Success Stories

Success Story: Pennsylvania

Integrated Machine Company was started in July 2001 by Mary Jo Light. The company prides itself in American-made products and the use of American suppliers. The initial purpose of the company was to manufacture quick disconnect fire hydrant storz. This unit has since universalized the fire hydrant connection and allows fire departments to assist one another by using the storz connection instead of a threaded adapter that was unique to each department.

Integrated saw an opportunity to solve a problem in the coupling market. They were approached by two coupling distributors in Erie to create a solution to a major problem with large diameter couplings used in the oil and gas industries, also known as the fracking industry. Many of the couplings purchased by these distributors were failing in the field due to poor quality, thus having negative effects on the environment. Integrated plans to manufacture large quality couplings that will be used with lay-flat hose fluid delivery. These products also have applications in the military, agriculture, and irrigation markets. They plan to offer products of superior quality in order to compete with Chinese imports.

In order to assist in the financing of new machinery to manufacture these couplings, Mary Jo entered the Ben Franklin Big Idea Contest in 2015. She once again came to the Gannon University SBDC for assistance with the business plan and financial projections needed to submit to the Ben Franklin Technology Partners. The SBDC reviewed the plan that she had prepared, as well as her PowerPoint presentation and projected income statements.  (more…)

How to reinvent an essential, nearly century-old product

Wife and husband Samantha Rudolph and Jared Miller of Babyation, a firm born in Branford, Connecticut, now headquartered in St. Louis, had the sort of brainstorm serial entrepreneurs have while vacationing in Vermont. She was reading a New York Times blog about a clunky, noisy, inelegant but absolutely necessary product essentially unchanged for nearly a century.

Somewhere between three to more than five million, depending on the source, of these items are sold annually in the U.S. alone. And users, many highly productive members of the workforce, need this item so badly they will pay up to $400 for a higher-end model.

She is an experienced business development and strategic planning expert who worked for ESPN for more than eight years, he an electronics wizard who can and has built almost anything, even supervising the commentary center for the Olympics for 14 years. They asked themselves, “Why can’t this truly essential product be as smart and functional as a smartphone, quiet as a luxury car? Wouldn’t that sell? Why can’t women have an improved version of something so badly needed to juggle work and family?”  (more…)

Success Story: Missouri

• University of Missouri-Columbia SBTDC, Missouri SBTDC
• SBTDC Consultant: Virginia Wilson (Center Director)
• Client: Pulse Medical Staffing, LLC – SBTDC client since 2011

“When I met Virginia, she encouraged me, saying, ‘You can do this! You can run a business by yourself!’ She helped me see this was a feasible business.” – Dan Latham, owner and founder of Pulse Medical Staffing, LLC, in Columbia, Missouri

Impact of working with the University of Missouri-Columbia SBTDC:

• 2011 – fewer than 10 employees; 2016 – close to 200 employees
• 2012 revenues – $231,000; Nov. 16, 2015 revenues – $942,870

Read the whole story, and learn more about the Missouri SBTDC and Pulse Medical Staffing, LLC .

Success Story: Oklahoma

Dorothy Robinson, owner of DCR Pathfinder, LLC, used the professional services of the Oklahoma SBDC to help start her small business. Ms. Robinson is a motivational speaker and advocate for the visually impaired.

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1 Day to the Showcase!

Zeigler Brothers
Gardners, Pennsylvania
www.zeiglerfeed.com

Zeigler Brothers Wins National, State and Regional Export Awards

Zeigler Brothers Inc. is a third-generation, family-owned business specializing in the formulation and manufacture of specialty feeds. A Kutztown University Small Business Development Center (SBDC) client for more than 15 years, Zeigler has seen several years of remarkable growth and is proud to announce that the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the State of Pennsylvania have extended awards to the company for its export achievements.

The company was awarded Exporter of the Year from the SBA for both Eastern Pennsylvania and the entire Mid-Atlantic region. As one of ten regional finalists, Zeigler then was selected as SBA’s National Exporter of the Year during World Trade Day in Denver. (more…)