Welcome To The Neighborhood.These new companies are blazing hot trails as the newest additions to the B.E. 100s universe WHAT KIND OF DUES DO YOU HAVE TO PAY TO GAIN ENTREE TO THE prestigious BE 100s club, which is characterized by entrepreneurial excellence and dazzling achievement in the horse race of corporate America? Perhaps it's working for free for nine months, while at the helm of a company trying to gain its footing. Or pursuing an entrepreneurial path that started with selling African wares in college bookstores and evolved into overseeing a conglomerate of construction, real estate development and broadcasting companies. Or even working as an accountant for 20 years before switching gears to head a full-service office furniture and systems dealership. Sound rigorous? Certainly three of the new entrants into the BE 100s universe would say yes, having respectively lived through the above scenarios to drive their companies toward success. And what success they've seen: combined, they have more than 85 years of business experience and $150 million in revenues last year. Clearly, they've earned their BE 100s membership cards--and we welcome them to the club. GETTING EXCELLENT RECEPTION In the first nine months after taking the helm of Fort Wayne-based WireAmerica of Indiana Inc. in October 1991, Lionel Tobin worked for free. It was a sacrifice that cost him thousands of dollars in personal income, and a gamble that could have caused major setbacks in his professional career. In a nutshell, WireAmerica's new 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. , who had left AT&T after over 20 years with the company, had everything to lose and everything to gain staring him in the face all at once. "It got scary," Tobin, now 51, admits. In fact, at the time, WireAmerica was nearly at the end of its financial rope. That is, until Tobin successfully negotiated a $3 million deal with Ameritech in June 1992 to supply the company with outside plant repeater (1) A communications device that amplifies (analog) or regenerates (digital) the data signal in order to extend the transmission distance. Available for both electronic and optical signals, repeaters are used extensively in long distance transmission. cases--metal boxes that regenerate telephone signals which can transmit for longer distances. But the road to that success was an arduous one. WireAmerica was established in August 1988 by a group of entrepreneurs including Clarence Stewart. The company provides distribution, manufacturing and system-integration services necessary to make their clients' telephone networks operational. As regional account manager for the Network Systems division of AT&T, it was Tobin's job to increase the sales of AT&T products to minority businesses and also provide technical support to its vendors. Tobin met Stewart in 1989, as WireAmerica was one of the nine minority businesses across the country that Tobin managed and it had previously won a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE MBE (in Britain) Member of the Order of the British Empire MBE n abbr (BRIT) (= Member of the Order of the British Empire) → título ceremonial MBE n abbr (Brit) (= ) contract with AT&T. In 1991, "When AT&T determined our unit was not generating the kind of profits they wanted to see, I was encouraged to find a job somewhere else within the company," he says. After 22 years with the biggest bell, Tobin opted for a different path. After working closely with minority businesses over the years, he felt he had the acumen and experience to run a network business of his own. But when his decision came down to partnering with one of his distributors or striking out on his own and starting from scratch, Tobin opted for the latter. Three of the companies he had been working with at AT&T made him offers of employment and/or ownership interest. Tobin chose WireAmerica because it had a sound managerial infrastructure in place and he was able to purchase a 49% ownership stake, which had been divided among four partners who were ready to sell. "Also, in terms of making the business work, I not only [had] the internal AT&T contacts, but also had relationships with the end users of their products and services," he says. But making the business work was slow going in the beginning. When Tobin took over as CEO in 1991, the company had a negative net worth of $350,000, bad credit and a poor customer service history. "The company was in poor shape financially," he says. "We had to improve our relationships with customers and we had to improve our credit. AT&T was the only one giving us any type of credit at the time." "I set as a major task the improvement of our relationships with other suppliers," he continues. "We were going to pay our bills on time." To do this, he needed exposure, so he hit the road. His first business trip was to the National Minority Supplier Development Council trade show, the travel and booth costs for which he funded out of his own pocket. He didn't get any business the first year with his makeshift set-up, but he talked to potential clients and was seen. He returned the next year to establish WireAmerica as a company with staying power rather than a fly-by-night enterprise. And stay he has. In 1992, Tobin competed against AT&T's direct account team for a $6 million Ameritech contract, of which he was awarded 50% of the business. This success allowed him to not only draw a salary that wouldn't strain the company's bottom line, but also to begin paying off the company's past debt while keeping other bill payments current. In 1994, Stewart, who was running two other businesses that were taking up his time and attention, sold Tobin the 1% that brought his ownership stake in WireAmerica to 50%. By 1994, the company was completely out of the red and had a positive cash flow, and in 1997 Tobin bought the remaining 50% stake from Stewart. To keep WireAmerica's growth on track, in 1996 Tobin hired Ted Jamison, now the company's executive vice president and COO. Jamison had worked with Tobin for several years at