Young Lions
By The Editors -- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 6/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Each year, FE&S contacts leaders and sages throughout the distribution channel to gain insight into the character, achievements and contributions of E&S professionals under consideration for our Young Lions awards. What we seek to recognize are individuals who are entrepreneurial, principled, service-oriented, skilled at relationship building and as dedicated to the betterment of their profession and industry as a whole as they are to the success of their own firms.
That's a lot to ask of busy men and women striving daily to earn their living and meet short-term goals and, sometimes, our search for qualified Young Lions can be arduous. This year, however, our selection process was especially gratifying, as the outstanding industry members profiled on the following pages have, according to their peers and our own experience, established unsurpassed records of accomplishment in their related fields.
Our '02 Young Lions - Jim Hanson (Dealer), Mark Romano (Consultant), Kelly McArthur (Manufacturers' Rep) and Bruce Peeling (Service Agent) - have staked out their own markets, shaped the scope and future of their firms and demonstrated creative leadership while helping to improve general business conditions for colleagues and customers alike. Because such achievements are rarely seen, we take great pride in presenting FE&S' 2002 Young Lions.
 Jim hanson, Best Restaurant Equipment & Design Inc. |
It was while working in sales at dealer General Fixture & Supply Co. of Dayton, Ohio, in the mid 1970s under the tutelage of (now retired) owner Dick Amann Sr. that Jim Hanson first recognized his desire to found his own business.
"Dick was a great teacher who gave me the tools and experience to work up from front-counter sales at age 19 to outside sales and account management in just a few years," recounted Hanson, now president of Columbus, Ohio's Best Restaurant Equipment & Design Inc. "Working for him at GF&S, which was not a giant firm, gave me the notion that a dealership did not have to be the biggest to be the best."
FE&S' 2002 Young Lion - Dealer, who began learning the ropes of the restaurant industry at 14 as part-time staff, had come into Amann's employ after a stint at a local college.
"As soon as I was exposed to E&S distribution at GF&S I loved it," Hanson stated. "But I also discovered my guiding ambition there, too, so after a few years I started looking for a further opportunity." He left his first industry job in 1982, but not before he had formed enduring friendships with two members of the engineering staff at GF&S, Mike Stasko and Gene Yosick. The job he took next was in national account sales with the Dayton division of The Wasserstrom Company. In 1984, Hanson became multi-unit sales manager for Wasserstrom's Dayton location, where he was soon joined by Stasko and Yosick in the sales department. "This is where we really started to work together as a team," Hanson stated. In a move to consolidate chain sales management, Hanson and all his colleagues were moved to Wasserstrom's Columbus headquarters in 1986. This relocation caused Hanson to continue his quest for business ownership and, by mid 1987, he was in the final stages of purchasing a small dealership in Florida. "Putting together a business plan to buy out that dealer made me question whether I really wanted to uproot from Columbus and really to appreciate the talents of Mike and Gene, the people I wanted to run the company with," Hanson explained. "So, though I ultimately didn't do the Florida deal, the experience very much helped me prepare to put together a new enterprise."
"Working at GF&S gave me the notion that a dealership did not have to be the biggest to be the best." -Jim Hanson
His aspiration was fulfilled at the end of 1987, when Hanson, in partnership with Stasko and Yosick, opened a dealership in Columbus, banking that their business model of "providing functional layout, design and sales of FF&E to [primarily] chain accounts" would allow them to thrive in the face of larger, more-established competitors.
Today, through the steady acquisition (and retention) of new accounts and the development of a management team and culture that rewards and nurtures high-performers, Best has grown to over $25 million in annual sales. The firm now has more than 65 associates, sales offices in Rochester, N.Y., Kansas City, Mo., and Phoenix, and will be moving into significantly larger quarters in Columbus by year-end.
Hanson's daily contributions at Best include: handling financial and legal issues, working with the managers, salespeople, vendors and clients. "My partners and I each have different areas of expertise that combined have made our company a success. We all work toward the goal of making the company the 'best,'" he related.
Over the past 11 years, Hanson has served FEDA as Ohio chapter president and member of its national board of directors, and he currently sits on the association's executive committee. A single parent, Hanson has three children, is an avid martial arts practitioner and gets to the links just often enough to "play bad golf."
