DYNAMIC BUSINESS TODAY’S INNOVATIVE COMPANIES
One Member Helps Another by Todd miller “It’s always gratifying to learn that one of our members is helping another,” said Steve Shivak, SMC’s executive director. “It’s even more fascinating when a recently-formed company works successfully with a fourth-generation family business that has been around for more than 90 years.” The organizations to which Mr. Shivak refers are C-Leveled, a Bloomfield-based business consulting and marketing firm comprised of seasoned and successful entrepreneurs, and Sloan Lubrication Systems (Sloan), a Freeport-based manufacturer of lubrication solutions for reciprocating and rotating equipment used
“Despite the fact that we were growing revenues at 10 to 15 percent a year, we were in a rut,” said Walter Sloan, the company’s president and CEO. Mr. Sloan’s grandfather and brothers founded the company in 1922, and his three sons, Brian, C.J. and Eric, and sister Nancy, also work in the business. “We were doing business reactively rather than proactively, and what we were doing was deeply ingrained, rightly or wrongly. I felt there were some things we could be doing a whole lot better, and needed help with how to proceed.” Enter C-Leveled, whom Mr. Sloan called because Andrea Fitting, whose marketing firm was acquired by C-Leveled in late 2013, had previously worked with Sloan on a series of marketing communications projects. Another motivating factor for the collaboration between Sloan and C-Leveled is succession planning. According to Denise DeSimone, C-Leveled’s founder and chairperson, “Walter Sloan wants to make sure the transition to his sons running the business is a smooth one.” After extensive conversations with the Sloan management team, and many of its 37 employees, all ten members of C-Leveled’s executive shareholder team began working with Sloan to develop tools for financial benchmarking, including monthly reporting, assessments and metrics to help ensure that business processes and manufacturing are managed with maximum efficiency.
in the energy industry, cement and general manufacturing, refrigeration, and water and sewage treatment applications. For the past year, the two firms have been working together to re-brand Sloan, as well as develop and implement management practices that can help the company manage its growth systematically. The engagement will continue through the end of this year. 8
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On the qualitative front, C-Leveled has also designed job descriptions and helped Sloan create budgets for each of the company’s operational areas. Mr. Sloan observed that, through his company’s work with C-Leveled, he has come to realize that a “hands-off ” management style does not necessarily make for happy employees.
Walter Sloan (left) and Denise DeSimone are SMC members whose companies have been working together for the past year.
“Since providing our employees with job descriptions, I have found that people are much happier and more confident in the decisions they make,” said Mr. Sloan. “That happiness and confidence should make for happier customers who are more loyal to us than ever before.” Mr. Sloan is also pleased that his company is now more proactive than reactive, especially in dealing with established customers and prospects. He characterizes the future as being “very bright” despite the fact that most of the company’s business is in the extremely volatile energy sector. “When production and energy profits are up, the company benefits from a capital improvement perspective. When they slack off, we benefit from our ability to quickly satisfy critical maintenance requirements as energy companies keep machines running,” Mr. Sloan explained. “Our work with C-Leveled, combined with our membership in SMC, has allowed us to make more progress in 2014 than we have in previous years. I believe that our commitment to putting systems in-place positions us better than ever to take advantage of opportunities that we create.” While his company has been working with C-Leveled, Mr. Sloan has also found it valuable to be an SMC member. “Through the organization, I’ve learned that the challenges we face aren’t unique, and that there are many resources available to help our company thrive as we transition to fourthgeneration ownership.” WP