His business model with nonprofits spurs growth         

By Ashley Cisneros   

A slow economy didn’t stop Brock E. Fazzini from entering the saturated coffee market three years ago. Neither did the bankruptcy sustained by his parent company. Instead of being put off by a sluggish economic outlook, the 24-year-old CEO has led Fazzini’s Coffee & Tea to exponential sales growth. His secret: an unorthodox business model based on giving away generous profit percentages.

A natural businessman

Fazzini grew up in a business family in Frostproof, Fla. “No one in my family had degrees, but everyone had their own business, especially in real estate and development,” says Fazzini, who showed early interest in business as state president of the Future Business Leaders of America, an organization that helps prepare high school students for careers in business.

After studying at the University of Central Florida and Valencia Community College (admittedly taking only “fun” classes) and dancing two years in the Festival of the Lion King theater show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Fazzini moved to Jacksonville, where he eventually became a coffee master and a learning coach at Starbucks. He studied Howard Schultz’ book, Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, as well as all of the company’s policy and procedure manuals.

“I admired [Starbucks founder] Schultz’ idea about bringing community into business and the notion of selling an experience,” Fazzini says. Coffee (and Schultz’ philosophies) got into his “blood” and never left—even after he joined Dixie Sales Company USA, Inc., a photographic film distributor. There his boss, Harry Shmunes (who is now Fazzini’s Coffee & Tea president and chief operating officer), recognized his passion and asked him to head up a coffee business, with backing from Dixie Sales. In 2007 Fazzini’s Coffee and Tea was born.

Sustainability matters

From the beginning, Fazzini and his team focused on selling wholesale beans and a tea line. “I also wanted my company to serve the highest quality coffee and revolve around community,” Fazzini says. Today, Fazzini’s Coffee & Tea offers 100% USDA Organic, kosher, halal, and Transfair-certified fair trade products. Cultivating an environmentally and socially responsible business was paramount to Fazzini. The company donates 10 cents for each product sold to the Trees for the Future Foundation (www.treesftf.org), which plants tree saplings in deforested rain forests. Fazzini’s Coffee & Tea has planted tens of thousands of saplings in Kenya, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

“Trees for the Future lets us choose the species of tree to plant,” he explains. “The type we prefer is called the moringa tree, which is extremely fast growing. Although it seems unbelievable, within nine months a sapling grows to be 20 feet tall. And almost every part of the moringa tree can be used for human and animal consumption—as well as for biofuels. Scientists claim this tree may solve the world hunger problem,” Fazzini says. “What is amazing is that planting trees in deforested areas has caused dormant species of plants to reactivate and grow. This replaces oxygen, improves the biodiversity in the region, and creates jobs.

“A lot of business owners think that they can’t afford to take up green initiatives, but purchasing coffee and tea from us allows them to play a pivotal role in planting trees,” Fazzini says. “We even recognize our customers for their sustainability efforts. When a customer’s sales reach the point of planting 400 trees, it gets naming rights to a new forest and we present a certificate from Trees for the Future.”

The role of nonprofits

In addition to being environmentally conscious, Fazzini is passionate about nonprofits. He serves on boards for the American Red Cross of St. John’s County, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach. He also has served as an Ambassador to the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, and chairs the board of directors for Oasis, the GLBT Center of Northeast Florida.

Fazzini leverages his relationships with nonprofits to align with their corporate partners. A corporate partner that uses Fazzini’s coffee service effectively increases its giving to the nonprofit because up to 50% of the profits from the coffee sold in its establishment go to the agency. In the Northeast Florida area, since July of 2009, all no profits that enter into a relationship with Fazzini’s are part of the HandsOn Jacksonville partnership. This relationship leverages charitable donations by Fazzini’s from 20% to 50%, depending on the nonprofit gifting structure under which the relationship falls.

Fazzini also offers nonprofits a customized Fazzini’s Coffee and Tea Web site. Just as with corporate sales, a generous portion of profits made through Web-site sales goes back to the organization. 

Judith A. M. Smith, D.M., president and CEO of HandsOn Jacksonville (www.handsonjacksonville.org), calls Fazzini’s business model “brilliant.”

“Brock’s company blurs the lines between the for-profit and nonprofit worlds,” Smith says. “His business model makes use of the access and relationships of nonprofits to move a business forward. There are a lot of good causes and good organizations that will benefit from this type of entrepreneurial philanthropy.”

Working with HandsOn Jacksonville helps Fazzini to familiarize as well as establish credibility with more than 100 worthy nonprofit organizations. Smith says that in 2009 Fazzini’s company contributed at least $20,000 to Jacksonville nonprofit organizations and in excess of $75,000 in-kind. Fazzini’s Coffee and Tea has earned residual and in most cases significant revenue for over 60 agencies. 

Fazzini says a total of 50% of the company’s  Northeast Florida sales profits go back to nonprofits—plus approximately 3% goes to reforestation projects. With nonprofits looking for revenue and companies looking for ways to give back, Fazzini’s model works.

Like many businesses, Fazzini’s Coffee and Tea has had its challenges, especially when its parent company was placed into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. “When Dixie Sales went under, Fazzini’s had to start over. All of our assets were Dixie’s, but we were so good at customer service no one knew. It was a depressing time, but in the end, it’s just another interesting part of who we are,” Fazzini says.

In the future, Fazzini plans to replicate the model used with HandsOn Jacksonville with other HandsOn Network affiliates located in target markets, such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, or Denver. “We want to start using this exact same model in other cities. We will grow due to our partnerships,” Fazzini says. “We’re adding values to a cup of coffee; we are doing well by doing good.”

Ashley Cisneros is a contributing editor to Jacksonville Small Business Advantage. She can be reached at ashleycisneros@gmail.com.

Fazzini’s business model: Unorthodox but successful

Fazzini credits the growth and success of his coffee business to an unorthodox business model: He gives away a large portion—53%—of his Northeast Florida sales’ profits. The model is based on three things:

• A partnership with local nonprofit organizations,

• A commitment to sustainability, and

• A desire to give back to the community.

Here is how it works:

Fazzini partners with HandsOn Jacksonville, an umbrella nonprofit organization that serves as a “matchmaker” between volunteers and projects benefiting its 95 members. HandsOn arranges for Fazzini to make semi-annual presentations to members to explain how his company can help them in their fund-raising efforts.

When an organization agrees to partner with Fazzini, an executive from the nonprofit arranges a meeting with a decision-maker at one of the nonprofit’s corporate benefactors. During that meeting Fazzini explains that by using his coffee and tea service, the company:

• Supports fair-traded, organically grown products;

• Provides Roasted to order coffees

• Helps reforest rain forests; and

• Gives between 20% and 50% of profits back to the agency, depending on its gift structure.

Fazzini says his model removes the need to advertise or cold call, but by partnering with nonprofits, he has achieved an approximately 95% success rate.

By Linda Segall   

By viewing the old we learn the new — Chinese Proverb

It has been said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Jacksonville Small Business Advantage talked with three retired small business people who reside at Taylor Residences, a community of adults age 62 or older, to discover if that adage is true. What they told us showed that although some things in the business world have changed (technology and workplace demographics, for example), others (such as credit problems and a need to work long hours) have not.

Louise Register, Connie DeLoach, and Ellis Touchton shared some “senior moments”—memories of their years running a small business— as a way to help a younger generation appreciate how business has changed as well as how to take a shortcut to success.

Our retirees

As co-owner with her husband (deceased) of Register Sod & Turf Co., a sod and landscaping company that was located, until recently, on Beach Boulevard, Louise Register, age 94, was active in the company for 47 years until she retired in 1985.

“My husband and I got into the business accidentally,” she said. “He didn’t like to work for other people, so he started landscaping and cleaning up yards for other people. We’d buy shrubbery and go down south to buy sod. People started coming over and asking to buy some of what we had, and pretty soon we were making enough to pay for our load. Then we began to get more landscaping material and developed a backyard nursery. We stayed in one location for 20 years. Sometimes we had upwards of 20 employees during the season.”

Connie DeLoach, 78, is a retired realtor whose business, First Class Properties, was located in Daytona. Like Louise, she “fell” into her business. She was a stay-at-home mother to her three children, but when the last of them went to school, she began working as a secretary in a property management office in Jacksonville. “I got my broker’s license, never thinking I would have the opportunity to use it.”

