workmagazine#19

MINDING OVERWHAT MATTERS:

LEVERAGE YOURPUBLIC RELATIONS

HOST OF WCVE’SPERSPECTIVE,

BARBARA BERLINWITH OTHER KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS

DECIPHER MEDIA PROMOTIONS,SOCIAL NETWORKS

& THE BLOGOSPHERE

TIP MANIANEW IDEAS FOR ABRAND NEW YEAR

WAYSTO CUTCOSTS6

CONCEPTSFOR BETTERBUSINESS8

3SMARTSALESSTRATEGIES JEANNE BOISINEAU

CASTING

HANDCRAFT SERVICES

PEDIATRIC CONNECTIONINCORPORATED

BRASS BEDS OF VIRGINIA

COME TO ORDERPERSONAL ORGANIZING

COBB TECHNOLOGIES

+

VENTURE FORUM’S

2009GREATER RICHMOND

COMPANIES TO WATCH

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: RICHMOND’S DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT IS BOOMING

W O R K M A G A Z I N E 1w w w . w o r k m a g a z i n e . b i zW i n t e r 2 0 0 9

ShopTalk PAGE 4Filtrona Acquires Michigan Foam Product Maker

German Automotive Supplier $5 Million ProductionPlant Creates 50+ New Jobs in Chesterfield County

Smart Investments: Virginia Schools Ranked Among 100 Best Values

Virginia Earns A+ for Academics

VCU Medical Center One ofTop 100 Hospitals

for Cardiovascular CareAfton Chemical Corp. Rich-

mond’s Research and Development Facility

to ExpandCapital One to Buy Chevy Chase Bank

Wunderlich Securities Inc.Acquires Anderson & Strudwick Inc.

Sabra Will Create 260 Jobs in 2010Bass Pro in Hanover County

JetBlue Begins Nonstop Service to Orlando, Florida

RIC’s $800 Million Economic ImpactReynolds Crossing Opens in Henrico County

White Oak Village to Add Hyatt PlaceBusiness First: Tips and Wishes

for a Prosperous New YearSix Ways to Cut Costs

Table of ContentsC a r e e r L i f e i n t h e G r e a t e r R i c h m o n d R e g i o n V o l . 5 / I s s u e 3

From the Partnership .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 ShopTalk .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Momentum ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Innovators .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Leadership .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Arts / Culture .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Music / Food .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Shopping .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Sports .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Movers & Shakers .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Partnership News ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Partnership Investor Profile .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41MediaWorks .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Travel & Leisure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 See & Do .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

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WORKMAGAZINE

WORKMAGAZINE PROFILE

Minding Over What MattersLeverage Your Public Relations. Stay Relevant. Stay on Point.And Never Stay Still. In the highly competitive sport of publicrelations there are only two teams: those who create contentand those who create media. Regional firms discuss the lateststrategies for achieving success with savvy PR.

Leadership: Preparing Yourself to be a Leader

Although leadership has been defined many ways, it is still an amorphous term that means different things to differentpeople. Learning from good leaders and how to avoid thosecharacteristics exhibited by the poor or toxic leaders.

The Martin AgencyThe GEICO Caveman. FreeCreditReport.com jingles. “WhatCan Brown Do For You?” These pop culture hits have a fewcommonalities: they are memorable, they are recognizedacross America and they all grew out of ideas born at Richmond’s The Martin Agency.

+PAGE 42 MEDIAWORKS: Trending Mass Marketing

A Million Things That Have to be DoneDr. Linda Powell Pruitt serves as president of LeadershipMetro Richmond, a position she assumed in 2007. She isthe fourth LMR president in the organization’s 27 years.

Greater Richmond’s Companies to Watch 2009 With uncanny accuracy in previous years, Venture Forum hasselected those innovative companies with the most promise of success. Unlike other awards that are based on historicalactivities, Companies to Watch forecasts businesses deemedto have the potential to become national leaders and significant contributors to the area.

COVER STORY

2 W O R K M A G A Z I N E w w w . w o r k m a g a z i n e . b i z 2 0 0 9 W i n t e r

InnovatorsPAGE 21

Jeanne Boisineau Casting

HandCraft Services

Pediatric Connection Incorporated

Brass Beds of Virginia

Come to Order Personal Organizing

Cobb Technologies

MOMENTUMCONCEPTS • TRENDS • TRAILBLAZERS

CREATIVE WORK SPACEVENTURE RICHMOND

SPECIAL SECTION AFTER PAGE 30

business innovation / career strategy / creative living

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Bringing Up Baby (and Business)For working women across the nation, a newbaby no longer means exiting the workplace.

