Audrey Martinez-Keller helps run a successful direct mailing company whose product lands in millions of homes around the country. But it was for the assistance she provides to women starting out with their own businesses that caught the eye of the federal agency that helps out small businesses. Martinez-Keller will receive the Women in Business Champion of the Year Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration for her volunteer work with the National Association of Women Business Owners. “What we’re hoping to do is mentor other women coming up in the ranks,” said Martinez-Keller, who started volunteering with the association in 2003. “We’re saying here’s how to get your feet on the ground, here’s what you should focus on.” Martinez-Keller founded Dolphin Data Corp. in 1989 and oversees the sales and marketing end of the business working out of an office in Calabasas while partners run the operational side in locations in Chatsworth and the East Coast. Quick expansion of the direct mailing firm led not only to its relocation to the San Fernando Valley from El Monte but also the bringing on of the partners. “We grew so fast we kept outgrowing our equipment and facilities,” Martinez-Keller said. “We needed somebody else to help keep up.” Client requests and technology that allows for targeted mailings drives the company’s growth, Martinez-Keller said. And while e-mail will be a component of a marketing strategy, direct mailing is still the best way for a company to have solid, verifiable results, she added. The SBA has also recognized Helen Keane’s Video Products Group in Camarillo as its Small Business Exporter of the Year. The transmitter and receiver company serving telecommunications and broadcasting firms does about 30 percent of its business overseas and includes companies in Great Britain and Spain among its clients. Keane, president and chief executive officer of the company, and husband Eugene started the company in 1996 as part of a management buyout from Hewlett Packard. VPG products are integrated into larger electronic systems used by its clients. Keane credits loans from the SBA as a reason why the company was able to weather the storm following the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000. Telecom companies were not spending as much as they had been and so VPG began to focus its attention on research and development, Keane said. “We created new products we knew would be needed in the future,” Keane said. The company also introduced lean manufacturing practices so as to be more efficient and cut expenses. “We have better communication between the engineering and production departments so we can avoid extra costs,” Keane said. Like Dolphin Data, Video Products Group works closely with its customers. “We engage with the customer what their specific needs are and then we collaborate to design products they might need,” Keane said. Other Valley recipients of SBA awards are Worldwide Aeros Corp. Chief Executive Officer Igor Pasternak for Small Business Person of the Year; Rita Mitchell, vice president, regional sales manager for Wachovia Small Business Capital for Financial Services Champion of the Year; Sherman Oaks resident Ceil Hansen for Home-Based Business Champion of the Year; Bob Holguin, director of the North Los Angeles Small Business Development Center for Minority Small Business Champion of the Year; and Jose and Patricia Jimenez, co-owners of La Cabanita restaurant in Glendale for Family-Owned Business of the Year. The awards will be presented May 31 at the 25th annual Small Business Week Awards luncheon in Los Angeles.