That changed when Connie moved to Daytona and began to work for a developer of Pelican Bay. “When the builder went under, the Pelican Bay advisory board asked me to stay as its property manager and agent.” For two years, she worked onsite. Then she opened her own office and ran it as a sole proprietor for a couple of years. As she grew the business, she hired agents and took in partners. She ran her company for 10 years before moving back to Jacksonville in 1992.

Although he was not a small business owner, Ellis Touchton was a vice president with Skinner Dairy Co., and worked for the company for 37 years. He achieved his executive position in a classic manner—by working up through the ranks. “I started off loading the trucks, about 3 o’clock in the morning. Next, they gave me the order processing for the next day. Finally, I was put in charge of a few routes, four or five of them. Jacksonville was growing tremendously fast back in those days, and we had to keep putting on more routes… I was asked to be a sales manager.

He explained how he became a vice president in the company: “The owners often flew around in a company airplane. They were fearful that if they had a wreck and were all killed there would be nobody to run the business. They made me vice president so there would be somebody to run the company.” Retiring from the dairy when he was 65 in 1981, he held that position with the company for 15 years.

Challenges

Advantage: What was your biggest challenge as you ran your business?

Connie: Computers! It took me three years to let go of paper. I just could not figure out how the computer worked; I didn’t trust it. I’m one of those people who have to know why something works. It was tough, but I finally got to where I really liked using computers, but it was the hardest thing.

Louise: Sometimes it was hard to make payroll and pay the bills. When the weather was bad, business was bad. We had to borrow money and work hard to pay it back. Sometimes we just broke even. We had one man [a banker] who was real good about loaning us money. We’d even mortgage our house. It was hard; sometimes we’d do without. If a payroll was hard to make, I would do without my salary so the men could have their money. But we managed and did all right. We even bought enough property to build our home and bought the property on Beach Blvd.

Ellis: One of my problems was that I was a little younger than some of the other people. As the promotions came, I had to go over older people, who didn’t like it. We had to make some “adjustments” [firings]. The boss called me in and said, “If so and so gives you any trouble, we’ll just pay him three months.”

Biggest surprise

Advantage: What was the biggest surprise you had as a small business owner?

Louise: It was hard to balance my time. I worked from daylight to dark at the nursery, then came home and worked. And when I was home with my five children, I was close enough they could get me if they needed me. I was sales lady, bookkeeper, everything. I even propagated the plants. It was hard to manage everything.

Connie: The hard work and long hours. I worked by myself for the first two years, from 9 to 9. I didn’t even have a secretary. My husband had been in sales. I never understood why he didn’t like to take phone calls at night, because I figured that was money calling. But after being in business with rental properties, I found the phone rings at all hours and you have to get up at all hours and do things I never thought I would have to do, especially when the maintenance man wasn’t there.

Ellis: I was surprised I had to get involved in the lives of the men I managed—personnel issues. A call might come in at 5 a.m. One time I got called and the person said, “You better get out here. We have a man with a gun waiting to kill one of your salesmen for dating his daughter.” The problem was that the salesman and the woman he was dating were both married. We had these surprises all the time. During my time, the ladies were invading the workplace, so there was more romancing going on all the time. The very ones you didn’t expect to have these problems were the ones who did. We even had to let people go and it fell on me to do that. I guess that was one of the worst things I remember.

Keeping up

Advantage: Times change. How did you manage to stay on top of trends?

Connie: Real estate became hard because of the regulations and paperwork. I took courses and got a GRI (Graduate Realtor Institute) in property management. Finally I hired an attorney to help me stay on top of everything.

Louise: Continuing to learn was important to our business. We had a state association, and we’d meet every so often to keep up to date. We also had one man who was really good at aerating and propagating and I’d learn a lot from him.

Ellis: You had to be willing to learn new things and do new things. When I drove a milk route, I was the first to switch to all paper cartons. Milk was delivered in glass bottles. It was a lot easier to deliver paper cartons; you didn’t have to bring back the bottles. I used to go up to Cincinnati with my boss where there was a meeting once a year. We’d find out what others were doing. For example, we found out one time they were putting milk in gallon jugs. We weren’t doing that here. So we came back to Jacksonville and starting using the gallon jugs; we were the first to do that in the city. We also put in the drive-through dairy stores. The stores took away from the route sales, but made it easier for consumers, so we sold more.

Motivating employees

Advantage: Each of you had employees. How did you engage them to do their best?

Louise: Our employees knew my husband would not fire them if they did a good job. One of the men worked for us for 40 years and retired when he was 65. My husband was good to employees. He’d go pick them up at their homes and bring them to work. He treated people with respect. They knew they could depend on him, so they would go out of their way to do right for him.

Connie: My employees were real estate associates and were on a commission schedule. When sales went up, their commissions grew. Money was a motivator.

Ellis: It wasn’t easy to engage people. We found older people worked better than young people. Employees made what they earned through commissions. We had meetings and incentives and sales contests. We sometimes brought in motivational speakers to get them to work harder and make more money. Money talked.

Insights

Advantage: What kind of advice would you give to small business owners today, based on what you have learned from your career?

Connie: Always be honest; don’t try to scheme. Find your passion and be happy in your job. It’s not worthwhile working at something you don’t like.

Louise: There is no free lunch. Go out and find the jobs. My husband had to do that when times were tough. We’d get in the car and drive around looking for where people were building houses. He’d talk to the builders about putting in landscaping and get jobs that way. 

Ellis: Don’t lie; what you did might get you into trouble at first, but if you lie, you’ll have more trouble. And be willing to start small. You can’t start out high on the totem pole.

Linda Segall, linda@advantagebizmag.com, is editor of Jacksonville Small Business Advantage. The three retired small business people reside at Taylor Residences, part of Taylor Foundation Services, www.taylor-residences.org.

SIDEBAR 1

What has changed?

When the three retirees were beginning their small business careers, a number of changes have occurred in business:

• Demographics. In 1950, approximately 33% of women over the age of 16 participated in the labor force. Today, that rate is approximately 60%. Among women ages 25 – 34, only about 50% worked in 1975, whereas 75% work today.

• Laws. The first civil rights laws did not go into effect until 1964.

• Technology. Manual typewriters were still used in offices, although the popularity of electric typewriters increased significantly when IBM began producing them in 1958. In 1961 IBM introduced the IBM Selectric typewriter, which permitted faster data input, since it replaced typebars with a “ball” of letters. Eventually 75% of all typewriters used in offices were Selectrics. The Apple I personal computer was first sold in 1976; IBM introduced its first PCs in 1981. Car phones grew in popularity in the 1970s, but were still considered a luxury.

SIDEBAR 2

What has stayed the same?

• Need for continuous learning. All of the retirees said they needed to “stay on top.” The need for continuous learning remains today.

• Credit problems. Small business owners in the past have had to find credit to make it over slow periods.

• Human needs. Workplace surveys indicate that the top employee need is to be treated with respect and dignity.

• Long hours. Hard work with little time off was the norm for our retirees, the same as it is today.

Area small business owners find satisfaction and success through philanthropy   

By Ashley Cisneros   

Local small business owners find that supporting philanthropy helps the success of their small businesses. In addition to receiving personal satisfaction from supporting their surrounding communities, business owners report benefitting from their affiliation with respected charities. They receive increased exposure to new segments of the market, forge deeper relationships with clients, and network with fellow entrepreneurs and corporate executives.

These benefits often result in new business leads and work referrals.

Giving doesn’t always mean conferring money. In tough economic times, many companies find it difficult to give monetarily to charitable and philanthropic initiatives. Tourea Robinson, president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Florida First Coast Chapter, says that most small business opt to demonstrate their support of philanthropy through in-kind donations and services. Robinson reports that corporate and small business giving has remained steady in Jacksonville in 2009.

“Business owners want to know that their contributions are being used in an effective way to improve the community,” she says. “They also appreciate the recognition they receive by giving, and look to have their name affiliated with a certain philanthropic program. They want to be good corporate citizens in the communities in which they operate.”

Instead of contributing financially, several Jacksonville area small businesses donated time and talent as a birthday gift  to Wolfson Children’s Hospital. The hospital, part of Baptist Health, will celebrate 55 years of providing premium pediatric care in 2010.

