Hit the road! A day in the life of ... Harry Kurtz, president and CEO of Mobility Resource Associates Inc.For Harry Kurtz a typical day begins at 8 a.m. at his desk with a newspaper and a quick breakfast of yogurt and tea. No coffee, thank you. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I'm hyped up hyped up Adjective Old-fashioned slang stimulated or excited by or as if by drugs enough as it is!" says Kurtz, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Mobility Resource Associates (MRA MRA Medical Record Administrator. MRA Magnetic resonance angiography, see MR angiography ), a 17-year-old company that designs and builds mobile-marketing exhibits and displays for companies across the country. After scanning through his e-mail he checks in with his main departments heads to see if anything came up overnight. "I'm a bit of a micro-manager mostly because I love the business," Kurtz confesses. "But our staff is extremely capable, and I'm trying to work on letting them do their thing without me looking over their shoulders too much of time." A good deal of Kurtz's workday is spent on the phone, conferring with his East Coast and West Coast sales managers. Since they're in different time zones, he starts with his office in Winston-Salem, N.C., and ends with Salem, Ore. He also reviews the events of the past 24 hours with his operations manager See datacenter manager. , Tony Amato, and checks in with Don Hunley, vice president of manufacturing, Brian Parker, director of program development and design, and Lynne Strickler, marking communications coordinator, for updates on current and future projects. "Last but not least, I like to speak with our existing accounts and handle some sales directly myself," says Kurtz. "I usually handle the larger programs that emanate em·a·nate intr. & tr.v. em·a·nat·ed, em·a·nat·ing, em·a·nates To come or send forth, as from a source: light that emanated from a lamp; a stove that emanated a steady heat. from the Midwest area including the auto companies and clients like Batesville Casket Co. headquartered in Indiana." If Kurtz is particularly "hyped up" these days, there's a good reason. Mobility Resources Associates was chosen by Macy's to help create "Macy's Parade-on-Parade," a spectacular traveling road show celebrating 80 years of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade[R]. After making its official debut at Oakland Mall Oakland Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in the city of Troy, Michigan which is a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. It is located at the corner of 14 Mile Road and John R. Road, adjacent to I-75. in Troy in September, the exhibit went on a 23-city tour across 19 states, which will culminate in Manhattan on Thanksgiving eve with select elements of the tour on display. The exhibit was built at MRA's 13,000-square-foot facility in Taylor. "Our company was extremely honored to be selected by Macy's to produce this traveling experience that takes the story of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade across the country," Kurtz enthuses during a break on a recent busy day at his company's headquarters in St. Clair Shores. "We were thrilled to have the chance to give children of all ages an opportunity to experience the excitement of this great American tradition in their own hometowns." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Mobility Resource Associates has a staff of 42 people who handle every aspect of designing, programming, scheduling, launching and operating a wide variety of mobile exhibits and specialty vehicles. "The superstars in our organization are the equipment operators and tour managers out in the field, representing our clients, rain or shine, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," says Kurtz. Kurtz, 55, founded the company in 1989 after 20 years in the moving and storage business. It was a logical next step, he recalls. "We moved exhibits and displays in the same air-ride trucks that we moved people's furniture in," Kurtz recalls. "I thought, 'Why not just leave the exhibit right on board the truck, add lights, air conditioning air conditioning, mechanical process for controlling the humidity, temperature, cleanliness, and circulation of air in buildings and rooms. Indoor air is conditioned and regulated to maintain the temperature-humidity ratio that is most comfortable and healthful. , some carpet, take the show on the road and let the people walk through?'" In marketing terms, the concept is simple: Instead of competing for attention at a trade show, make your company the center of attention by driving a mobile exhibit of your products or services straight into a customer's parking lot. Over the years, MRA's mobile exhibits have become increasingly sophisticated, appealing to Fortune 1000 companies as well as emerging businesses looking to make their mark in a fresh and appealing way. When Bill Ford Jr. went back to Princeton University Princeton University, at Princeton, N.J.; coeducational; chartered 1746, opened 1747, rechartered 1748, called the College of New Jersey until 1896. Schools and Research Facilities for his 25th class reunion “School reunion” redirects here. For the Doctor Who episode, see School Reunion (Doctor Who). A class reunion is a meeting of former classmates, typically organized at or near their former school by one of the class on or around an anniversary of their graduation. a couple years ago, for example, he took along a 53-foot trailer designed by MRA to promote Ford Motor Co.'s hydrogen fuel cell project. Kurtz views his business as the modern-day version of the old-fashioned Yankee peddler peddler or hawker, itinerant vendor of small goods. In rural America peddlers carried their packs or drove a horse and cart from door to door. . "We take the mountain to Mohammed and bring our client's brands, products and services directly to end users and present them in a meaningful, education but many times fun atmosphere with the goal of leaving a lasting impression or, better yet, causing them to take action," he explains. For Harry Kurtz, it's all in a day's work (Naut.) the account or reckoning of a ship's course for twenty-four hours, from noon to noon. See also: Day . Would you or someone you know like to be featured in the Detroiter's new section "Day In The Life ..."? E-mail your suggestion to cmead@detroitchamber.com. RELATED ARTICLE The "Macy's Parade-on-Parade" exhibit designed in cooperation with Macy's and built by Mobility Resource Associates features the giant cartoon figures that delight parade fans of all ages. The complex exhibit is mounted on two full-size trailers. A 38-foot trailer opens up into a stage where a 20-minute musical review is performed four times a day. A 53-foot double expandable trailer features a 3-D retrospective of the parade's history and an interactive exhibit that includes a mockup mock·up also mock-up n. 1. A usually full-sized scale model of a structure, used for demonstration, study, or testing. 2. A layout of printed matter. of the NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. parade broadcast booth, where guests can act as parade commentators for a television audience. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Photos courtesy Mobility Resource Associates RELATED ARTICLE: Spotlight on ... Harry Kurtz, president and CEO, Mobility Resource Associates Where Headquarters in St. Clair Shores; design and production facility in Taylor What Mobile marketing for Fortune 1000 companies as well as emerging businesses Clients GM, Ford, Mazda, Carhartt and many others Hometown Lifelong Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe (grōs point), name referring to five residential suburbs of Detroit, Wayne co., SE Mich. They include the city of Grosse Pointe (1990 pop. 5,681), inc. 1879; Grosse Pointe Farms, city (1990 pop. 10,092), inc. 1893, on Lake St. resident Family Wife, Lynn; two daughters in college Favorites "Everything about Detroit: Red Wings red wings see combretum platypetalum. , Tigers, Pistons, Lions, Lake St. Clair, Greektown, Roma Cafe, the entertainment, wonderful lifetime friends, the whole ball of wax ball of wax n. Slang An unspecified set of items or circumstances: went shopping, had dinner, saw a play  the whole ball of wax. "
Greatest Reward The selling process Biggest Hassle Government red tape that tends to make doing business much more difficult Honors 2006 Future 50 of Greater Detroit |
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