Learning By DoingThe coaching industry has capitalized onthe demand for greater job satisfaction.

Legal BriefHow Other People’s Blogs Can Land You in Court

WebChatterAmuse thyself.

Career, Take TwoThink you’re too old for a new career? Think again.

Trade Secrets: Text & TechJob Search Bloopers by Laura DeCarlo andSusan Guarneri ALSO: I have antivirus installed,but I’m still getting infected.

Strategic Alliances vs Cold CallsInside contemporary salesmanship

Palari Publishing LLP was establishedin 1998 in Richmond, Virginia. Palari is aforward-thinking, independent, royalty-based publisher committed to producinginnovative periodicals, fiction and nonfic-tion books. Through our hardcover andtrade paperback originals, Palari provides

authoritative, well-writtennonfiction that addressestopical consumer needs andfiction with an emphasis onintelligence and quality.

Advertise in WORKMAGAZINE

WORKMAGAZINE is published in the months ofJULY, OCTOBER, JANUARY & APRILwww.palaribooks.com

www.workmagazine.biz

RICHMOND’SDOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT UPDATE 2009

Contact: Sales8 0 4 - 3 5 5 - 1 0 3 5 [email protected]

WINTER2 0 0 9

PAGE 12

For Your DeskWhen it comes to internet radio—I amstymied with indecision. Or perhaps I’mhopelessly in a rut. I haven’t decided yet.

WORKMAGAZINE

WORKMAGAZINE: Career Life in the GreaterRichmond Region is a quarterly publicationowned and operated by Palari PublishingLLP (The Work Factory, 1113 West MainStreet, Richmond, VA, 23220 Toll-free:866-570-6724) in association with theGreater Richmond Partnership Inc. Allrights reserved. Reproduction in whole orin part of any text, photograph or illustra-tion without written permission from thepublisher is prohibited.

General comments, story suggestions andletters to the editor for publication consid-eration should be directed to Ted Randlerat [email protected].

Publisher/Executive EditorTed Randler

Publisher/Senior EditorDavid Smitherman

VP of Marketing/AdvertisingDave Perry

Managing EditorRebecca Jones

Senior WritersChristina Couch

Donna C. Gregory

Department EditorsDevorah Ben-David

Jan DanielShannon O’Neill

Paul Spicer

Contributing WritersDana Callahan

Gina Cavallo CollinsMike Fonseca

Chris GatewoodMark MatthewsJulie McGuireJoan Tupponce

Mike WardJennifer Yeager

PhotographyGriffin Davis

Stephanie GarrChris Owens

InternsAtosa Dabney

Rachel Gregory

The Greater Richmond Partnership Inc. is anot-for-profit economic development teamrepresenting the City of Richmond and thecounties of Chesterfield, Hanover andHenrico. The Partnership’s office is located at

901 E. Byrd St., Suite 801 Richmond, VA 23219-4070 phone 804-643-3227 or toll-free at 1-800-229-6332 fax 804-343-7167

Marketing MavenNetwork much? Or network too much?

PAGE 14

��

Everybody Loves Pop MusicW

IN

GF

IE

LD

You’re going through your day and you’ve got that tune stuck in your head. It can be anysong, a favorite chorus or maybe it was used in the soundtrack of a film. Surprisingly,sometimes it’s a song that you actually don’t like. But it’s there, wafting between yourthoughts and interactions with others. As consumers of media, we are highly susceptibleto smartly-packaged experiences, and pop songs are the epitome of products created tobe memorable and meaningful to the masses.

Think about it. They are targeted demographically, designed for quick emotionalassessment and engineered to tantalize whether through a musical hook or clever catch-phrase that has some type of relevant meaning.

In this issue we take a look at the current state of public relations and note howmuch successful PR shares similar characteristics to the well-designed media nugget of apop song. Like top-forty hits, smart public relations entails knowing youraudience—designing your message to be readily assessable and relevant.

But here’s the interesting part, pop songs are designed for repetition and viral promo-tion. Without these two elements, pop songs wouldn’t be able to stick in your head. Themedia experience requires that you hear the song several times so it becomes familiar.And, as usually happens, if you like the song you will share the experience with anotherfriend or associate—thus the growth of a pop singer’s fan-base.