To commemorate the occasion, the hospital is hosting the One to Grow On Ultramarathon on January 30, 2010. Marathoners have each committed to run 55 miles in honor of Wolfson’s patients. Each mile will be dedicated to a child who has an amazing story at Wolfson.

Julia Handley, Wolfson director of development, calls the involvement of Michael LeGrand Photography, iDrive Marketing, and Hire Methods, Inc., “absolutely essential” to the development of the ultramarathon. The owners of these three small businesses say that their  involvement with the event was good for business.

Increased exposure

Michael LeGrand of Michael LeGrand Photography has built a business providing photography services to companies, educational institutions, hospitals, architecture firms, and more. Clients include The Home Depot, Baptist Health, and Visit Florida.

LeGrand, whose business mostly entails shooting business professionals and physicians, took photos of 55 children for the Wolfson event. The photos appear on the event website at Wolfson55.org and associated materials. (Editor’s note: Some of the photos illustrate this article.)

“My normal work is pretty serious for the most part, so this was a fun project for me,” LeGrand says. “I was especially excited because this is my first opportunity to do philanthropy work.”

LeGrand believes that business owners who get involved with philanthropy projects benefit from exposure, but more importantly from the good karma.

“It definitely gives us more exposure than we would otherwise get,” LeGrand says. “It helps us grow in that respect. Aside from that, doing good to others makes others do good things for you.”

LeGrand says that his involvement in the project allows him to contribute to his community. Businesswise, he says that he also benefits from new additions to his portfolio.

“Larger corporations have more opportunities and ways to give back either with manpower or money, whereas small businesses are limited by manpower and finances,” LeGrand says. “We give back by providing the services that we give to our regular clients to foundations and charities. I would definitely consider contributing to a philanthropic project again.”

LeGrand has donated five day-long photo shoots, plus photo editing services for each child. He says that he usually charges $1,200 for a day-long shoot.

“I photographed a set of four-month-old twins to toddlers who were barely standing to older children,” LeGrand says. “I did the photo shoots at the children’s rehabilitation center in one giant room filled with toys, maps, bikes and scooters. I wanted to make sure that each photo really represented the child.”

Networking opportunities and referrals

Alex Benavides founded iDrive Marketing almost two years ago to provide quality branding, marketing and advertising services to businesses without the large ad agency premiums.

Benavides become involved with the Wolfson marathon though his clients Clint Drawdy and Chad Perce of Hire Methods, Inc.

Benavides leveraged his full-service advertising agency to help coordinate the Wolfson project. He developed all of the marketing materials including the Web site, posters, fliers, and a Facebook.com event page. Business owners benefit from giving back to the community as long as certain conditions are met, Benavides says.

“You have to be doing this for a good purpose,” Benavides says. “You can’t get involved with charity work to make money; that’s not how this works. You have to really care about the cause, and be willing to follow through with what you promise. You have to be authentic. This truly reflects to the people who are involved with the project. When you care about the people, that’s when you get the true networking benefit.”

Due to his involvement with the Wolfson marathon, Benavides has already generated two leads. In addition to helping Wolfson, iDrive Marketing has also contributed Web site development services benefiting First Coast No More Homeless Pets (FCNMHP). Before launching iDrive Marketing, Benavides performed philanthropic work with another agency benefiting the Brunell Family Foundation, the North Florida School of Special Education, and the Sister to Sister Campaign, to name a few.

Most of Benavides’ contributions to philanthropic projects have been through service.

“I’ve contributed to projects by finding resources for charities and leveraging my relationships with other vendors such as printers,” Benavides says.

One of the biggest challenges for Benavides was finding a vendor to manufacture 55 three-foot glass birthday candles for the event. The Wolfson 55 committee is also planning a charity concert in the spring.

“If you would have asked me how to go about planning a concert six months ago, I wouldn’t have had a clue. Now I do,” Benavides says. “I’ve learned to stretch dollars and do amazing things with a modest budget for clients. The more avenues you have, the more creative you can be with your solutions.”

Benavides estimates donating 500 to 525 hours to the Wolfson project.

“You have to be genuine when giving, and it will come back to you,” he says. “The doctors at Wolfson can do amazing things to improve a child’s life. Parents don’t have to fly to a major metropolitan city; they can get quality care right here at home.”

Stronger client relationships

Business owners Clint Drawdy and Chad Perce make service of paramount importance in their business practices at Hire Methods, Inc., the parent company of Medical Methods and iMethods Technical Recruiting.

Drawdy and Perce have been affiliated with Baptist Health for years, and Perce serves as chair person of the Wolfson event.

“Service is a large part of the culture here at our company,” Perce says. “Wolfson speaks to us both professionally and personally because of the important work they do to impact children.”

Perce finds that good things happen to business owners who serve their communities.

“There is a fine line between genuinely and authentically being involved in the community and having selfish motives for gain,” he says. “Service is rewarding for the soul. Positive things happen to business owners when they give genuinely. These include forging deeper relationships with clients, gaining trust and credibility, and winning referrals through networking. This is about rallying around something bigger than yourself.”

Drawdy believes that even smaller businesses can have a tremendous impact on the community. He says that getting involved can boost a company’s morale and increase retention.

“When businesses get involved with philanthropy, they can give their vendors opportunities to give back to the community as well,” Drawdy says. “In addition, business owners also have the opportunity to meet with company executives and CEOs that would otherwise be difficult to meet.”

The owners say they haven’t spent a lot of time quantifying the services they’ve contributed to the Wolfson 55 event.

“In this economic environment, we did more in-kind services this year than we have any other year,” Drawdy says.”We love the fact that we give our time. If we weren’t involved in the Wolfson project, many of the people in our network would not be involved either.”

Drawdy has advice for business owners wanting to get involved in philanthropic activities.

“Speak to your personnel and find out what they want to rally behind,” he says. “Find a cause that your staff is passionate about. Once you get a handle on that, opportunities will come more naturally.”

Perce encourages businesses to not select a cause blindly.

“Picking a charity simply because they are a big name is not the way to go,” Perce says. “Slow down and ask questions. You will find plenty of opportunities to serve. Don’t think you’re too small. No one is too small to give. Challenge yourself to get involved. If you’re not involved, get involved.”

Ashley Cisneros is a contributing editor to Jacksonville Small Business Advantage. She can be reached at ashleycisneros@gmail.com.

SIDEBAR

Ultramarathon culminates Wolfson birthday celebration

An ultramarathon in which a select group of runners will complete 55 miles as part of the One to Grow On celebration in honor of Wolfson Children’s Hospital’s 55^th birthday will be Jan. 30. A mini-marathon of five miles—Run 5 to Keep Kids Alive—will also be held on the same day. Runners will complete the same five-mile loop as the ultra marathoners. The events are fund raisers for the hospital and culminate the birthday celebration.

More than 120 local companies are supporters of the One to Grow On celebration. Individuals and companies wishing to support the hospital can donate at www.wolfson55.org or call 904-202-2881.

By Ashley Cisneros    

People can’t stop talking about Three Layers, A Coffee House. The Springfield business was named the Best Coffee House of Jacksonville by Folio Weekly, gained coverage in Southern Living, and garnered a visit from Gov. Charlie Crist. Like many other entrepreneurs, partners Jeff Wright and Shawn McGuire have an interesting story.

The couple moved to Florida from Atlanta in 2007. McGuire was successful in the construction and real estate industries. Wright worked in health care, and made special-order cakes from his home kitchen for more than a decade.

For as long as Wright has been making cakes, people have told him that his cakes were the best they’ve ever had. Guests have called the hosts of parties where Wright’s cakes were served because they wanted to compliment Wright on his cakes. They even sent flowers. Friends and family urged Wright to start a business.

McGuire suggested that Wright name the would-be business. Months later, Wright announced that he would call it Three Layers, A Coffee House. The name represented the three layers he used in every cake he baked  and his belief that true inner peace embodies the mind, body and spirit—three layers.

Months after deciding on a name, the opportunity to launch Three Layers presented itself, but it was completely unexpected.

New Floridians

Wright and McGuire moved to Orlando after McGuire was recruited by a real estate firm in Central Florida. But they discovered the city wasn’t the right fit for them.