AT&T. Bringing his background in marketing and strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. to the table, Jamison helped Tobin propel WireAmerica's gross revenues to $10 million in 1996, the first year after Jamison took over. Revenues jumped to $15.5 million in 1997 to $25 million in 1998 to last year's revenues of $44.2 million. In recognition of Jamison's contribution to the company's expanding bottom line, Tobin rewarded him with a 33% stake in WireAmerica in 1999. The company now has centers in Niles, Michigan Niles is a city near South Bend, Indiana in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city has also annexed a small portion of land in Cass County. The population was 12,204 at the 2000 census. ; Washington, D.C.; South Bend, Indiana This article is about the city in Indiana, US. For other uses of the name South Bend, see South Bend (disambiguation). South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. ; and Dallas; and will soon open a facility in Phoenix. It also has a brand new spot at No. 63 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 list. DOUBLE-DUTY EXPANSION "Mike can make lemonade out of every lemon he touches," says Steven Roberts of his brother Michael Roberts. It's a claim that's hard to dispute, considering the success the brothers have shared. Co-founded by them in 1974, Roberts-Roberts & Associates is a conglomerate of entities that over the past 20 years has managed minority- and women-owned business participation as construction contractors, vendors and suppliers in projects that cumulatively exceed $4 billion and whose clients include Anheuser-Busch and Washington National and Dulles International Airports. Along the way, the brothers, under Michael's direct leadership, have extended their business prowess to other enterprises including real estate development, TV broadcasting and wireless communications wireless communications System using radio-frequency, infrared, microwave, or other types of electromagnetic or acoustic waves in place of wires, cables, or fibre optics to transmit signals or data. . As a student in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Michael, now 51, took a serious interest in identifying entrepreneurial activities. Thus, his first venture was attaining materials from Africa like dashikis, purses and bracelets and selling them on consignment in college bookstores. "Actually, it started before that," says Steven, 47. "From the time he was very young, he always had an entrepreneurial bent. Part of that may be attributed to our parents. They knew the only way they could truly help their kids take part in the American dream American dream also American Dream n. An American ideal of a happy and successful life to which all may aspire: was to expose us to culture, arts, politics and education, and because of that exposure we grew up comfortable in a lot of situations." In 1974, Michael earned a law degree from St. Louis University. He soon entered the local political scene and was elected to the board of alderman ALDERMAN. An officer, generally appointed or elected in towns corporate, or cities, possessing various powers in different places. 2. The aldermen of the cities of Pennsylvania, possess all the powers and jurisdictions civil and criminal of justices of the , the equivalent of a city council, in 1977. With money he borrowed from family, friends, even Steven, who was still in school at the time, Michael began purchasing property in the inner-city neighborhood where he lived, known as Fountain Park. Michael notes that he could have easily chosen a more pristine environment to invest in, but he had a vision. "I would purchase the properties for little money, then renovate them," Michael explains. He would then either rent or sell them. "I did this because the renovated properties were appraised for more than what I purchased them for. As a result, on paper, it gave the appearance of assets that I could use as collateral," to help him secure loans for additional property purchases. "We understood the importance of owning real estate," says Steven. "Owning property or a home meant you had a true asset." Five years after Michael graduated from law school, Steven also received his law degree, from the Washington University School of Law Washington University School of Law, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. The law school is one part of the seven graduate and undergraduate schools at Washington University in St. Louis. . Following in his brother's footsteps, Steven entered local politics and ultimately joined Michael on the board of alderman in 1979 (Steven being the youngest board member in history). The brothers had already been working together at what would become Roberts-Roberts for five years at this point, and had brought on their father as CFO See Chief Financial Officer. the year before. With all family members in place and a solid foundation to build on, the Roberts family got down to the serious business of expansion. Their expansion has been characterized by the particular success of two entities, Roberts Broadcasting Roberts Broadcasting Company is a media company based in St. Louis, Missouri. It is co-owned by brothers Steve and Mike Roberts. The company owns three network affiliates, including St. Co. and Roberts Wireless Communication. Formed in 1989, Roberts Broadcasting Co. is No 83 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 list with $32 million in sales last year. The venture was actually in the works since 1981, but it wasn't until 1986 that the Roberts got their first license to build and 1989 that they actually went on the air. "Nothing happens overnight," says Steven, "and the keys to our success have been taking risks and our willingness to put in sweat equity Sweat Equity The equity that is created in a company or some other asset as a direct result of hard work by the owner(s). Notes: For example, rebuilding the engine on your 1968 Mustang to increase its value. ." Their latest venture, formed in 1998, is Roberts Wireless Communication (RWC RWC Roberts Wesleyan College (Rochester, New York) RWC Redwood City (California) RWC Rear Window Captioning RWC Relative Water Content RWC Residential Wood Combustion RWC Roadworthy Certificate ), No. 94 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 list with $28 million in sales last year. "We leveraged our TV proceeds into a bigger picture," says Steven. "The wireless phone industry is going to be huge in the years to come." Through an affiliation agreement with Sprint PCS (1) (Personal Communications Services) Refers to wireless services that emerged after the U.S. government auctioned commercial licenses in 1994 and 1995. This radio spectrum in the 1. (which makes the company Sprint's first black-owned affiliate), RWC will build the cell sites and market wireless service to over 1 million Missouri residents (with the exception of the St. Louis and Kansas City Kansas City, two adjacent cities of the same name, one (1990 pop. 149,767), seat of Wyandotte co., NE Kansas (inc. 1859), the other (1990 pop. 435,146), Clay, Jackson, and Platte counties, NW Mo. (inc. 1850). markets, in which they're not authorized to sell). "If you want to run a telephone company in a particular area, you either team up or compete," says Steven. "We needed to team up with an established brand." After 20-plus years of moving and shaking and succeeding in a variety of industries that landed him two spots in the BE 100s universe, what words of wisdom does Michael have for aspiring entrepreneurs? "You gotta fake it until you make it," he says. "Take your raw faith and go for it." SUCCESS FOUR LEGS AT A TIME Before cracking the No. 60 spot on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 list, Charles Griggsby began his professional career counting other people's money. From 1972 to 1976, Griggsby audited clients such as JC Penney, Chase Manhattan and Salomon Smith Barney Smith Barney is a division of Citigroup Global Capital Markets Inc., a global, full-service financial firm, that provides brokerage, investment banking and asset management services to corporations, governments and individuals around the world. for accounting firm Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG KPMG Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (accounting firm) KPMG Kaiser Permanente Medical Group KPMG Keiner Prüft Mehr Genau (German) KPMG Kommen Prüfen Meckern Gehen ). "I remember going to a bank in Brooklyn one morning before business hours BUSINESS HOURS. The time of the day during which business is transacted. In respect to the time of presentment and demand of bills and notes, business hours generally range through the whole day down to the hours of rest in the evening, except when the paper is payable it a bank or by a to begin working on their audit, and the guard wouldn't let us in," Griggsby, 59, recalls with a chuckle. "It was me and two other black guys in suits, carrying brief-cases. We had to stand on the corner and wait until business hours to get in." Griggsby, originally from Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City is the largest city in the state of Missouri. It encompasses parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest in Missouri, which includes counties in both Missouri and Kansas. , spent roughly two decades working as an accountant for companies large and small, auditing, reconciling and balancing their books. Now as president and CEO of Dallas/Fort Worth-based Facility Interiors, a full-service office furniture and systems dealership with sales of $45.8 million last year, he's putting all those years of experience to work for himself. After leaving KPMG in 1976, Griggsby was employed by ITT ITT Initial Teacher Training (UK) ITT I Think That ITT Invitation To Tender ITT Individual Time Trial (professional cycling) ITT Intention-To-Treat ITT In This Thread (forums) , a telecommunications company See telecom company. . After six years with ITT, during which he was mainly based in Chicago, ITT realigned its corporate structure and Griggsby was given the choice of relocating to Tennessee or Mississippi. He chose neither, and having seen much of the country while traveling to ITT's 22 branches and four warehouses, he decided to relocate to Dallas in 1982. "Dallas is a good city for people with an entrepreneurial attitude," he says. After arriving, he got his feet wet by accepting accounting jobs as a consultant, which sustained him for the next eight years. During this period he met Robert Bacic, a fellow accountant who in 1991 accepted the CFO position with a company called Furniture Marketing Group (FMG FMG 1 Foreign medical graduate, see there 2. Frequency modulation generator ). When FMG needed some outside accounting expertise, Bacic called Griggsby. "As I was doing the accounting work, I could see the potential in this industry," Griggsby says. "I liked the nature of the work and the high dollar figures it could bring in." Soon after, Griggsby began working on a business plan of his own. He saw an opportunity to expand the installation arm of FMG, which at the time employed 30 workers. He approached the owners of FMG to establish what he calls a "strategic alliance." This alliance meant Griggsby took over the installation division as his own company, and in 1994 Facility Interiors (FI) was born. Griggsby focuses on interfacing with diversity divisions of major national and international companies to get business, while FMG handles all sales and marketing for FI. Regarding their unique arrangement, Griggsby explains, "In the contract office furniture industry, our business is installing furniture and building out workspaces. It's difficult for a new company to enter the marketplace because furniture manufacturers often want a 50% deposit before they'll release furniture to you. The challenge in that is that when you go to big companies like Bank of America
