GRAND CHUTE — A weak Fox Cities job market drove many unemployed residents back to the classroom, hoping new skills will provide them the edge needed to find work.
That was the primary reason Fox Valley Technical College administrators believe enrollment increased 16 percent during the 2009-10 academic year when compared with a year ago. As of Thursday, 16,698 people were enrolled in the college's degree and diploma programs, up from 14,400 a year earlier.
"Demand for our services is up," said Susan May, FVTC president. She made her remarks Thursday during the college's annual report to the community.
May said despite the tight job market, 85 percent of the college's 2009 graduates found employment within six months of graduating.
In addition to rising enrollment, the college also provided training assistance to more than 1,700 Fox Cities area employers. May estimated about 20,000 workers received training through an FVTC program the past year.
"We do what we can to anticipate employer needs," she said.
May said the college wants to be a partner with the regional business community.
David Lindenstruth, the Wisconsin franchisee for HuHot Mongolian Grill, with locations in Grand Chute, Green Bay, Kenosha and Madison, said he has benefitted from training offered through FVTC.
A former electronics engineer, Lindenstruth said he learned how to develop business and marketing plans through the E-Seed program, which provides business start-up assistance to entrepreneurs.
He received additional help from the college's Pro-Seed program, which gave him a better understanding of strategic planning and how it could help him grow his company.
"These programs connected me with other entrepreneurs, who also offered me advice," Lindenstruth said.
May said as demand for services grew, the community stepped up. She said FVTC utilizes more than 800 adjunct faculty members or experts in their respective professions who are willing to teach.
Margie Harvey, vice president of human resources at Miles Kimball Co., an Oshkosh-based home products catalog business, said her company has utilized an assortment of training programs at FVTC through the years.
"What you invest in training you get back many times over in increased productivity," she said.
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The Pro-Seed™ program helped Dave and Gerry Kozlowski clarify their company’s direction and boost sales and profits.
For a family-owned business, growth often leads to an unexpected turning point: hiring non-family employees to work in the company. Dave and Gerry Kozlowski, husband and wife owners of Kwik Investments, Inc., a Fox Valley residential real estate investment firm, faced this transition in December 2008 when the first non-family member joined their company.
Gerry says the change was more significant than they expected and prompted them to take a hard look at their business organization. “We knew we needed written policies and procedures, but we had neither the time nor knowledge to create and implement them,” says Gerry. “We were swamped by the day-to-day details.”
When a friend mentioned the Pro-Seed™ program offered through FVTC’s Venture Center, they jumped at the chance.
Pro-Seed powered by E-Myth® is a six-month program for entrepreneurs and business owners who want to create a foundation for success. Through in-class sessions, online modules, networking events, and one-on-one instruction, participants learn about leadership, management, finances, marketing, sales, and customer service. Venture Center Director Amy Pietsch says participants develop a clear vision of where their business is headed, along with better management strategies.
For nearly a decade Dave and Gerry struggled over the company’s direction. Pro-Seed helped them settle on a direction, along with priorities for each employee. “An initial activity involved tracking how everyone spends their time,” says Dave. “It sounds basic, but it led to interesting results.”
The time logs revealed that staff members were spending lots of time on low-priority tasks. So Dave and Gerry eliminated some services and focused employee efforts on more productive activities. Kwik Investments now focuses on providing peace of mind to homeowners burdened by houses they no longer want. By buying homes in “as-is” condition without a realtor commission, the firm helps homeowners solve real estate problems.
Pietsch served as the instructor for Kwik Investments. She and human resources expert Andrea Hogan helped Dave and Gerry create systems and processes to profitably expand the business, define employee responsibilities, and develop marketing strategies. “We helped free up their time to focus on activities that generate revenue and respond to market opportunities,” says Pietsch.
Dave says the changes weren’t dramatic, but the results were amazing. “From 2008 to 2009, we doubled our sales and tripled our gross profit,” he notes. “What company wouldn’t be thrilled with that? The Pro-Seed program motivated us to work on our business, and it paid off in a big way.”
Small Business, Big Results
Need marketing and planning tools but lack time to create them? An FVTC Venture Center program launching in Fall 2010 may be for you.
E-Seed Express is an eight-week version of the center’s 15-week E-Seed program. Designed for experienced entrepreneurs and small business owners, it provides the information and structure to develop a business plan. It also features an all-day Boot Camp, in-class programs and labs, and will be offered on the Appleton and Oshkosh campuses.
“We created E-Seed Express to meet demand for a shorter yet highly effective business planning program,” says Amy Pietsch, director of FVTC’s Venture Center. “It’s great for entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to thoughtfully and quickly create a strategic direction.”
IF YOU BELIEVE THAT (A) manufacturing is practically dead in America, that it’s all been shipped to high-volume, mass-production factories in China, and (B) that family business is a quaint, out-of-date idea – you’d better not tell Diane and Kim, aka Pooch, Pruchnofski. This husband and wife team – high school sweethearts and married 35 years – started P&D Metal Works in Neenah back in 1999. Today, with six employees total, including their three adult children, they have built their custom manufacturing operation into a thriving, financially stable enterprise, much of it through word of mouth.
P&D Metal Works (www.pdmetals.com) is best known for its decorative iron products, including custom fencing and driveway gates, sold primarily throughout the Fox Valley.
“We produce decorative items our customers can’t buy elsewhere,” says Pooch, whose nickname is loosely derived from his last name. “Each is one of a kind.
“That’s what makes us unique,” he adds. “We work directly with the customer or designer to produce products they can’t buy anywhere else. They come in with ideas and then Diane works with them to come up with something unique. And then we create the product.”
They do all their work on a custom basis on the premises.