“We started to consider other areas of Florida, and we had a few requirements for our new home,” Wright says. “It had to be a place where Shawn could sell real estate, specifically historic homes. We’re urban dwellers, so it had to have an urban core. And it had to be near the water.”

After reviewing city information on the Internet, Wright and McGuire kept reading about the historic Springfield neighborhood of Jacksonville. After a visit to the active community, they were hooked.

Some locals tried to persuade them not to move to Springfield.

“People told us, ‘Oh, you don’t want to be there,’” Wright says. “The neighborhood was rundown and crime-infested about 10 years ago. But it’s nothing like that now.”

McGuire began searching for offices for his new real estate venture. He found a four-unit building at 1602 Walnut Street. Although he decided it wasn’t suitable for his real estate office, he wanted to show it to Wright because of the unique architecture.

When Wright walked in the 1925 building, tears filled his eyes, McGuire says.

“He turned and told me, ‘This is it. This is where Three Layers is supposed to be,’” McGuire recalls.

The building offered not only a place for a new business, but a place for the couple to live as well.

Their decision was a surprise to both of them. “I remember telling Jeff, ‘A coffee house? But, we’re looking for a place for the real estate business,’ Three Layers wasn’t on our radar at that point,” McGuire says.

But Three Layers was meant to be.

A financial plan

“Starting Three Layers was a new experience for us,” McGuire says. “I’d done construction, restoration, and real estate, but nothing like this before.”

Another entrepreneur gave McGuire a contact at the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA required McGuire to produce a business plan. He spent three days writing his first business plan using Business Plan Pro software. He used a how-to book about opening a coffee house, and demographic information from the Springfield Preservation & Revitalization (SPAR) Council.

The partners secured a loan from CenterBank of Jacksonville guaranteed by the SBA, and put down $60,000.

“We did an interest reserve deal. It included $175,000 to cover the cost of the building, $50,000 for build-out, $25,000 to cover our mortgage payments while we got started, plus $25,000 in equipment start-up costs,” McGuire says. “The interest rate was good, and it all happened pretty fast. If we would have pursued the same loan now that we did back then, the scenario would be very different.”

A budding business

Wright and McGuire worked tirelessly to build Three Layers, A Coffee House, in only a few months. A then-threatening recession presented challenges, but they believed in the vision for the coffee house.

“Shawn had his real estate business, and I was bringing in income from a part-time job at Memorial Hospital,” Wright says. “We lived in the same building of the coffee house, and we didn’t have a mortgage payment thanks to the great deal we received from the SBA. We knew we would have to put in long hours and hard work, but we figured if we can make it in this economic climate, we’d be OK.”

The owners say that their slogan, “Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly,” is not only a foundation for Three Layers, but a personal mantra they live by. Wright received it an e-mail several years ago, and it stuck with him.

The partners conducted guerilla market research by visiting coffee houses each time they traveled to a new city. They studied the corporate giants, networked with local roasters, and researched equipment.

“We asked a lot of questions to find out who was using what equipment, the advantages and disadvantages of using certain products, and what changes the owners would make if they could,” Wright says. “We checked out the prices other owners were charging, too.”

The menu was designed to showcase Wright’s treasured recipes from family and friends. The recipe for Italian Cream cake, Wright’s favorite, came from a friend’s family in Knoxville, Tenn. The cookie recipes originated from Wright’s mother, and his English Muffin Bread recipe came from his father. The partners drew non-compete and confidentially agreements to protect the recipes. Today, they’re also trademarking and copyrighting the best-selling “Jeff Squares.”

They also found great deals on equipment.

“Sometimes people just gave us things,” Wright says.

The marketing plan was simple. The partners printed fliers and spoke to everyone they met. As people visited the coffee house, word spread quickly, and soon the press began to call. A visit from a local television producer resulted in news coverage.

McGuire says that the first operational plan entailed him opening Three Layers in the morning, tending to the long lines, and closing at 11 a.m. Then, he’d work on his real estate business. Wright would leave his part-time job at 5 p.m. to open the coffee house by 5:30 p.m.

 “Well, there just weren’t long lines at the beginning,” McGuire says. “We had a very limited menu in the beginning consisting of cake, coffee and espresso.”

Soon customers were asking for lunch.

Expansion

Wright and McGuire decided to repurpose their guest bedroom to give Wright more room to prepare food. Out came the guest bed, and in went new commercial equipment.

After finding a four-bedroom house, only steps from the coffee house, Wright and McGuire moved out of the building. They turned their old bedroom into a special events room, and opened a wine bar called The Cellar.

They also hired a landscaper to transform their courtyard into a lush Zen Garden featuring reclaimed bricks, drought-tolerant bamboo, and underground water storage ponds. Now, the Zen Garden is reserved at least once a week for birthdays, receptions, book club meetings, and more.

The owners have also given back to the community through events such as the Springfield Autumn Music Festival that benefitted the American Cancer Society and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The buzz about Three Layers, A Coffee House, has translated to awards, press coverage, and even a visit from Gov. Charlie Crist.

The governor was in Jacksonville to sign a piece of legislation. When he told his local driver he wanted to go to Starbucks, the driver told him he should try Three Layers.

“Gov. Crist and his entire entourage came to the coffee house,” McGuire says. “We had a guitar player during lunch that day. Gov. Crist borrowed his guitar and played a Beatles song for us.”

Challenges and goals

Wright says it is still a challenge to get some native Jacksonvillians to visit Three Layers, A Coffee House, because of Springfield’s stigma from years ago.

“We actually had some part-time applicants call and cancel their interviews once they looked up the location of the coffee house, or when their family or friends heard that the business was in Springfield,” Wright says.

Positive press coverage and word-of-mouth have helped the owners combat the old reputation of Springfield.

McGuire says that one of the partners’ biggest goals is to implement processes to make the coffee house so systematic, that it can be run easily.

“This will free Jeff and me up to focus on other ventures,” McGuire says.

McGuire calls the success of Three Layers more of a statement than a cause for the neighborhood.

“We thought we’d offer a great place to hang out, but we soon became the flagship business for a neighborhood long forgotten. We proved that, yes, you can start a business in a once horrible neighborhood and succeed.”

Ashley Cisneros is a contributing editor to Jacksonville Advantage. She can be reached at ashleycisneros@gmail.com.

SIDEBAR

Three Layers, A Coffee House

1602 Walnut Street

Jacksonville, FL 32206

(Corner of E. 6th Street and Walnut)

904-355-9791

Hours of Operation

8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday

8 a.m. to 11 .m., Friday and Saturday

8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday

Closed Monday

www.threelayersacoffeehouse.com

threelayers@gmail.com

By P. Douglas Filaroski     

Considering all the places she’s been, it wouldn’t be surprising if Greta Carter should find herself in the right place.

The former Citibank executive traveled widely for 20 years, introducing new initiatives for the financial services giant. Now Carter is launching Brite Sky Solar at a time when government programs are making the renewable energy light bulb come on for many consumers.

“The interest in solar now is incredible,” Carter said. “We think northeast Florida is ready.”

Carter said she’s ready, too, as majority owner to achieve success with the Jacksonville-based company, having worked from 1984 to 2002 primarily starting up enterprises nationally and internationally for Citibank.

Her last assignment in Jacksonville, launching a PayPal-like online payment system for the financial services giant, ended with her retirement in 2002 to pursue her own entrepreneurial interests. 

She became a licensed realtor and opened 1 Zero C Realty, a full-service real estate firm in Jacksonville. Later, she created GretanJim Inc., to manage rental properties she and her husband Jim own. She also helps run Jim Carter Construction Inc.

She launched Brite Sky Solar in April to sell and install solar panels and other green energy systems in homes and businesses, just as relatively new state rebates and a recently expanded federal tax credit began to light up the market.

Three months later, in July, city-owned electric utility JEA announced it had revamped its program to supplement and buy solar power from its customers, thus improving and expanding a residential program that now includes small businesses.

JEA’s Net Metering program hooks customers using solar to the electric grid and installs a second meter that measures solar-generated electricity a customer sends back to JEA when there is excess or a customer is not using it. The customer receives a credit it can use to lower its JEA bill.

For companies like Brite Sky, these new or expanded government programs have the potential to spark business. “I see the market [for solar power] expanding,” said Jay Worley, JEA’s director of environmental programs.

Worley, who oversees the net metering program, said it’s only a matter of time before word spreads. “It’s really an educational process,” he commented.