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC TYO: 8648 ) is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits, and the largest company of its kind in the world. , they're not going to give you a deposit before you do the work. They're so big, they don't have to." Since FMG was already a major industry player, he says, they already had established accounts with furniture manufacturers. Six years later, Griggsby has continued his relationship with FMG and has also formed strategic alliances with other companies. Regarding the philosophy of his company, Griggsby says, "It's the difference between `we may try to do what you want' and `we will do what you want', even if it means we may lose some money." This dedication to his clients, and his ability to parlay An open programming interface (API) to a service provider's network (the network operator), developed by the Parlay Group (www.parlay.org). By enabling the customer's application to talk directly to the network, it allows the end user to have greater access to network information as well his intellectual capital into dollars and cents, has made Griggsby a card-carrying Member card-carrying member n → miembro con carnet card-carrying member n → membre actif card-carrying member n → of the BE 100s. RELATED ARTICLE: MEET THE NEXT GENERATION The first BE 100s freshman class of the new millennium boasts seven brand-new entrants in addition to WireAmerica, Roberts Broadcasting Co., Roberts Wireless Communication and Facility Interiors, which are featured in this issue. Here's a brief introduction to the newcomers, and their rank on this year's BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 list. African Heritage Networks Group No. 97 (tie) Started in 1993 and based in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , AHN AHN Athens, GA, USA (Airport Code) AHN Army Health Nurse (US Army) AHN Aetna Hispanic Network AHN Allied Health Network AHN Ad Hoc Network does distribution and ad sales for national broadcasts of African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. television shows including New York Undercover New York Undercover is a one-hour police drama that ran on the Fox Broadcasting Company network from 1994 to 1998. The program was popular among its hip-hop orientated target audience, starred Malik Yoba as Det. J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Det. and Moesha. It's the first black television company ever to own rights to off-networks series. Under the leadership of chairman and CEO Frank Mercado-Valdes, AHN grossed $26.5 million in 1999. Chivas Industries L.L.C. No. 78 This full service automotive supplier of interior trim and plastic injection molding injection molding n. A manufacturing process for forming objects, as of plastic or metal, by heating the molding material to a fluid state and injecting it into a mold. has 300 employees and is based in Sterling Heights, Michigan Sterling Heights is a city in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 124,471, making it the fourth largest in Michigan. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 95. , The company had gross 1999 sales of $34 million and is helmed by CEO Joseph B. Anderson Jr. Computer Consulting Associates International Inc. No. 96 This Southport, Connecticut-based IT company provides technical resources including programmers, Web development and technical support to Fortune 100 companies. Last year marked the launch of the company's DIV2000.com Web site, a resource for minority- and women-owned businesses. Under president and CEO Kenton Clarke, gross sales Gross Sales A measure of overall sales that isn't adjusted for customer discounts or returns, calculated simply by adding all sales invoices, and not including operating expenses, cost of goods sold, payment of taxes, or any other charge. reached $26.8 million last year. DBM (DeciBels below 1 Milliwatt) A measurement of power loss in decibels using 1 milliwatt as the reference point. A signal received at 1 milliwatt yields 0 dBm. A signal at .1 milliwatt is a loss of 10 dBm. See deciBel and dBA. Technologies No. 49 This auto industry supplier sells blow molding and automotive logistics to clients including GM, Toyota, Ford and Chrysler. Based in Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 66,337. It is the county seat of Oakland County6. , and. headed by president and CEO Lawrence D. Crawford, DBM employs 750 and grossed $60 million in 1999, its first year in business. No Limit Enterprises No. 25 This nine-year-old company headed by CEO Percy Miller, a.k.a. Master P., is a music and entertainment conglomerate that includes No Limit Films and No Limit Clothing. From 1997 to the present, the company produced 14 platinum and eight gold records. Last year No Limit, which is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana For the Canadian restaurant, see . Baton Rouge (from the French bâton rouge), pronounced /ˈbætn ˈɹuːʒ/ in English, and , brought in $110 million in gross sales. RLLW Inc. No. 53 RLLW sells pizza and concession-related items to individual consumers, primarily through its Pizza Hut franchises, of which it acquired 34 in 1997 and 33 in 1998. Based in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. , RLLW employs 1,600, and under chairman and CEO Jackie L. Robinson the company pulled down $54 million in gross sales last year. RS Information Systems Inc. No. 68 This McLean, Virginia-based IT company provides software engineering/applications development, network engineering management, end-user technical support and more to primarily government clients. Started in 1992 and headed by president and CEO Rodney P Rodney Panton, known professionally as Rodney P is a Battersea born MC who entered the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. He started out as a member of the London Posse, one of the UK's first home grown hip hop acts who were highly influential in the development of the genre. . Hunt, RSIS RSIS RS Information Systems, Inc. (McLean, VA, USA) RSIS Rotorcraft Systems Integrated Simulator RSIS Robotic Systems Integration Standards RSIS Relocatable Screen Interface Specification pulled in $39.85 million in gross sales last year. |
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