The same is true for the savvy execution of a PR strategy. It’s not enough to simplywrite a press release, blast it to media outlets and then expect to receive interest. Wediscovered competition for media portals is as fierce as, well, pop music hits. You musttarget your ongoing efforts to the appropriate media channels and also try to create a viralbuzz, such that other media picks up the message. This means a strategy of tapping intoconventional event marketing, print and television outlets as well as creating a presenceon the web through social networks, blogs and portals.

Whether you are comfortable with media attention or not, chances are, your compe-tition is developing all available means to communicate their story and promote theirbrand. Who and how become the key. For, as all things media these days, the PR modelhas evolved into a highly-fragmented sphere of specialized outlets, delivery devices andsocial networks that didn’t exist five years ago.

Fortunately, just as there are many new ways to promote your message, creativeideas for connecting your brand to relevant consumers are being developed by the bevyof talent in Greater Richmond. From capitalizing on new media to smart maneuvering oftraditional publicity venues, the high caliber of PR strategy created in the region isimpressive and readily accessible to most companies that need a clever campaign.

Greg WingfieldPresident, CEO

Greater Richmond Partnership Inc.Whether you are comfortable with media attention or not, chances are, your competition

is developing all available means to communicate their story to promote their brand.



VCU Medical Center One of Top 100 Hospitals for Cardiovascular CareThe Virginia Commonwealth University

Medical Center has been identified as

one of the top 100 U.S. hospitals that set

the nation’s benchmarks for cardiovas-

cular care, according to a Thomson

Reuters study. It is one of only two

Virginia hospitals named in the study.

The annual study, the 2008

Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals:

Cardiovascular Benchmarks for

Success, examined the performance of

nearly 1,000 hospitals by analyzing clin-

ical outcomes for patients diagnosed

with heart failure and heart attacks and

for those who received coronary bypass

surgery and angioplasties.

“This recognition reaffirms our

position as a national leader in

advanced cardiac care,” said Eugene P.

Trani, VCU president and president

and chair of the VCU Health System,

who underwent quintuple bypass

surgery at the VCU Medical Center this

past summer.

Filtrona Acquires MichiganFoam Product MakerRichmond-based Filtrona has agreed to

acquire the business and assets of St. Charles,

Mich.-based Lendell Manufacturing, Inc., a

developer and manufacturer of specialized

hydrophilic foam products.

Filtrona’s bonded

fiber components division

will be renamed and

launched as Filtrona Porous

Technologies, comprised

of both Filtrona Fibertec

and Lendell. Filtrona

Porous Technologies, head-

quartered in Richmond,

will operate as a developer

and manufacturer of

liquid handling and other

specialty, porous compo-

nents for use in consumer

and professional end-use

devices.

“The addition of

Lendell will conform well

with Filtrona’s strategy of

becoming the premier

global supplier of specialty

solutions and components

to consumer and profes-

sional product applica-

tions,” said Mark Harper, Filtrona’s chief exec-

utive of the $35 million deal. Lendell special-

izes in products for medical wound care, agri-

cultural, industrial and consumer uses.

Smart Investments:Virginia Schools RankedAmong 100 Best ValuesKiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine’sDecember issue listed six Virginia schools

among the 100 best values in public colleges.

Schools making the lists combine “outstanding

economic value with top-notch education,”

according to Kiplinger. The College of

William and Mary is ranked fifth among public

schools. The top 100 list include Virginia Tech

(15th), the University of Mary Washington

(23rd), James Madison University (28th) and

George Mason University (46th). The University

of Richmond was also cited as 22nd among

best bargains in private schools.

The American Federa-

tion of Teachers’ report,

which examine states’

academic standards as

required by the federal

No Child Left Behind

law, gave Virginia a

perfect score. The

commonwealth was

the only state to earn

an A+. States’ stan-

dards are evaluated for

clarity, specificity and

content. Virginia met

100 percent of the

criteria for its Stan-

dards of Learning in English, math, science

and history at all grade levels and in all

subject areas.

Lendellspecializes

in products

for medicalwound care,

agricultural,industrial

andconsumer

uses.

Virginia Earns A+ for Academics

Ept automotive has leased 46,300 square feet ofmanufacturing space in River’s Bend in Chester-field County for a new facility to produce elec-trical connectors for the automotive industry.

The facility, involving an estimated $5 million ininvestment, opened in October and is expectedto create more than 50 jobs during the nextthree years.