In addition to selling and installing photovoltaic solar panels and tankless water heaters, Carter’s Brite Sky Solar company intends to operate a Solar Academy that will be open to the public to educate those interested in learning about solar power, its costs, and its benefits.

In its short life, Brite Sky has already landed contracts and installed solar systems on a handful of homes and businesses. Since April, more than 40 customers have asked for estimates, Carter said.

She said the company expects to exceed its sales projections of $1 million this year. It recently added 10 sales affiliates and expects to reach 20 sales affiliates by 2010.

Optimism about the market is not only due to a relatively new state tax rebate of $20,000 or an expanded federal tax credit of 30% over five years. A 40% drop in cost of solar panels themselves, due to improvements in technology and growth in the market, has fueled market expansion.

With these changes, the math now made sense for Ronan O’Donohoe, who is installing a 5 kilowatt solar system atop the 4,200-square-foot home at St. Johns Golf and Country Club he shares with his wife and three children.

“To me, it’s all about the dollars and cents,” O’Donohoe said. “I’m glad I get a good feeling about helping the environment, but I wouldn’t do it if it didn’t make sense economically.”

Recent drops in the price of solar panels figure to decrease the average time in the United States it takes for them to pay for themselves through savings on electric bills. The average payback time nationally is expected to go from 22 years to 16 years, Glenn Harris of solar consulting firm SunCentric said in a recent New York Times article.

Florida’s $20,000 rebate program, in place since 2006, and the removal this year of a $2,000 cap on the federal tax credit program dramatically alter that equation for area customers such as O’Donohoe.

O’Donohoe said the state rebate and federal tax credits will eventually reduce his $40,000 capital expense in the solar system to $8,000, meaning the system will have paid for itself in energy savings in his home in about five years.

While an exact payback time would depend on a customer’s monthly energy use, there is wider agreement that more factors are working these days to make renewable energy systems make sense for more customers

In California, despite an economy as sluggish as Florida’s, residential installations in July increased by more than 50%.

Although California is much further ahead on the education curve than Florida, Brite Sky officials think the Sunshine State will catch up.

“If you turn on the news, all you hear is healthcare and renewable energy,” said Duke Sochalski who invested in Brite Sky as a partner after working as an executive superintendent with Jim Carter Construction.

“I think all Americans want to be green. It costs a little bit more up front, but in the long run it saves,” he said.

The spiraling residential and commercial real estate markets forced Carter and her partners to get creative in their business dealings. “It prompted us to reinvent ourselves,” Carter said.

They conducted research on possible enterprises related to real estate. They studied markets in four states, briefly considered wind power, but finally settled on solar power.

“You go to California and you see solar everywhere,” Carter said. “You come to Jacksonville—the Sunshine State— and you can’t understand why it’s not [everywhere].”

Carter capitalized the business through partnerships and recently signed on a fourth partner. The company soon will be announcing details of an expansion into Nevada.

The time seems to be right. Politically, renewable energy seems to have support from both sides of the aisle. The left feels it is the right thing to pursue environmentally and the right thinks it has the potential to provide jobs, she said.

Although it’s early, Carter said she is projecting excellent growth in Brite Sky’s revenue in 2010.

“When people start seeing all the solar panels going up in this state, it’s going to become the state’s new symbol,” she said. “I’ve never felt so right about anything in my life.”

SIDEBAR 1

Brite Sky Solar

Principal: Greta Carter

Headquarters: 8613 Old Kings Road South, Bldg. 500, Jacksonville, Fla.

Founded: April 2009

About Brite Sky Solar: The solar technology and installation firm specializes in photovoltaic panels and tankless water heaters for commercial and residential properties. CEO Greta Carter is a former Citibank vice president who spent nearly 20 years launching new products and programs for the company.

SIDEBAR 2

The birth of Brite Sky

Greta Carter and her husband’s livelihood and lifestyle revolved around real estate and construction. Then, the housing bubble burst. “We thought about what to do,” said Carter. “Where was the money? At some point in thinking out loud, Duke [Sochalski] said, ‘How about putting little windmills in backyards for wind power?’ We all laughed, but his remark led us to think about the solar industry. And here we are!”

SIDEBAR 3

Getting the word out

One of the most daunting tasks facing a new business is getting the word out to potential customers. Realizing that solar electric generation is new to northeast Florida, Carter decided her initial marketing efforts would focus largely on educating the public.

“We currently attend a lot of the trade shows,” she said. “They give us an opportunity to talk to people on their time. We also get a fair number of folks who visit our office looking for information, and we are opening up the Solar Academy, which will give folks another avenue to learn without feeling any pressure for a sale.”

In addition to education efforts, the company has invested in advertising, marketing, and Web development. Hiring a public relations specialist has also helped give the company additional media exposure—something that helps in the education process, said Carter. In the future, the company will engage an advertising and media company to help implement a comprehensive 12-month marketing strategy.

SIDEBAR 4

Solar by the numbers

Solar energy is a cost-effective investment that also adds resale value to a building or home. Here are examples that demonstrate the savings:

Commercial solar panel system: Assume the business spends $200,000 for a 25 kilowatt system. Florida currently has an energy rebate program, which will rebate up to $100,000 to a business that installs solar panels. Additionally, the federal government has a 30% tax credit for energy investment. The 30% tax credit on a $200,000 solar panel system would come to $60,000. Once the rebate is received and the tax credit is calculated on the business’ 2009 tax return, its net cost for the $200,000 commercial solar panel system comes to only $40,000.

A system of this size should be able to save and or earn the business approximately $700 a month in utility expenses and give a return-on-investment in approximately 4.7 years. 

Residential system: Assume a home owner installs a 5 kilowatt solar panel system for a gross cost of $40,000. The state will rebate up to $20,000. The federal tax credit is 30% of the cost ($12,000). After receiving the rebate and applying the tax credit to 2009 taxes, the net investment for a homeowner is $8,000.

A 5 kilowatt system should be able to save a homeowner approximately $140 a month in utility costs and give a full return-on-investment in approximately 4.7 years.  

SIDEBAR 5

How solar panels work

On a bright, sunny day, the sun shines about 1,000 watts of energy per square meter. If we could collect all that energy, most homeowners or businesses could power their buildings for free with the use of solar panels. Here’s how:

The most common type of solar panels contains photovoltaic, or PV, cells. They convert sunlight directly into energy. Photovoltaic cells are made of semiconductor materials, such as silicon, which absorb light, and hence energy. This energy knocks electrons loose and allows the electrons to flow freely.

PV cells use electric fields to force these electrons to flow in a certain direction, creating a current. By placing metal contacts at the top and bottom of PV cells, that current can be drawn off to use externally.

Not every home or building is ideal for solar panels. Non-tracking PV systems in the northern hemisphere need to point south and be inclined at an angle equal to the area’s latitude. They should never be shaded by trees or buildings. If just one of 36 cells is shaded, power production will be reduced by 50%.

Because PV systems do not produce energy when the sun is not shining, owners should store energy in batteries or to connect to an electric grid to receive electricity at night or on overcast days.

Jacksonville-based JEA offers a net metering program that provides electricity when solar power does not. Better yet, the program buys excess solar power from the customer and deducts the credit from the customers electric bill.

Source: HowStuffWorks.com

SIDEBAR 6

Net metering for energy savings

Net metering is for customers who choose to add renewable generation, such as solar power, to their businesses or homes. Customers offset the electricity they would have purchased from a utility, such as Jacksonville-based JEA.

Customer-owned renewable generation up to 100 kilowatts is allowed under JEA’s net metering policy and saves customers the cost of expensive batteries. Generation exceeding that amount requires a specific purchase power agreement with JEA.

Here’s how it works:

• Customers are charged for the metered electricity received from JEA each month.

• Customers are credited for the metered kilowatts they send to JEA each month from their own renewable generation systems.

• They accrue credit balances month to month through the end of calendar year. Like some cell-phone plans, they can roll over credits.

• At the end of the calendar year, JEA pays out any credit balance due to the customer. Customers can track credit balances onto their monthly billing statement.

• Net metering programs vary from utility to utility.

JEA customers interested in net metering must install solar systems within the guidelines of JEA’s engineering standard DPE-902. This standard requires equipment to protect JEA personnel working on circuits where solar systems may be grid-tied.

