Many local chambers rely on the membership and participation of small businesses for their livelihood. In support of local entrepreneurs and their companies, the United Chambers of Commerce recently released the winners of its 2010 Small Business Awards. In selecting the winners, they considered factors such as business growth, business success, and community service, said Gloria Pollack, the United Chamber of Commerce’s director of special events. Small businesses are a vital component of the local economy, she said. “We’re trying very hard to preserve the small-business person,” Pollack said, adding that they have been especially hard-hit during the economic recession. “It’s a good feeling of community and having a sense of knowing the people.” The award winners include the following: Susan Fries “Termite Lady,” Ecola Termite Services, Inc.; Doug Ridley, Adelman Enterprises, Inc.; Robert Sommers, Howard Sommers Towing; Barry Shapiro, All About Printing; Keven Steinberg, Fink & Steinberg Attorneys at Law; Jeff Newcomer and Sarah Keller, EmbroidMe; Peter and Brian Given, SmartBox Portable Storage; Solomon and Gloria Herbert, Black Meetings & Tourism magazine; Diane Taylor, Traders Loan & Jewelry, Inc.; Ed Alan Lindain & Lance Rolda, Lindain & Baldomero, LLP; Tama Holve, Willett Travel; Jonathan Levy, Beezley Management; Arthur DeLorenzo, Aim Mail Center #143; Eissa Shousha, Executive Propellers; Colleen Langford, Holiday Inn Woodland Hills – Warner Center. The following are brief profiles on a few of the businesses. Beezley Management Beezley Management is responsible for advising multimillion-dollar construction and renovation projects in the San Fernando Valley and beyond. It has advised projects such as the construction and improvement of several new buildings and an athletic complex at Los Angeles Valley College. Other projects Beezley Management has worked on include the construction of the Los Angeles Clippers’ training center and the seismic repair and expansion of Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge. The company, nominated by the Valley Economic Alliance, has expanded since it started in 1997 and has used its services to serve the community. “We’ve grown pretty steadily and pretty aggressively,” Jonathan Levy said. “In 2005, we were two people. Today we’re 20. We probably manage projects ranging from a couple million dollars up to being actively involved in programs that are in excess of $1 billion.” Levy said the company, which generates about $2.5 million to $3 million in billable revenues, focuses its efforts on providing quality service. Phillips said the company’s service is what makes it successful with the projects it does for its clients and for the community. “They’re able to bring in all the parties together to figure out what would be the best use of the site,” said Kenn Phillips, vice president of the Alliance’s workforce initiative. “They’re very willing to go ahead and take any piece. … They just want to provide some additional value.” Phillips said the company has worked on various projects with the Alliance since it became involved with the group about a year ago. Beezley Management has helped provide guidance for Canoga Park High School students designing and building a green-learning sustainable garden. The company is also helping the Alliance strategize a plan for replacing blacktop surfaces from local Los Angeles Unified School District schools with cooler, greener options. “They add green value to the community,” Phillips said of Beezley Management. “They create beautiful park space, livable community space to make our lives better.” Black Meetings and Tourism Award winner Black Meetings and Tourism magazine is a niche trade publication that provides readers with information primarily about the African American segment of the travel and hospitality industries. The magazine, which operates in Van Nuys, was nominated by the Regional Black Chamber. The publication’s free bi-monthly issue reaches readers throughout the United States and beyond to places like the Caribbean, Africa and South America, said Gloria Herbert, the magazine’s associate publisher and editor. Herbert said the magazine has grown since she and her husband started it in 1993. Instead of a team of two, the magazine now has 10 full-time employees and a roster of contributing writers. And its controlled circulation of 28,000 is about double what it was during its first year, she added. Meanwhile, its use of its Web site to post content expands the publication’s reader base. Herbert said the magazine, which is published for travel and tourism professionals, was launched after her husband realized there was a coverage gap in travel journalism. “He saw there were niche markets that weren’t being addressed,” she said. “No one was really focusing on individuals in the industry that were African American, Hispanic, Asian American or Native American.” MC Townsend, president and CEO of the Regional Black Chamber, said Black Meetings & Tourism magazine stands out as a publication and a small business. “They’re probably the most authoritative source on African-American travel and conventions accommodations,” Townsend said. The Herberts also make a difference in the San Fernando Valley by volunteering for various chamber events and distributing their magazine to chamber members and the general community, she added. “They simply go out of their way to make available the publications to non-profits, schools (and) churches at absolutely no cost,” she said. The Herberts said they have taken several steps to keep their business running efficiently. “We did a lot of bartering, we did a lot of discounting, and then just (focused) on customer service,” she said. “We always wanted to do more than we agreed to do and were required to do.” All About Printing While All About Printing has only been around for four years, its owner has been in the printing business for 30 years. The Chatsworth-Porter Ranch Chamber of Commerce nominated the print and copy business and its owner, Barry Shapiro. Shapiro started the business in Chatsworth in 2006, six years after selling another printing company he owned since 1988. Under his lead at the first company, All Valley Printing, sales grew from about $200,000 to $6 million in a span of less than 10 years, Shapiro said. Now Shapiro is working to build up staff and sales levels at All About Printing, which he has done by acquiring some other local printing businesses. “We’ve grown 30 to 35 percent over the last three or four years,” he said. What keeps customers coming is the quality customer service and the prices, he added. “We have all the same services as any of our big-name, walk-in, self-serve print or copy shops at lower prices,” he said. “We try to give the customers much more for their money. We’ll sit down with them and work with them. If we can do something quick, we try not to charge rush charges.” Rana Ghadban, executive director of the Chatsworth-Porter Ranch Chamber of Commerce, said Shapiro has also reached out to his community through the chamber. He donated 12,000 flyers for the 10th Annual Unforgettable Educator Recognition Event, helping the chamber collect children’s books for families in low-income neighborhoods. “He’s very generous,” Ghadban said. “He has made various contributions.”
Small But Vital
