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SCORE Honors Firm
During 2003 Small Business Week
Gary Stennett,
president of ARS Video, displays plaque presented by Akron SCORE Chapter 81
honoring his company as "2003 Entrepreneur of the Year."
ARS Video was started in 1987 by Gloria Stennett when she invested in a
franchise business that transferred 8MM film, pictures and slides to
videotape. In the beginning
she did most of the work herself, including the bookkeeping. Nine years
later there
were three part-time staff. At that juncture she elected to sell the business
to her son,
Gary, and his wife, Sharon. Sales nearly doubled and the staff has grew to
four full-time, three part-time, two seasonal and three freelancers.
Growth came from video duplication, corporate videotaping and editing, and
the original transfer business.
In 2001, sales became stagnant. The nature of the industry changed with
affordable video editing software on personal computers and the introduction
of DVDs. This caused
Stennett to make a substantial DVD production investment. Surviving solely
on referrals
and Yellow Page advertising, the new DVD capabilities were not being promoted. He
then turned to SCORE for assistance.
SCORE Counselor Joe Freedman, a former Sterling Inc. executive, was assigned the case.
Stennett and
Freedman immediately hit it off. Working together, they came up with a
comprehensive
business plan and advertising strategy. A key element was utilization of
Akron's daily
newspaper over a three-month period. An investment of $11,000 increased
ARS's sales by $34,000.
"Thanks to Joe Freedman and SCORE, sales and net income are once again
on a positive
upswing," Stennett declared. "The future looks bright!"
Larry Johns named "2002 Entrepreneur of the Year" by
Akron SCORE Chapter #81
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Larry Johns, President and CEO of
McJak Candy Company, LLC
displays plaque
presented him. Looking on are his wife Francine; Martin Oppenheimer, SCORE
Counselor; and Chapter Chairman Frank Swain.
McJak Candy Company
is located in Medina, Ohio and offers hand-made
confectionery products in their family-owned candy factory.
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From the May 15, 2002 Akron Beacon Journal
Akron's chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) named
Larry N. Johns of the McJak Candy Co. in Medina, Ohio as its Entrepreneur
of the Year. McJak produces gourmet lollipops that are sold throughout
the U.S. and Canada. The company sells mainly through fund-raisers for
schools and charitable organizations, but is working on expanding retail
sales.
SCORE volunteers are available to help businesses solve problems or
develop growth plans. Martin Openheimer, a retired Babcock & Wilcox
marketing executive, helped Johns with a retail marketing strategy.
Johns reports sales of more than $1 million a year. He moved here
two years ago from Connecticut after purchasing McJak. ``I looked
from Minnesota to Maine for a business to buy,'' he said. He wanted
one with growth potential. Now the company is in the process of
introducing a new product: Javapops, which are coffee-flavored
lollipops with caffeine.
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SCORE Counselor Martin Oppenheimer and Larry Johns meet from time to
time to help keep McJak focused on its vision for the future.
McJak's goals were to expand
its retail business,
establish a local presence, start private labeling and networking
with brokers who could help grow the market. In the early sessions, they set out to brainstorm some
ideas for the business. From that, they identified the key elements
of a strategic plan.
During the on-going process of
Counseling with SCORE, management style and
marketing techniques were modified to better accomplish these company goals.
This freed up Mr. Johns to focus on acquisition of new equipment,
new marketing material and to get his products into trade show displays.
McJak products have been highlighted on NBC's Today show and
cable TV's Food Network.
Larry Johns commented that his relationship with
SCORE provided McJak a virtual "Board of Directors" function that is otherwise
hard to come by in a family-owned small business.
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