To apply, JEA requires customers to read, review, and sign several documents: Net Metering Policy 2009, JEA PV Application Form 2009, JEA Net Metering Standardized Interconnection Agreement 2009, W-9 Request for Taxpayer ID# and Cert. 2009

Jay Worley
JEA
Director, Environmental Programs, can provide additional information. He can be contacted at 904-665-8729 or worlja@jea.com.

By Robyn A. Friedman      

Chris Hanks has served in the U.S. Navy. He was a construction manager on commercial projects. He’s currently fleet manager for Auto Carrier Express (ACE), a Jacksonville-based auto transport firm.

And now, Hanks is something he never thought he would be—an inventor.

Last October, Randall Long, the father of twin 8-year-old girls and a driver for ACE, fell while loading vehicles onto a car carrier. The fall turned tragic. Long hit his head, and within two days, he was dead. Hanks and his dad, Gilbert Hanks, who founded the company, were left wondering what they could do to prevent future injuries, which Hanks says are not uncommon in the auto transport industry.

“Every company out there that hauls cars has had somebody fall from the head rack [the part of the track that is above the truck’s cab],” Hanks said. “We found it hard to believe there was nothing out there that could protect the driver, so we started thinking about it and brainstorming.”

Hanks tinkered with ideas. He was stymied because there is little room on the head rack to install any sort of safety device without interfering with its function.

But Hanks persisted and realized that he could harness a three-inch gap on the head rack. He ultimately came up with an idea for a product he felt would make loading and unloading vehicles safer. The result: The Surefooting Safety Platform, which provides protection from falls for truck drivers who have to load and unload cars from the tops of car carriers.

After considering various alternatives, Hanks conceived the idea for the platform one weekend and sketched it out for his dad. “You could see the lightbulb go off in his head as well,” Hanks recalled. “He said, ‘We’ve got to get a patent on this right now. We need to protect ourselves.’”

Features of the Surefooting Safety Platform, which has a 300 pound capacity, include:

• Hydraulic activation, which makes deployment and storage easy for the operator;

• Bypass prevention, to help ensure the operator will use the system by limiting access to stowed vehicles when the platform has not been deployed;

• Safety cables, so the operator has a good gripping surface; and

• Door safety zones, which provide ample room to open vehicle doors without damage.

Within 24 hours, Hanks—who is not an engineer but says he’s “just a handyman”—built a prototype—a 1/18th scale model—in the company shop. A few weeks later, he had a working model on one of his trucks.

Chris and Gilbert Hanks also visited a patent attorney, Jo-Anne Yau, with Wood, Atter & Wolf in Jacksonville. She guided them through the steps they would need to take to apply for utility and design patents for the platform. The patent applications have since been filed, and Chris said it will take between 18 and 24 months before the patents are approved. Application and legal fees cost approximately $10,000, he said.

The invention has been well-received in the industry. Dave Campbell, who has been involved in the auto transport industry for 20 years and writes an industry blog from his home in Wewoka, Okla., said it’s easy to fall when loading or unloading a vehicle, especially at night, when many deliveries occur. He was impressed with the platform. “This will make it better for drivers,” he said. “And that will make it better for our whole industry. I can’t believe somebody didn’t do this sooner.”

Campbell said if the platform ultimately proves to lower workers’ compensation claims, then the insurance industry might encourage companies to install it, and that will help fuel sales.

Barriers remain

But despite an apparent need for the platform and indicators of demand, Hanks faces several barriers to bringing the product to market.

The first: The current state of the economy. “We couldn’t have picked a worse time,” he said. “This is something everyone needs but something no one can afford now.”

Another barrier is the size of Hanks’ company. ACE is a small business—just 30 employees. To build more platforms, Hanks said he needs not only additional employees but also a new building. “We don’t by any means have the ability to mass produce these,” Hanks said. And even if he licenses or sells the patent to another company—and he’s considering doing so—research and development budgets have been slashed, and it will take deep pockets to bring the invention to market.

The platforms are constructed from thin-walled steel, expanded metal, and hydraulic cylinders. Hanks said pricing has not yet been finalized, but he estimates that each unit should sell for “somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,500 to $6,500.”

Despite the challenges, opportunities exist for the invention. Philip Kopman, an ACE co-owner who is handling marketing for the product, said there are about 20,000 car carriers currently on the road, and that the trailers have a 10-year lifespan. “About 2,000 a year are being replaced,” he said. “And we hope to capture—eventually—75% of that.”

Kopman said the firm is considering selling the patents or entering into a distributorship with a larger company that can better produce the product, such as Cottrell Inc., a manufacturer of car hauling equipment. “This is not our expertise,” he said. “It was a great idea, but Cottrell has the engineering expertise in-house and the large-scale manufacturing facility, as well as the connections and market capitalization to do this.”

Chris Hanks agrees. “It’s a challenge for us to find the time and ambition to develop a second business right now,” he said. “There’s a learning curve.”

Still, Hanks would advise other would-be inventors to have confidence in their product and follow their dreams. “If you have an idea, move forward with it,” he said. “Be persistent.”

Chris and Gilbert Hands and Philip Kopman can be reached through Sure Footing Safety (www.surefootingsafety.com) or Auto Carrier Express (www.acecarrier.com), 904.358.3830. Attorney Jo-Anne Yau works in the law offices of Wood, Atter & Wolf, PA (www.woodatter.com).

Robyn A. Friedman is a contributing editor with Jacksonville Advantage. She can be contacted at RAFWriter@att.net.

SIDEBAR

6 steps for getting an idea to product stage

If the light bulb is glowing above your head, and you’re bursting with joy because you just came up with an idea for the next great [whatever], before you start calling your friends to celebrate the good news, stop. Your idea needs to be protected. What to do?

Jacksonville patent attorney Jo-Anne Yau advises her clients to take the following steps:

1. Document it. Yau has her clients create an “inventor’s diary” to describe how the product works, what the design looks like, and how it will be built. She said documenting the steps it takes to invent a product helps to show the thought process involved and creates a paper trail. That might make it easier to prove that you are in fact the inventor if anyone ever presents a challenge.

2. Research. Conduct a patent search to confirm the originality of your idea. The place to do this is the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), http://patft.uspto.gov/.

3. Build a prototype. After the prototype is completed, Yau asks clients for sketches, photographs, and even video. Those are provided to a draftsperson who prepares CAD drawings for submission to the USPTO.

4. File the patent application. There are two main patents to choose from: a utility patent (for a new and useful process or machine) or a design patent (for an original and ornamental design for a manufactured article).

5. Be prepared to wait. Yau said it can take several years before a patent is approved.

6. Market the product. After you have applied for the patent, you can use the term “patent pending,” Yau explained. Only after this point does she advise clients to begin looking for a manufacturer to mass produce the product or to engage in negotiations to license the idea or sell the patent. 

Video

To watch a video demonstration of the Surefooting Safety Platform, click here.

By Ashley Cisneros

Following the Golden Rule is usually deemed as a nice principle for living one’s life, but can a company use the rule to become more profitable?

Dwight Cooper, CEO of PPR Healthcare Staffing, would probably tell you “yes.” Cooper says that building a positive corporate culture can yield a significant return on investment. The corporate culture at PPR in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., has developed from a foundation based on the Golden Rule in the company’s early years, to a robust structure of systems and processes today.

Business texts and human resources consultants offer several definitions of corporate culture, but most agree that corporate culture encompasses the values of a company and guide its business practices. Some references cite corporate culture as the character of an organization, reflected from the vision of the founders.

Dwight Cooper

Whatever the definition, PPR has been doing something right. The Society for Human Resource management (SHRM), the largest of all HR organizations with more than 250,000 members, has named PPR one of the “Best Small and Medium Companies to Work for in America” for five consecutive years. Only three other companies share this distinction. SHRM’s “best company” designation is derived from independent, confidential employee surveys. Using these surveys, employees offer honest feedback on their workplace experiences.

“We’ve been in business for more than 13 years, during which time we have outgrown our market in multiples of 10,” Cooper says. “Today our market has become commoditized, and we have literally hundreds of competitors. But our ideology has allowed us to outgrow everyone. It speaks to our vision and the execution of our most important mission—to create a great place to work.”