Ept (Electronic Precision Technology) automotiveis a subsidiary of ept GmbH & KG, Peiting,Germany, located about 60 miles southwest ofMunich. A global supplier to the automotiveindustry for integrated solutions for electricalconnection technology, the firm has more than700 employees.

Willy Rau, president of ept america, was selectedin February to establish the new productionfacility.

Thomas Guglhör, president of ept automotive,said “We are very excited about our new produc-tion facility to be established in ChesterfieldCounty. Virginia is perfectly located as a bridgebetween our parent company in Germany and ourmany automotive customers in North America.The support we received from state, regional andlocal economic development officials goes backseveral years and helped make our decision aconfident one.”

Mr. Rau added, “The Greater Richmond areaoffers a pool of experienced, skilled workers andmanagers that will contribute quickly to ourmission. Having operated another business in thearea for many years, I have great respect forVirginia’s business climate and the productivity ofthe local workforce.”

German Automotive Supplier$5 Million Production Plant Creates 50+ New Jobsin Chesterfield County


Afton Chemical Corp. Richmond’s Research and Development Facility to Expand When completed, the new two-story

building will add approximately 30,600 sq ft

to the existing 250,000 sq ft research center.

The new addition will provide office,

laboratory and mechanical test spaces in

order to meet the needs of OEMs and

customers in the driveline market. Construc-

tion on the new building is expected to be

complete by the third quarter of 2009.

Afton Chemical Corporation is a

wholly owned subsidiary of NewMarket

Corporation. Afton Chemical develops

and manufactures petroleum additives

that heighten the effectiveness of lubri-

cating oils and fuels to enhance their

performance in machinery, vehicles and

other equipment.

Afton’s chemical technology helps

fuels burn cleaner, engines run smoother

and machines last longer in custom-formu-

lated chemical blends to market-general

additive components.

The Richmond-based brokerage and invest-

ment banking firm Anderson & Strudwick

Inc. will add more than 130 employees to

the Memphis-based Wunderlich. Anderson

& Strudwick will operate as a

division of Wunderlich.

Anderson & Strudwick

has offices in Richmond, Fred-

ericksburg, Charlottesvile and

Norfolk, Va.; Charlotte;

Columbia and Charleston,

S.C.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and

Bethlehem and Canonsburg,

Pa. The acquisition will give

Wunderlich 250 financial

advisers and 60 capital

markets professionals.

Wunderlich has five primary business

lines: private client wealth management;

asset management; investment banking;

equity capital markets and institutional

fixed-income trading. Anderson & Strud-

wick provides asset management, securities

brokerage, investment banking, insurance

products and related financial services.

Wunderlich Securities Inc.Acquires Anderson & Strudwick Inc.

Creating an estimated 260 jobs, Sabra

Dipping Co. plans to launch operations in the

110,000-square-foot plant by mid-2010. The

company manufactures kosher, vegetarian

food and plans to invest $59.3 million to

build a food-processing plant at the Ruffin

Mill Industrial Park in Chesterfield County.

“Sabra has emerged as a top brand in

the growing dips category," Sabra Dipping Co.

Chief Executive Ronen Zohar said. ‘We are

projecting growth and planning exciting

innovation.”

Based in Astoria, N.Y., Sabra is a joint

venture between PepsiCo and Strauss Group,

which is Israel's second-largest food and

beverage company and employs more than

11,000 people in 19 countries.

Sabra Will Create 260 Jobs in 2010

Capital One to Buy Chevy Chase BankCapital One Financial Corp. announced inDecember its plans to buy Chevy Chase Bank,a privately owned company that would put thecredit-card giant into Virginia's banking busi-ness with branches as far south as Char-lottesville and Fredericksburg. Currently, thecompany's state banking presence is limited

to branches at its corporate headquarters inMcLean and operations center in GoochlandCounty. The $520 million deal would add theWashington region to a banking business withalmost 1,000 branches in key markets,including New York, New Jersey, Louisianaand Texas.

Bass Pro Shops, recently voted the #1

outdoor retailer in America by SportingGoods Business Magazine, celebrated its

52nd store’s grand opening in October. The

new Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World is the

signature tenant for the 186-acre Winding

Brook development project located at the

intersection of I-95 and Lewistown Road in

Hanover County.

The grand opening celebration was

preceded by a special evening event where

area conservation groups

set up display booths to

educate customers on

their efforts and projects.

Bass Pro Shops Outdoor

World donated a portion

of the night’s sales to

benefit the National

Fish Initiative’s “More

Fish” campaign.

