SEATTLE GREETING CARD MANUFACTURER CAPTURES TOP SBA HONORS; Will Represent State In National Celebration.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 1995--The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced Judith Jacobsen, owner of Me Two Inc. doing business as Madison Park Greetings as 1995 Washington State Small Business Person of the Year.

As SBA's Washington State winner, Jacobsen will join the 50 state winners honored at White House ceremonies in May commemorating National Small Business Week. Jacobsen was nominated for the award by the Seattle Chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), a volunteer organization that provides counseling and training services through the SBA.

"In September 1994 MADISON PARK GREETINGS received the Small Business Hero Award presented by SCORE to successful local businesses in recognition of growth and community contribution. The exceptional accomplishments of MADISON PARK immediately inspired SCORE to nominate this rising star for SBA's highest honors," says Robert Swenson, Chair of the SCORE Hero Awards program.

Jacobsen, of Seattle, began selling paintings at local arts and craft shows after the birth of her fourth child twenty-seven years ago, and has since parlayed her talent into a multi-million dollar greeting card business. Originally founded as a partnership in 1977, Jacobsen and her early partner developed the nationally renowned "Lucy and Me" card line featuring country scenes, braided pig-tailed youngsters, and uplifting messages. LUCY AND ME continued to flourish until 1984 when two artists divided the company. Jacobsen then founded the ME TWO COMPANY with help from her daughter, Laurie Swanson.

Known today as MADISON PARK GREETINGS, the company employs 35 workers and manufactures 9 constantly varied product lines. Under the management of Jacobsen's son, Brian, sales now top more than $2 million each year. The company's creations are so alluring shoppers at the likes of Nordstrom, the Nature Co., and Macy's cannot resist picking up the see-through parchment papers and inviting hand-drawn cards to peruse the heartfelt messages inside. Showcased as speciality papers and cards in many high-end retail shops, the Madison Park card lines have carved a unique niche that has catapulted this Northwest company to the heights of the greeting card industry.

In a $5.6 billion industry where American Greetings, Hallmark and Gibson greeting cards dominate 85 percent of the market, one of MADISON PARK GREETINGS' most significant accomplishments has been maintaining steady growth long enough to become an industry competitor. Jacobsen says the successful growth is the result of prudent planning coupled with gut instinct.

A major affirmation of this philosophy occurred in 1992 when the business outgrew its old building. Early visions of a new site were built around a pastoral setting where Jacobsen could make her greeting cards out of an old farm house in a rural community. Instead, a conservative approach fueled by gut instinct landed the company in the heart of Seattle's inner city. The economics were better and it allowed Jacobsen and her son, Mark, president of the company, to realize another dream -- helping inner city youth.

The Jacobsens acquired and renovated a dilapidated old bakery in a deteriorating neighborhood in the city's central district. In addition to serving as an ideal facility for their products, the move also allowed for six otherwise foregone business tenants to remain in the Madison Park area of Seattle. The new locale also gave momentum to Mark's desire to help young people. It was here that he founded Studio 2, a non-profit company owned and operated by inner city youth that has since made its own entrepreneurial mark nationwide.

Operated as a subsidiary of MADISON PARK GREETINGS, Studio 2 is now in its third year and boasts three lines of greeting cards comprised of 24 cards and a selection of boxed blank notes. The mission of Studio 2 is to provide real-life business skills and training to selected inner city junior high and high school students. Studio 2 sells its own products targeted for multi-ethnic markets under the guidance of MADISON PARK, and uses its profits to fund scholarships and enterprise development that promote the creative, social and vocational skills of young people.

Jacobsen applies the same sense of social commitment when it comes to hiring employees. In 1982, Jacobsen hired Mala Leng, a recent immigrant from Cambodia with virtually no English skills, as one of the first employees. MADISON PARK arranged for a tutor to instruct Leng in English and prepare her for her citizenship examination. Last year, with her MADISON PARK family as witnesses, Leng took her oath as a citizen of the United States.

Two years later, Jacobsen hired three suddenly single "displaced homemakers" who eventually became office manager, sales rep, and production coordinator - respectively - for the company. Rod Andrilenas, a young person with Down's Syndrome worked for MADISON PARK for four years before being hired away by a large corporation. The company also has three full-time employees with hearing impairments, and all employees have learned some degree of sign language. "These things that seem special from the outside looking in have become a normal part of our business life," says Jacobsen.

"Judith Jacobsen is a modern day pioneer with old-fashioned values," says Gretchen Sorensen, SBA Regional Administrator. "She deserves this award for many reasons including her ability to boost bottom line profits without forgetting her social commitments. She sets an inspiring example to other small business owners who might think they are too small to ever make a significant profit or social difference."

In recognition of its noteworthy commitment to fostering entrepreneurship for women and people of color, Jacobsen is also the recipient of the 1995 SBA Region X Minority Small Business Advocate Award. The awards honors the business within SBA's Region X - encompassing Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington - with the most outstanding devotion to fostering minority entrepreneurship. As the regional winner, Jacobsen now competes for the national award in this category SBA will also present in Washington D.C. during National Small Business Week.

"Never before has a company captured two of SBA's highest honors simultaneously. We are gratified that a company from within our western Washington district will represent Washington state and SBA's Region X at ceremonies in our nation's capital," says Robert Meredith, SBA Seattle District Director. Meredith announced that SBA will make the official presentation of the Washington State Small Business Person of the Year award to Jacobsen during the Mayor's Small Business Banquet at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center on April 27, 1995. The Minority Business Advocate Award will be presented May 4 at the same locale during SBA's 10th Anniversary Minority and Women's Business Conference.

An independent judging panel selected Jacobsen as the winner for the Small Business Person of the Year award based on MADISON PARK'S financial and employee growth, innovation, response to adversity and community contribution. Runners up were Mark and Bill Hewitt of TILLICUM VILLAGE and Mark Perry in Tacoma-based NORTHWEST CASCADE COMPANY.

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NOTE: Jacobsen photo and MADISON PARK product catalogue available upon request. Please call Leigh Graham, SBA, at 206/220-6525.

CONTACT: U.S. Small Business Administration

Leigh Leilani Graham, 206/220-6525