- Mitchell Schechter
 Mark Romano Romano-Gatland |
It's rare to hear Mark Romano, FE&S' 2002 Young Lion - Consultant, pat himself on the back or sing his own praises. He seems to take his work as a challenge, growing and expanding his professional capabilities like an appreciative apprentice in training. But a humble manner can't hide the accomplishments of this ambitious, hard-driving consultant, which include helping his design and consulting firm, Romano-Gatland of Lindenhurst, N.Y., to step onto the leading edge of systems integration and technological efficiency.
Romano, who is vice president of Romano-Gatland, which has offices in seven countries, had his beginnings in the consulting business as a draftsman, working for his father, Sal, co-founder of Romano-Gatland, between college semesters at New York State University at Oswego. After graduating college with an elementary education degree and a minor in history, Mark Romano accepted an offer set up by his father to work with Commercial Kitchen Consultants, a foodservice consulting firm in Sydney, Australia.
"I think the Australia position was my father's way of getting me interested in his profession," said Romano.
The tactic worked perfectly. "My employers didn't know me from Adam," he recalled. "If I hadn't been able to do the job and if I weren't good at it, they would have asked me to go. Instead, they invited me to stay on for a second year. And, I realized that I really liked this business."
When he returned from Down Under, his father asked him to help expand the business through the use of information technology. It was during this period, too, that the enterprising younger Romano learned other facets of the consulting business. In the late '80s, he was brought into a project to design prototypes for the New York City public school district. Later, Romano and his colleagues developed standard equipment specifications for the schools. He then went on to help design a highly acclaimed foodservice operation for the private Ross School in East Hampton, N.Y., which opened in May 2000.
"If I hadn't been able to do the job and if I weren't good at it, they would have asked me to go." -Mark Romano
In addition to his work with schools, Romano also has been and is currently involved in projects for colleges and B&I locations. "One of my strengths is my ability to sit down with all the players on a project and discover their concerns and priorities," Romano explained.
Despite his involvement in project management, Romano continues to devote about 30% of his time to developing integrated systems for his firm, maintaining Romano-Gatland's IT systems, including the e-mail server and web site. "I've had a significant influence on how the systems used for graphics, marketing, drawings and deliverables are developed," he noted, explaining that he has been responsible for procuring and maintaining a worldwide network of more than 50 desktop computers, laptops and servers. He also developed a database that tracks the status of more than 1,760 projects.
"My challenge is to develop technology systems, yet maintain the high standards set by my father," said Romano. "He was very demanding about how our deliverables package looked to clients, and I've tried to keep that image."
In addition to his father, Romano credited others in the firm with having influence on his career, including Stan Gatland, Russ Pizzuto, Chris Brady and Bill Vomvoris.
Though his work is nearly all-consuming, Romano finds time to play golf, though not as much as he would like. He has also lectured at a local university and travels to foreign countries where he pursues his interest in architecture and archeology.
- Donna Boss
 Kelly McArthur Kain-McArthur Inc. |
Following his graduation from the University of Kansas in 1986, Young Lion - Manufacturers' Rep Kelly McArthur, president of Kain-McArthur Inc., Olathe, Kan., did not plan to make his career in the foodservice equipment industry. Having majored in marketing and advertising, he planned to enter into advertising, but his dad, Mike McArthur, who Kelly feels has had the greatest positive influence on him, encouraged him to join the family rep business.
McArthur has also always been strongly committed to continuing his industry education and involvement; he currently serves on the Manufacturers' Agents for the Foodservice Industry's (MAFSI) board of directors and he was one of the first graduates of the CPMR (Certified Professional Manufacturers Representatives) program. In addition, he is ServSafe-certified, and has earned Level 1 CFSP (Certified Food Service Professional) recognition.
Today, McArthur sits on the rep councils of six of his manufacturers, many of which Kain-McArthur has represented for the entire 40 years of the company's existence. Heading the firm that he has run for more than four years, McArthur is proud of the technology enhancements that he has brought to the company. In 1990, he opened one of the rep community's first education center/test kitchens, which featured a fully operational commercial test kitchen and offered his dealers and customers the opportunity to learn by hands-on operation of the equipment. The facility, which seats more than 50 people, is also used to host seminars, demonstrations and training sessions. Because of the firm's extensive territory (it covers Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa and southern Illinois), McArthur added a mobile demonstration vehicle in 1990.