Grand opening fest-

ivities included special

exhibits, celebrity guests,

store-wide savings and

fantastic giveaways. Bass-

master Classic champ Woo Daves and Bass

Pro Shops Pro Staffer Chris Daves, along

with legendary fly fishing icon Lefty Kreh,

were in attendance to share some fly

fishing secrets.

A major catalog and Internet retailer,

Bass Pro Shops, headquartered in Spring-

field, MO, currently has 51 retail locations

across the United States and Canada. The

stores attract more than 100 million visitors

a year.

Bass Pro in Hanover County

Anderson &

Strudwick Inc. will add

more than130

employees to the

Memphis-based

Wunderlich.

Woo Daves and Bass Pro Shops

Pro Staffer Chris Daves, along with legendary

fly fishing icon Lefty Kreh were in attendance to

share some of flyfishing secrets.


Hyatt Place, a design-forward hotel with the

emphasis on “style, innovation, and The Hyatt

Touch® within your reach,” is slated to open at

The Shops at White Oak Village in the spring

of 2009.

The hotel will offer spacious guestrooms with

a 42" flat-panel HDTV, Hyatt’s signature Grand

Bed,™ a plush Cozy Corner oversized sofa-

sleeper that is separated from the sleeping

area, and complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi

Internet access throughout the hotel.

Henrico County’s newest shopping mall

opened on October 13th. Located at the inter-

section of I-64 and Laburnum Avenue, The

Shops at White Oak Village offers 800,000

square feet of shopping and leisure space.

White Oak Villageto Add Hyatt Place

Reynolds Crossing Opens in Henrico County Reynolds Crossing, a 90-acre development

across from Altria Group’s headquarters near

West Broad Street and Interstate 64, includes

a 100,000-square-foot medical building and a

200,000-square-foot office building which

opened this year, plus the region’s first Westin

hotel which will open January 2009. Bon

Secours is the anchor tenant in the four-story

medical building. Other tenants include

Commonwealth Dermatology, Cardiovascular

Associates of Virginia and Partner MD, a

concierge primary medical care practice. The

seven-story office building is 75 percent

leased. Alcoa took two floors. Other tenants

include the Reynolds Packaging Group, which

is part of a private-equity group, James River

Insurance and The McCammon Group, a media-

tion and arbitration firm.

RIC NEWS $800 MillionEconomic ImpactAccording to a report for the Capital

Region Airport Commission by Chmura

Economics & Analytics of Richmond, in

the past year Richmond International

Airport and its tenants contributed annual

sales of more than $800 million to the

local economy based on

the measurable benefits of

airport operations, busi-

ness efficiencies, visitor

spending and their associ-

ated ripple effects.

The report also indi-

cated that in 2007,

“these businesses directly

employed an estimated

2,526 workers with a total

economic output of $196.1

million. Tenants at the airport spent an

estimated $88.3 million in wages and

salaries and about $104.3 million per year

on materials, supplies and equipment—

with close to half (48 percent) of these

products and services purchasedfrom

firms located in the Richmond region.”

Tenants at the airport

spent an estimated$88.3 million

in wages and

salaries.JetBlue Airways has expanded its service

from Richmond International Airport with

the launch of the daily nonstop service to

Orlando, Florida. Fares between Richmond

and Orlando start at $69 each way for off-

peak travel. Orlando is JetBlue’s fourth low-

fare route from Richmond. The airline also

jets daily to Boston, Fort Lauderdale and

New York (JFK).

JetBlue Begins NonstopService to Orlando, Florida

Hyatt Place is a design-forward hotel with the emphasis on “style, innovation.”

The Shops at White Oak Village offers 800,000square feet of shopping and leisure space.


Business First Greater Richmond is a collaborativeeffort that includes Chesterfield County, HenricoCounty, Hanover County and the City of Richmond.It is supported by the Greater Richmond Partner-ship, Inc. and the Greater Richmond Chamber.

www.businessfirstrichmond.com

As the economy slows and business costs

grow, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to

rely on earnings growth to improve the

bottom line. Astute managers are looking to

unlock the profit opportunities that lie hidden

within their businesses costs. They know the

impact of a 1 percent decrease in costs can equal

a 2 percent increase in profits—or 10 percent

more in top-line sales on typical margins.

Here are six simple ways you can start to

reduce your company’s expenses and find

extra profit:

1. Centralize purchasing. You may be

buying the same goods from different

suppliers, particularly if each department

seems to have its favorite suppliers. Centralize

purchasing to maximize discounts through

bulk purchasing power.