From hobby to a career
STARTING OUT AS A PART-TIME BUSINESS creating welded butterflies and selling them at arts and crafts shows 11 years ago, the couple now has three product lines that provide a degree of stability in what could be an unstable industry.
“I knew we were going to make it the day I got my first paycheck,” says Diane, vice president, bookkeeper and main designer. “And that took a few years. Before that, it was touch and go.”
As a husband and wife team, they work well together by having separate responsibilities. Pooch gets involved in some of the design work, but that’s mostly Diane’s role.
“I translate ideas into designs,” explains Diane, who has a teaching degree and had taken some art classes. “Most of the design work I picked up along the way. The key is to listen to the customers. They know what they want, but the challenge is conveying it, explaining it. Part of my job is just to be a good listener.”
Pooch mostly works with the shop guys. However, their sons have pretty much taken over that responsibility. “I spend most of my time trouble shooting these days,” says Pooch, “and do estimating on new projects.”
In the last 11 years, P&D Metal Works has truly evolved into a family business, with their three children running more and more of the day-to-day operations. Their son John, 31, came on board in 2003. His primary responsibilities are development and fabrication of Rigguard Bumper Guards, the company’s customized line of semi-truck, front-end deer grills. He also provides shop and machine maintenance, as well as troubleshooting the production process.
Kirk, 30, joined P&D Metal Works a year later. He also spends most of his time in the shop, as well as working with customers and designing, fabricating and installing custom ornamental gates and railings.
Daughter Teri is 27. She started working in the office back in 2003. Today, she helps her mother handle customer service, invoicing and inside sales. She also does computer-assisted design and development of new products.
Evolving product lines
THIS FAMILY TEAM MAINTAINS AND GROWS its three-prong product line. The original core business, custom ornamental products, accounts for about 40 percent of sales. Most of that still comes through word of mouth, explains Pooch, and it’s almost all local. That’s because the gates and railings are usually too heavy and expensive to ship.
“We did one large project early on,” adds Pooch, “for the Army Corp of Engineers in Sault St. Marie, Mich. We did a mile of fencing. I’m still proud of that job. That fence should be there for a hundred years.”
A second product line, Rigguard Bumper Guards, provides semi-trailers with metal, front-end guards to protect against deer collisions. This product line started as a custom project from a dealer. When the contract ended, P & D kept on manufacturing and selling the guards, which now provide 35 percent of its business.
They started manufacturing the guards in 2001, “and it’s been word of mouth until about three years ago,” says Pooch, when they began marketing them more aggressively. Most of that business is Internet-driven. “Plus, we do truck shows,” he said.
Though many of the guards are standardized, most still have to be custom fitted, and the standards often change from year to year. “We must constantly measure and adjust,” says Pooch. “So, we produce them as ordered and can knock out quite a few in a week. But we do it order by order, on a custom basis, when orders come in. We keep no inventory.”
The third product line is interior and exterior wildlife wall sconces, campfire rings and metal signs. These make up 25 percent of the business.
Autumn Hill is at the helm of her self-named Autumn Hill Creative, a marketing, design and Web site development firm in Kimberly. The firm has gone through a growth spurt recently with new line of eco-friendly promotional products for small business clients.
Q What’s the single smartest thing a small business can do to stay afloat in this economy?
A Get creative and try to think a little more innovatively. Form collaborations and partnerships.
A Get creative and try to think a little more innovatively. Form collaborations and partnerships.
Q Give an example of the innovative thinking you’ve done.
A A year ago we expanded our offerings to include the Viva el Verde line. It’s eco-friendly promotional products to promote your brand. It’s going well.
Q These are objects, like totes and pens, with company logos that companies give to customers?
A Yes. The way we differentiate ourselves in the promotional product market is that we’re designers. We don’t just slap a logo on something. We take the time to design something that’s going to fit within your brand. Promotional products live with your customer, provided that it’s a quality item and they keep it. It’s an effective form of advertising. We like to take it up a notch as far as eco-friendly materials and design.
Q Which clients are responding to this?
A Banks, nonprofits and contractors. We like to source products locally whenever possible, and that includes paper. Paper companies are now coming out with great products that have eco-friendly characteristics such as recycled content or wind power manufacturing. We don’t like to source things from China.
Q Overall, how has business gone?
A From our launch in 2004, we have shown consistent |double-digit sales increases each year. We leveled off in 2008 because of the economy, but we expanded our product line and invested in equipment, which allowed us to grow 26 percent over a year ago.
Q What other innovations have you brought to your business?
A We added printing four years ago. Digital printing had taken a real leap forward in the quality. We were one of the first companies in the Valley to have a machine with this new technology. It allowed us to offer our small-business clients affordable printing.
Q You mentioned collaboration is important. Can you name one valuable partnership?
A Anytime a client of ours has an event, we bring in Joey Reader (of A-mazing Events). She has been a fantastic resource.
Q You’ve done a lot of networking and pro bono work. Why so much?
A Instead of doing a large marketing or advertising campaign when we launched our business, we got involved in causes and organizations we were passionate about. It was a great way to meet people and also to show people the quality of our work, showcase our abilities and network. Meeting people through these organizations who work for various companies has led to various opportunities and referrals.
Q Pastor G. Manns, head of B.A.B.E.S. Inc. Respite & Counseling Service, told me her organization is giving you a small business of the year award later this month.
A It’s in recognition for the pro bono work we did for B.A.B.E.S. We believe nonprofits and small businesses deserve to have high-quality marketing materials just the same as a Kimberly-Clark or Menasha Corp. That’s been at the core of our business since we started, the focus on services for small businesses. Just because they’re small, or can’t afford a big agency, doesn’t mean they don’t need the branding and marketing same as a large company.