People often assume that PPR has great benefits, compensation, and flexible scheduling. But what really makes it a great place to work is something else. “We do fun stuff, but what we really focus on is building trusting relationships,” Cooper says. “You nurture these relationships by being a great communicator and by implementing processes and systems that ensure transparency companywide.”

Culture not an accident

PPR’s success wasn’t an accident. Cooper has been intentional and strategic about the development of PPR’s corporate culture. “We manage it every month, every week, and every day,” he says. “This has allowed us to attract better people who work better in teams. Because of this diligence, we win.”

PPR employees speak with one another every day, and every employee has complete clarity about their role within the company, Cooper says. “PPR’s corporate culture is one in which efficient two-way communication allows us to be dynamic and nimble,” he says. “This communication helps us perform better and make better decisions.”

Every work week begins with a 20-minute standing meeting held Mondays at 8:31 a.m. Employees receive and share information about metrics, financials, strategies, and tactics. The meeting also presents an opportunity for peer recognition and presentations from local organizations.

Cooper believes that it is difficult to have too much communication if done right.

“Our 8:31 a.m. meetings are attended by about 70 employees. Ten of the 70 may not care are financial statements, and five may already know every detail of those statements. The remaining 55 fall everywhere in between,” he says. “In theory, we may be wasting the time of 10 people, but without the meeting process in place, we don’t have the opportunity to talk to the rest who actually may be interested. The face-to-face time is essential to business performance.”

Cooper says that PPR has a lot of meetings, but they are short, often stand-up meetings, and their purpose is to provide incremental clarity.

“These short meetings save us from junky stuff down the road. Without the short meeting, we risk going in different ways,” he says. “I’m a big fan of lots of meetings, making sure they are done in a very efficient and smart way.”

Culture one person at a time

Since PPR is a staffing company, it really has two sets of employees— the company employees, plus the healthcare professionals who are placed with PPR’s clients.

“In our home office in Jacksonville Beach, we’re able to see each other every day. But we also have 300-500 healthcare professionals in 42 states at any given time,” Cooper says. “We try very hard to incorporate our healthcare professionals into the systems we use to create a great corporate culture. This means being great communicators, touching them on regular basis, and being very transparent.”

Cooper says he has hired 80 people in the last six years without ever running an advertisement.

“If we send information to our 70 employees who then turn around and email it to 15 contacts, we’re able to attract the right kind of people simply through referrals,” he says.

Cooper says that the most important thing in PPR’s selection process is determining if a job candidate has the right values to fit into the company’s corporate culture.

“Through our screening process we look at a candidate’s experiences to find out whether they are passionate about their work and whether they are good team players,” he explains.

Those applicants who make it through this screening process enjoy unique benefits, such as eight hours a year to volunteer in the community. In addition, PPR subsidizes fitness programs to support employees who wish to work toward health goals.

“Three years ago, it was about recruiting folks who may have already had jobs. Now, this has obviously changed,” Cooper says. “I’ve had people tell me it has been their dream to work for PPR.”

Cooper says managers must genuinely care about employees in order to be successful. “Everyone has different emotional intelligence. Some people may argue that I care too much,” he says. “Some companies may not view building a positive corporate culture as a priority. To me, it’s very important.”

Great culture yields success

The value of PPR’s corporate culture has manifested itself through positive financial returns and national recognition.

“We attract very talented people who are awesome teammates,” Cooper explains. “If my best people are better than my competitor’s, and if these people work together in an efficient and powerful way, then we win. We benefit financially and intrinsically.”

He describes the Best Companies to Work for in America honors as validating. “I already knew that corporate culture led to better results, but having employees confirm this through confidential surveys is a testament to the power of great work experiences.”

The awards have led to a new core competency at PPR. Cooper has been asked to offer seminars about the principles of corporate culture. “This has provided us with a unique opportunity to be thought partners with our clients,” Cooper says.

Advice for CEOs and executives

Building positive corporate culture takes time, Cooper says. “Implementing corporate culture processes and systems wasn’t always readily accepted by management,” he says. “But once they saw the positive results, any resistance diminished.”

Great corporate culture will not protect a company from the realities of the current market conditions.“No business is immune to the effects of our economy,” Cooper says. “At a time when employees are fearful about job security, it has never been more important to be transparent.”

Cooper encourages CEO’s to avoid catching employees by surprise. “Share the good, bad and the ugly. At the same time, always lay out path to good circumstances. This communication is vital for keeping people motivated,” he says. “If we have to lay off employees, we treat them with respect. We show them that we care. We do the most we can in terms of severance and providing support in helping them find other employment.”

Dwight Cooper, CEO of PPR Healthcare Staffing (www.pprhealthcare.com) can be contacted at 904-241-9231.

Ashley Cisneros is a Jacksonville Advantage contributing editor. She can be reached at ashleycisneros@gmail.com.

SIDEBAR

How you can create a great corporate culture

Think of your corporate culture as your corporate identity, suggests Richard Hadden, a Jacksonville-based workplace expert and partner in Contented Cows Partners, www.contendedcows.com. He explains that corporate culture—that is, corporate identity—is driven by the assumptions a business’ leader has about people. “Assumptions leaders have about their employees drive their behavior, and that behavior drives the culture,” he says.

Hadden suggests four steps to build a strong corporate culture:

1. Identify your assumptions about people. How do you view them? Are they assets or liabilities? “Organizations that see people as assets to be capitalized seem to get more from those people than those that view employees as expenses to be minimized,” Hadden observes.

He notes that if you realize your assumptions are less than optimal, you can change them and subsequently change the culture of your company.

2. Create a sense of mission in your organization. Once you clarify your assumptions about your employees, it’s time to provide a mission. “Mission is not to be confused with a mission statement,” he says. “We see mission statements manifested in plaques and logos, yet they do a lot to create a sense of mission. A mission answers the question, “What are we all about?”

To find out if everyone in your business is working with the same sense of mission, he suggests asking 10 employees to list the three top priorities of your company. “If you get 30 different priorities, you probably have a culture that is not highly defined,” he explains. “People may be working very hard in a lot of different ways, but nothing comes to a critical mass.” But if you get no more than five or six priorities, then you know people are focused on the same mission.

3. Go for it! Whatever culture you decide to develop, go for it all the way, he urges. Strong cultures are felt throughout the company, from top to bottom. He cites Chick-Fil-A as an example of a company with a strong culture. “Whether you work in one of their stores or at their corporate office, you see assumptions borne out in behaviors, and the behaviors are consistent.”

In cultures with weak or diluted cultures, behaviors are inconsistent, and it difficult to know the organization’s identify.

4. Hire people who fit the culture. “This does not get in the way of diversity,” he explains. “Organizational culture transcends all of the diversity elements, such as race, gender, age, background, and education.” Hire people who are comfortable with your culture. “

The real test is, ‘Does this applicant have the potential to be happy, productive, and successful in our culture? If yes, then there is the potential to perform well. If no, it is not a good fit. The person will constantly struggle against the organizational culture, spending a lot of time trying to fit in and not putting as much into performing,” says Hadden.

Richard Hadden can be contacted at Contented Cows Partners, 904-720-0870.

By Ashley Cisneros Michael Johnigean describes himself as a self-made man. The Jacksonville native and owner of HealthyWay Café has enjoyed incredible success since launching the organic restaurant in St. Johns Town Center in November 2006.

“I’ve always loved to create things,” Johnigean says. “Nothing gets me going than creating something out of nothing.”

A natural businessman

Johnigean was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug while he was still in high school.

“I bought boats during the summers, fixed them up, and sold them for profit. My dad had me work at a car dealership every winter for four years. It was a good training ground for learning to be a businessman because I learned about human nature, persistence, and how to make a sale,” he says.

At 20, Johnigean purchased his first piece of property — a duplex. He fixed it up and sold it. Next, he purchased three fixer-uppers. He paid about $10,000 for one, invested about $7,500 in it, and sold it for $35,000. Soon, Johnigean founded MJ Investments and enjoyed a 15-year career in residential real estate.

Like many entrepreneurs, Johnigean started several other companies, including River City Realty, Southern Home Lending, Fortress Title, and Kingsley Beach RV Park. In addition, he created InvestorClub.com, an innovative online real estate investment club, and USell.com. Johnigean‘s experience in residential real estate paved the way for his interest in commercial real estate. Soon, he started developing waterfront commercial properties throughout the Jacksonville area and founded Empire Development Group.