2. Get a second opinion. Obtain alterna-

tive quotes on everything. Advise existing

suppliers that you are going out to bid and

give them a chance to reduce their prices.

3. Call in a bad guy. Don’t allow the

person in daily contact with a supplier to

negotiate price. Use the good cop/bad cop

approach. The “bad cop” removes emotion

from the process and the “good cop” can

preserve the established, day-to-day relation-

ship with the vendor.

4. Ask for ideas. Take advantage of your

suppliers’ expertise and their suggestions on

how to improve the way you work together.

Would ordering weekly instead of daily

reduce their administrative costs? Would

they split the savings with you? Ask you

employees for ideas and incentivize them for

doing so.

5. Review product specifications. Ensure

that products being used do not exceed

requirements. Can you use second-hand

pallets for transportation? Recycled toner

cartridges?

6. Clean up. Are factory items such as

mats being cleaned more often than neces-

sary? You may be able to reduce the

frequency of cleaning while still maintaining

safety standards.

Six Ways to Cut CostsBusiness First Greater Richmond is a

regional economic development program

aimed at supporting the growth and

success of businesses who call the Rich-

mond region home. Since 2006, we’ve inter-

viewed more than 1,100 business leaders

who have shared their stories and opinions

on doing business in this market. The team

has responded to more than 250 specific

requests for assistance and supported

more than $42 million in new business

investment in the region.

The good news is that Richmond rates

highly as a place to do business and we’re

committed to working even harder to

support businesses large and small through

these challenging economic times.

Here are a few things to think about as

you embark on a new year.

Reflect: Take time to reflect on what

worked and what didn’t with your business

last year. Include your team and devote the

necessary time to seek the information and

resources you need to get to the root cause

of your successes or failures in any key

areas. Take a deep breath and move on.

Focus: Make sure you’re focused on

what’s happening with your customers AND

key suppliers and partners. Frequent

communication can help you avoid any

surprises and may open doors to new busi-

ness opportunities you didn’t know existed.

Remember the 80/20 rule. Ask key

customers for referrals; look for new ways to

work with suppliers and vendors. These are

the relationships that sustain your business.

Plan: Dust off (or write!) a business

plan. It doesn’t have to be extravagant. In

fact, a single page with key objectives and

benchmarks can serve as a guiding

beacon. There are tools and resources to

help you write a more comprehensive plan.

The Small Business Development Center at

the Greater Richmond Chamber is one

example. On-line resources like

www.sba.gov have a variety of templates

and tutorials to walk you through the

process. It’s not easy, but remember that

businesses don’t plan to fail, they fail to

plan. A current business plan is also a

necessity when seeking financing.

Manage: Manage your cash and

monitor expenses. Make sure your financial

information is in good order, manage your

receivables closely and stay in touch with

your creditors. There are savings opportuni-

ties everywhere, so be sure to look for

opportunities to renegotiate terms and get

new quotes from outside vendors. The

sidebar to the right has more details about

ways almost any business can reduce its

expenses in a variety of categories.

Lead: Often overlooked, but vital to

any business is leadership. We’re not

talking dictatorship here, but an organiza-

tion with a clear vision and direction and a

culture of open communication and

continuous improvement. Recognize

people making a difference.

Learn: Now is the perfect time to

increase your business knowledge or that

of key employees in your organization. Not

only can you take advantage of some time

you didn’t have available for educational

endeavors, it can be a real morale booster

for your top producers. Are there certifica-

tions specific to your industry? Is there

new technology to consider? Look to area

trade associations and local training

providers for customized training and

avoid travel expenses. Local community

colleges and universities offer many

options—including on-line course work to

keep those brain cells pumping.

Listen: If you don’t have a group of

trusted advisors, consider getting one. Even

the smallest business can benefit from an

informal outside advisory group. Look for

people who share your business philos-

ophy, but bring a new discipline or

expertise into the mix. Share your business

strategy and get their feedback.

Reach Out: The Richmond region has

a rich network of organizations and indi-

viduals committed to your business

success. A great place to start is the Busi-

ness First website at www.business-

firstrichmond.com to review a list of busi-

ness resources and request a visit from a

business advocate in your area.

Business Tips and Wishes for a Prosperous New Year

Lycia Rettig is a Director in the Richmond area forExpense Reduction Analysts, a worldwide consultingcompany that specializes in reducing overheadexpense with fees coming from the derived savings.

by Lycia Rettig

workmagazine#19

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