Recently added articles from Smart Business Columbus:
Making the push
Feb 01, 2009; ... Robert Houghton saves most of his deep thinking about key issues at Redemtech Inc. for time spent on an airplane. "You're disconnected from e-ail, you don't have your cell phone, you are sitting in a seat, and you can't go anywhere," Houghton says. "You can get an awful lot of thinking ...
Getting to know you
Feb 01, 2009; ... When Jacqueline Neal arrived at Glory Foods Inc. in October 2007, she took some time upfront to meet with all of her employees. She asked them what they liked and didn't like about the company, things they wanted to change, and she asked if they had any advice for her as the new ...
TRAINS, PLANES AND AUTOMOBILES
Feb 01, 2009; ... It's hard to sustain long-term business growth with short-term strategies. That's what Michael E. Uremovich discovered in 2006, shortly after assuming his new role as chairman and CEO of Pacer International Inc., an intermodal and logistics freight transportation services ...
A simple thank you
Jan 01, 2009; ... David Decker, president, Franklin University David Decker says that all leaders, at some point, will learn that their success or failure depends not on what they do but on what their people do. And when that happens, you will be better able to engage your employees' loyalty and ...
A winning philosophy
Jan 01, 2009; ... Curtis J. Moody, president and CEO, Moody*Nolan Inc. People are important to Cutts J. Moody. As an athlete and student at The Ohio State University, he learned from coach Woody Hayes that you always win with people and that ifs important to have the right people on your team And ...
POWER 100
Jan 01, 2009; ... For two years now, we have opened this piece startled by the shake-up of this list. Last year, we were flabbergasted by the amount of movement up and down the list and the fact that 10 - 10! - new people made the list. What fools we have been. This year has been a volatile one in ...
A measure of success
Dec 01, 2008; ... Matt Coltharp, president, The Cyril-Scott Co. For Matt Coltharp, passion is an important part of being a leader. And the president of The Cyril-Scott Co. makes sure he shows his passion in his work every day, because he never knows when he may be meeting someone for the first ...
BUILDING ON PRINCIPLE
Dec 01, 2008; ... Frank Lloyd Wright would be a fish out of water in the culture of global architecture and design firm NBBJ. The traditional hierarchical structure is gone, there's no head office, and professionals are hired for their teamwork skills, not their egos. The firm that designed the headquarter ...
All ears
Dec 01, 2008; ... Jeffrey Sopp, president and CEO, Expesite LLC Jeffrey Sopp makes it a point to take time out of his busy schedule as a president and CEO to listen to his 40 employees and to his customers. Each day, Sopp calls at least two customers to see how they're doing and to find out what ...
Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame: Phil Urban
Nov 01, 2008; ... When Phil Urban first entered the corporate world, a mentor gave him some advice: Know what's expected of you, and then exceed it. The president and CEO of Grange Mutual Casualty Group tries to follow this philosophy of personal continuous improvement each day. It also reminds him of his ...
Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame: Tanny Crane
Nov 01, 2008; ... Early in her career, Tanny Crane had a hard time getting things done. The president and CEO of Crane Group says she is passionate about her family's business. That passion often drives her to lead her 1,200 employees with a sense of urgency, and that can sometimes prevent a business ...
Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame: Cameron Mitchell
Nov 01, 2008; ... Don't even think about eating at one of Cameron Mitchell's restaurants on New Year's Day. No one will be there to prepare your surf and turf. "I don't want to work on the holidays so I don't expect anybody else to. I wouldn't ask people to do something that I wouldn't want to do," ...
Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame: Donna James
Nov 01, 2008; ... To be successful in business, Donna James says executives must empower their employees while providing a clear sense of direction. The founder and managing director of Lardon & Associates LLC says this concept is hard for business leaders to adopt because it seems at first ...
Straight shooter
Nov 01, 2008; ... Samuel W. Grooms is a natural-born communicator, and he has no trouble talking to anyone, whether they are employees, clients or strangers. For example, he recalls visiting his daughter in Brooklyn, N.Y., and striking up conversations with people on the subway, only to be elbowed by his ...
Catch a rising star
Nov 01, 2008; ... Steve Wolever is always on the lookout for stars, those people who shine and who have the potential to one day run his business. "What's really driven succession planning home is this baby boom, because all these people are going to be leaving the work force, and who's going to take ...
Smart Leaders: Keith Whann, An open ear
Oct 01, 2008; ... Keith Whann, CEO, Columbus Fair Auto Auction Inc. Several times a year, the employees at Columbus Fair Auto Auction Inc. stop working for a couple of hours to enjoy lunch and each other's company. These lunches also provide an opportunity for them to share ideas with Keith Whann, ...
Fast Lane: Tom Campbell, An open book
Oct 01, 2008; ... Tom Campbell, chairman and CEO, Quick Solutions Inc. When Tom Campbell arrived at Quick Solutions Inc in 2000, he encountered a challenging - but not unpleasant - management dilemma. Quick Solutions had adopted an employee stock ownership plan in 1999, and employees initially ...
Allied Mineral Products Inc., Industrial evolution
Oct 01, 2008; ... As chairman and CEO of Allied Mineral Products Inc., Jon K. Tabor has watched sales expand tenfold in two decades. But that growth didn't come overnight, and it didn't come easily. In that time, he's had to learn the value of getting the right people around him, trusting those ...
Universal thinking
Sep 01, 2008; ... To Dale T. Knobel, being a leader means being responsive to many different constituencies to make the best possible decisions for your organization. And the president of Denison University says that in order to be responsive, it is critical that you listen carefully to what people are ...
Full speed ahead
Sep 01, 2008; ... David Dennis learned the dangers of wandering from his core competencies the hard way. His advertising and marketing services company had been focused on retail marketing, but then began picking up accounts outside its expertise. And before long, SBC Advertising found itself going ...