It was his experience as a developer that put Johnigean on a path toward HealthyWay Café.

“As a developer, I traveled a lot and had to prepare my meals ahead of time in order to have things to eat throughout the day,” he says. “There were only fast food choices and not too many nutritious options. Even the salads available at fast food restaurants were packed with preservatives.”

Johnigean saw the shift in the real estate market as an opportunity to pursue his true passions — health and fitness. HealthyWay Café was born in 2006 as the first all-natural and organic, fast-casual restaurant franchise.

Cooking up success

One of the most essential steps in building HealthyWay Café was creating the menu.

“It was important to me to include items that people were already familiar with. People know what sandwiches, salads, and wraps are,” Johnigean says. “One of my best-selling items is the Meal Pack. We take a box and pack it with delicious steamed brown rice, meat, or beans and veggies. It’s tasty and nutritional.”

You won’t find any soft drinks in HealthyWay Café. Instead, the restaurant’s juice bar features sparkling teas, juices, bottled water, flavored organic water, and original smoothies.

“It took me a year and a half to formulate HealthyWay Supplements,” Johnigean says. “I sat down with a chemist with the objective to make the healthiest, best-tasting supplements. Now we can’t keep them on our shelves. Having our own supplement gives us an edge over our competitors because they don’t carry our supplement line.”

Other customer favorites include HealthyWay Café’s oil-free chicken quesadillas, which are prepared in the oven, and organic banana splits.

“The banana splits are about 369 calories,” Johnigean says. “We sell about 20 of those per day.”

He also invested in a reverse osmosis system for HealthyWay Café. “The water we use to wash our veggies and cook with is completely free from chemicals,” Johnigean says. “We’re completely green. All of our paper products are from recycled, biodegradable material.”

Healthy growth

Despite launching HealthyWay Café in a troubled economy, Johnigean has experienced significant growth. In addition to the first location on Midtown Parkway, he has two franchise restaurants in Jacksonville.

“No matter what economy you’re in, there’s no replacement for quality. We have great products and excellent services. Our customers see the difference in the way we do business,” Johnigean says. “They acquire a taste for us, and they’re hooked. I don’t think that people mind paying for quality; they just need to know that they’re getting their money’s worth.”

Since starting to offer franchising last year, Johnigean has received at least 200 applications from prospective entrepreneurs. He plans to open 20 corporate locations across the country within the next three years, which will serve as training stores for new franchisees. The stores will be located in South Florida, California, Arizona, New York, Texas, and Colorado, to name a few.

“We wanted to target high-end cities with health-conscious populations,” he said. “I’ve already invested $2 million into the HealthyWay Café concept, including branding, formulas, Web presences, and more. Franchisees have a winning formula to replicate. The hard part is over. The interest in franchising has been tremendous.”

Expansion has also meant savings for Johnigean.

“Since we’re growing, we have better buying power,” he says. “We’re actually preparing to do a price cut on our products to benefit our customers and their families. While the price will be lower, the quality will stay superior.”

Children are very important to Johnigean and his mission. Besides offering free meals for kids when their parents purchase entrees, Johnigean has decided to venture into schools.

He has signed a contract to serve HealthyWay Café cuisine at Bolles School. Agreements for Providence School of Jacksonville and the Abess boulevard location of The Cambridge Prep School are also in the works.

One of his goals in providing food to the school is to study the effect healthy eating has on children. He plans to evaluate 100 students by measuring their weight and assessing their knowledge of nutrition. At the end of the year, he plans to reevaluate the same students and study any differences in their weight, knowledge, or even grades. He hopes to find that improvement in a child’s diet can translate to improvement in their health and academic performance.

“For us, it’s more than simply providing healthy menu items; we want to educate consumers about nutrition and ultimately make a difference. It’s about empowerment,” Johnigean says. “People acquire tastes and many habits when they’re children; we have to start nutrition education and smart eating habits with kids while they’re young.”

Johnigean has raised his children to eat vegetables, fruits, and fish. He says that they have acquired a taste for healthy food and don’t care for fatty or fried foods.

“My family inspires me. I want to leave this legacy for them — something that truly made a difference,” he says.

Leveraging technology

Johnigean cites the Internet as one the most powerful tools to create buzz.

“A big key for us was e-marketing. We developed a social network, online videos, and Web sites to get the word out about the restaurant,” Johnigean says. “You can’t beat the price point for marketing on the Web.”

In addition to the restaurant’s main Web site at HealthyWayCafe.com, Johnigean developed HealthyWay.net to showcase his supplement offerings and HealthyWayClub.com, an online community.

“I have always been into health and fitness,” Johnigean says. “I always wished there was a place where I could get healthy, high-quality food conveniently, and at a reasonable price. The HealthyWay Café brand fills that need and more.”

“Food is fuel. You need good food to keep your body running in tip-top shape,” Johnigean says. “Food is essential to your performance.”

The Customer is still always right

Customer service is paramount to HealthyWay Café’s business model. When asked about his secret to success, Johnigean always cites superior customer service.

“I want my customers to feel like they’re family,” Johnigean says. “Every food product must be perfect — from the vegetables to the presentation. Word of mouth referrals are huge. People talk about what they love and what they hate. We want every customer’s experience to be perfect. Happy customers can be ambassadors for your business.”

Johnigean has received a lot of positive feedback about his organic venture. One businessperson told Johnigean he made it a point to visit HealthyWay Café when he flew into Jacksonville for work. Another customer came in to grab dinner for his sick wife. The woman told her husband that food from HealthyWay Café would be the only thing to make her feel better.

“It makes me feel good,” Johnigean says. “And it’s motivation to continue to innovate and reach for new goals.”

Even Johnigean’s employees are benefiting from HealthyWay Cafe. All of them have lost weight since working for Johnigean and have increased their nutrition savvy.

“If that’s not a testimonial, I don’t know what is,” Johnigean says.

Johnigean can be reached at Michael@healthyway.com or 904-735-7515.

SIDEBAR

A cyber road to healthy living

HealthyWay Café is more than a restaurant; it is a cyber road to healthy living. Johnigean is harnessing the power of the Internet to market his brand and provide additional services to his customers through HealthyWayClub.com and HealthWay.net.

Johnigean’s HealthyWayClub.com is a social network that allows like-minded users to support one another in staying fit and eating smart. Site members can use a nutrition counter to plan meals and keep track of calories, plus rate photos, read blogs and join interest groups.

“Users will be able to post classified ads, create events and invite friends to join Healthy Way Club.com,” Johnigean says.

The Web site boasts key features that have become standards across popular social networking sites including a calendar, user profile, capabilities, a forum, and polls. The Web site is up, but it is still developing and should be completely operational within a short time.

The HealthyWayClub.com site will offer a number of opportunities to engage visitors. For example, Johnigean plans to host a “Food for Life Challenge” that will allow HealthyWayClub.com members to upload before and after photos of themselves to show the results of their new eating habits over time. Other users will be able to vote for the winner, who will get a cool $10,000. In addition, the winner will win a spokesperson advertising contract with HealthyWay Café, plus prices and gifts from the restaurant’s affiliates.

“I envision the contest winner do for us what Jared did for Subway. And it’s not just about weight,” Johnigean says. “The winner should be the person who made the biggest changes to achieve a healthier lifestyle.”

Johnigean also plans to build live chat capabilities to the site. It’s all part of his mission to help people get healthier.

In addition to HealthyWayClub.com, Johnigean has a Web site, HealthyWay.net, where customers can purchase his customized line of supplements.

SIDEBAR

5 achievement truths

Johnigean says his success can be attributed to five simple “achievement truths.” They are:

1. Always be honest.

2. Your name is everything. Guard it.

3. Treat people the way you want to be treated.

4. Never take “no” for an answer.

5. Nothing is impossible.

Ashley Cisneros is a freelance writer from Panama City, Fla. Her articles have appeared in Florida Trend and Florida Trend’s NEXT. She has also worked as a staff writer for the Lake City Reporter in Lake City, Fla. She has a B.S. in journalism and an M.S. in entrepreneurship from the University of Florida. She can be reached through her Web site, www.ashleycisneros.com, or by email at ashleycisneros@gmail.com.