrana. Mr. Martinez, whose company had revenue of $6 million last year ranking it No. 476 on the HB500, credits the SBA and the 8(a) program with putting him in contact with key decision makers at federal agencies, and he says mentorships have given his company new access to contracts worth more than a half-million dollars. "We're looking at contracts where we can provide tech support to different facilities nationally. We're looking at 50 to 100 technicians on a site as opposed to 5 to 10, as well as having a large company supporting us with their resources," says Mr. Martinez, whose company also is a member of Hispanic Business' Redwire network. He suggests businesses seeking government contracts maintain aggressive marketing on a national scale, and hire employees with previous experience working for federal agencies or dealing with the complex procurement process. "Sales is about relationships; it's about being able to work closely with our customers, and it's about gaining their trust. The biggest thing that helped us was persistence," Mr. Martinez says. "My first real contract took about four years and that was [after] actively marketing almost on a daily basis." Joseph Diamond, director of the Air Force Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, says marketing efforts and a strong written proposal are two of the most overlooked tools businesses can use in their efforts to win contracts. "Marketing is one of the greatest challenges that small businesses don't really recognize," says Mr. Diamond. "Market your capabilities to small business specialists and then write a proposal that answers fully and completely all of the solicitations the agency is looking for. That will make it a lot easier to compete." Like Mr. Zambrana and Mr. Martinez, Mr. Diamond says businesses also should start by bidding to become subcontractors for larger, more-established government contractors. It's a move, he says, that allows businesses to focus on developing a track-record of dependable performance. "The best way to enter is to really network with similar large or small businesses that have contracts right now, and work-teaming abilities," says Mr. Diamond. "Become a subcontractor and get some experience. We focus on [businesses] with experience with federal contracts and a good past performance record." Source: HISPANIC BUSINESS Magazine |
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Top 25: A who's who of black business success By: American staff The 2004 Top 25 African-American Businesses listing includes several of the region's most successful large firms and some of its fastest-growing companies. The firms will be honored during the 5th Annual St. Louis American Foundation Salute to Excellence in Business luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Thursday Nov. 4 at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis. "The honored companies are a vital part of the region's improving business economy. If the area is to become an incubator for successful small- and medium-sized firms, the African-American business community must continue to expand as well," said Donald M. Suggs, American publisher. Presented by the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and the St. Louis American Foundation, Inc., the Salute to Excellence in Business Luncheon is the annual event where the Top 25 firms are honored. Other honorees are Entrepreneur of the Year, Brenda Newberry - The Newberry Group; Corporate Executive of the Year, Ed Adams - Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Corporate Diversity Awardee, Centric Group; and 2004 Emerging Business of the Year Awardee - TurnGroup Technologies. The keynote speaker will be Calvin Darden, senior vice president U.S. Operations, United Parcel Service. The reception will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by the luncheon and awards program at noon. This year's media sponsors are KSDK NewsChannel 5, 106.5FM Smooth Jazz and 90.7 KWMU. KMOX personality and St. Louis American columnist Carol Daniel will emcee the event. Attendance prizes will include airline tickets, a palm pilot and watches. Less than 100 tickets remain for the luncheon. Tickets are $75 per individual. Tables of 10 are $750. For tickets and info, call 533-8000, ext. 305. SBC is the lead sponsor of this special luncheon. Other sponsors include Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., the University of Missouri - St. Louis, Edward Jones, UPN46, Afro World, Centric Group, President Casino, The Newberry Group, World Wide Technology, AmerenUE, BlueCross BlueShield of Missouri, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Charter Communications, Dillard's, Harris-Stowe State College and May Company. The area's Top 25 African-American businesses for 2004 ABNA Engineering AfroWorld Alliance Media Group Andy's Seasoning Brown-Kortkamp Columbia Capital Management David Mason & Associates DKW Construction FUSE Advertising, Inc. Interface Construction Ivan James & Associates Kwame Building Group Mary "One" Johnson Home Team Realty Millennium Digital Media Mosley Construction The Newberry Group The Roberts Companies Sharks & Sharks Contracting The Shurn Group StaffLink TM2 Construction TSi Engineering Unlimited Water Visions Management Company World Wide Technology Article Published Courtesy of The St. Louis American Newspaper ©St Louis American 2004 |
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Salute to Business 2004: TurnGroup takes strides toward success | ||||