"We are challenged creatively to meet our manufacturers' expectations and exceed our customers' needs." -Kelly McArthur
According to McArthur, "Our value-added services allow us to focus our energies on maintaining excellent relationships with both our factories and customers." Even with these advancements he is constantly reviewing the firm's processes, looking to eliminate those that don't make it more efficient, while striving to make it easier to transact business.
When questioned about current challenges, McArthur said, "I am excited about the future for reps. Our role is ever-expanding and we are challenged creatively to meet our manufacturers' expectations and exceed our customers' needs." Contributing factors McArthur cited were continued consolidation of factories and customers, and the challenges of our high-tech times, "because we all, as consumers, now expect information at breakneck speed," he said.
He voiced his concern, however, "that reps are being asked by their factories to provide services - for example, marketing and collections - that they themselves are unable to continue to perform due to budget slashing." McArthur feels that manufacturers must attempt to find better ways of rewarding and compensating their reps for the values they are being asked to provide. One example he cited was the missionary work that reps do with foodservice consultants on jobs that are installed outside their territory and for which they receive no credit.
When not working, McArthur relaxes with an occasional round of golf. He lives in Leawood, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City, and is looking forward to getting married this July.
- The Editors
 BRUCE PEELING EMR Co. Inc. |
Bruce Peeling, general manager of EMR (Electric Motor Repair) Co. Inc. in Baltimore, accepts the tag "mover and shaker" unabashedly. "I think people would describe me that way," he said matter of factly. "We're always making different changes here and staying on top of what's going on in the industry."
Nor is he skittish about being named FE&S Young Lion - Service Agent, a title that might cause some to blanch. What it refers to, in Peeling's mind, is someone who is "very industry-oriented. It means being dedicated to our industry, committed to providing quality service and willing to teach and share information with others."
Peeling began his career in the industry with EMR in 1975. As he recalled, "What we had at that time was a domestic division repairing home appliances. I started in shipping and receiving, on the ground floor in the company."
He moved over to EMR's commercial side when it took off in the late '70s, working first as a dispatcher and then, in 1984 with the opening of the company's second location, as a service manager. Two years later, with the debut of a third location, he was named area manager and, in 1991, he reached the top of the company's commercial division as general manager.
The 74-year-old EMR now has four divisions: one that repairs motors; another that handles hydraulic equipment; a third that concentrates on the custom audio/video home-theater market; and Peeling's, the largest, which services commercial foodservice equipment. Indeed, the commercial division currently accounts for $13 million of EMR's total $18 million in annual revenue.
"The better service companies will not only have information, but will be able to communicate that data." -Bruce Peeling
EMR's commercial division, one of the larger equipment service organizations in the country, currently operates out of five locations: its headquarters in Baltimore; Alexandria, Va.; Silver Spring, Md.; Bear, Del., outside of Wilmington; and Salisbury, Md. Its service area includes Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia.
EMR was one of the founding members of CFESA, and has maintained a strong commitment to the industry. Peeling serves as co-chairman of CFESA Region Five, sits on the membership service committee, and is vice chairman of the National Service Cooperative.
Over the last 11 years, Peeling has doubled the size of this division, adding two new locations and expanding into refrigeration service, giving EMR the ability to provide total kitchen service coverage.
With it all, Peeling counts as one of his greatest accomplishments the focus he has brought to employee training over the past decade, culminating in the development of a complete in-house training program. "We've taken several technicians and made them what we call EMR Certified Trainers," he said. "We also have our own training staff inside the company. We even provide them with training on how to teach."
Peeling has also played a pivotal role in developing the firm's current software package, which was added in 1996. He described it as "very well designed around the service business. Normally, software is designed around accounting in companies, but I was in a position where I had input into developing the package around the service part of our business."
Peeling also sees technology as a prime mover for the service business in the years ahead. "I think the better service companies will not only have information, but will be able to communicate that data to their people out in the field, whether they're technicians or on the sales force."
- Howard Riell
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