Northeast Indiana Business Excellence Awards 2016

RECOGNIZING THE VERY BEST IN BUSINESS PRESENTED BY:

SPONSORED BY:

A special supplement to Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly $5.00

Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly 3306 Independence Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46808 (260) 426-2640 • Fax: (260) 426-2503 www.fwbusiness.com

Table of Contents Awards 2016

Randy Mitchell randymitchell@kpcmedia.com Publisher

Mac Parker Business Excellence Award ................................................... 5

Lucretia Cardenas lcardenas@kpcmedia.com Editor

Business of the Year - Revenue Less than $5 Million ............................... 6

Linda Lipp llipp@kpcmedia.com Associate Editor

Business of the Year - Revenue more than $5 Million .............................. 8

Doug LeDuc dleduc@kpcmedia.com Reporter

Not-for-profit of the year ............................................................................... 10

Whitney Wright wwright@kpcmedia.com Reporter

Startup of the year .......................................................................................... 12

Claudia Johnson cjohnson@kpcmedia.com Marketing Manager

CEO of they year - Revenue less than $5 Million ....................................... 13 CEO of the year - Revenue more than $5 Million ....................................... 14

Beth Welty bwelty@kpcmedia.com Fort Wayne Paginator

CFO of the year ................................................................................................ 15

Kylee Malone research@kpcmedia.com Researcher

Best Website ................................................................................................... 17

Andy Eads aeads@kpcmedia.com Advertising Director

Best Business Blog......................................................................................... 17

Ann Saggars asaggars@kpcmedia.com Creative Manager Tracey Robideau trobideau@kpcmedia.com Special Sections Designer & Paginator MARKETING CONSULTANTS Wendy Krzyzanowski Deb Steele Josh Patell Mark Davis Bobbi Jenks Susie Witte

Best Television Commerical .......................................................................... 19 Best use of Pinterest ...................................................................................... 19 Best Newsletter .............................................................................................. 21 Best use of Facebook ..................................................................................... 21

George O. Witwer Publisher Emeritus

Best use of Twitter .......................................................................................... 22

Terry G. Housholder President

Best use of Instagram .................................................................................... 22

Randy Mitchell Chief Executive Officer S. Rick Mitchell Chief Financial Officer

Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly is proud to partner with the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum and its newly opened Conference Center, official venue for all 2016 Business Weekly events.

Business Excellence Awards is a special publication of Fort Wayne Business Weekly, KPC Media Group Inc. ©2016 All rights reserved.

Business Excellence Awards portrait of Mac Parker taken by Ray Steup, Creative Content Producer, KPC Media Group

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Page 1

Awards 2016

TITLE SPONSOR

PNC www.pnc.com 110 W. Berry St. Suite 800 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 (260) 461-7179

Corporate Overview Our capabilities: Strong. Deep. Focused on you.

Our Northern Indiana Regional President, Doug Wood, leads a highly committed and talented group of bankers who consistently put our customers and our community first. We offer a wide range of services to our customers from individuals and small businesses, to corporations and government entities.

Retail Banking We provide deposit, lending, cash management and investment services to more than 6 million consumer and small business customers across 19 states and the District of Columbia. Customers can bank whenever and wherever they want via more than 2,600 branches, online and mobile services along with 9,000 ATM machines, many of which can be used to make deposits and cash checks. The award-winning Virtual Wallet® helps to save and spend smarter, and avoid unnecessary fees. Cash Flow InsightSM is an online resource for small businesses to track and manage cash flow.

Great WorkPlace Award for highly engaged employees committed to customer service, Gallup (2015)

Asset Management Group We deliver a broad range of tailored investments, wealth planning, trust and estate administration and private banking services to affl uent individuals and families, including the ultra-affl uent, with Wealth InsightSM providing a real-time view of assets and portfolio performance.

PNC Institutional Asset Management serves as investment manager and trustee for companies, not-for-profit organizations and retirement plans across the country. PNC Capital Advisors, LLC, a multi-strategy investment management organization, focuses on style purity and risk management to support clients' long-term investment objectives.

In total, as of June 30, 2016, we had approximately $135 billion in assets under management and $261 billion of assets under administration, serving our clients from nearly 90 offices in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Wealth InsightSM provides a real-time view of assets and portfolio performance.

Ranked as one of the top U.S.-based bank-held wealth managers by Barron's (2015).

Page 2

Corporate & Institutional Banking PNC competes to win in the middle market, where we are proud to be one of the leading credit providers to middle market companies across the country. PNC is in the top fi ve syndicators of middle market loan transactions for each of the last five years.

But credit is only part of the story. Underpinning our success at building deep and lasting relationships with middle market clients is our breadth of capabilities--including extensive treasury management, capital markets and international banking services-many of which have been tailored specifically for the middle market audience. And through PNC's investment bank,Harris Williams, we offer one of the nation's largest and most successful M&A advisory teams focused exclusively on the middle market.

PNC is an industry leader in many other target markets as well. Our client list includes more than two-thirds of the Fortune® 500 as well as thousands of real estate, utilities, healthcare, government, higher education and not-for-profit entities. All of these clients, including many of the nation's largest competitors in their respective specialties, benefi t from PNC's deep industry knowledge and our sophisticated capital raising, treasury management and capital markets capabilities.

Residential Mortgage Banking We provide a wide variety of borrowing options -- whether you're a fi rst-time home buyer, moving up to something larger, looking to refi nance your current home or ready to purchase the vacation home of your dreams, we offer the optimal mortgage solution to ensure you obtain the loan that's best for you.

Experienced mortgage professionals serve our customers through any of our more than 2,600 Retail Banking branches and our nationwide network of retail mortgage offi ces in the continental United States.

With a loan portfolio of $141 billion as of June 30, 2016, PNC Mortgage is recognized as one of the top residential mortgage originators and servicers nationally.

BlackRock PNC owns approximately one-quarter of BlackRock, one of the largest publicly traded investment management fi rms in the country. BlackRock works on behalf of institutional and individual investors worldwide through a variety of equity, fixed income, liquidity and alternative investment products. In addition, it provides risk management, investment system outsourcing, and financial advisory services to a growing number of institutional investors.

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PLATINUM SPONSOR

Northeast Indiana Innovation Center www.niic.net

Awards 2016

3201 Stellhorn Road Fort Wayne, Indiana 46815 260-407-6442

The NIIC is a non-profit, community-based entrepreneurial resource center that assists entrepreneurs, business owners & existing businesses who want to launch, expand or re-invent a company.

Capital

Realize your entrepreneurial dreams through the NIIC. We deliver value-added services to address the four resource pillars of entrepreneurial success: Capital, Talent, Place-making, Connectivity.

Place-making

Talent Growing a pipeline of next generation entrepreneurial doers & thinkers Building a vibrant entrepreneurial workplace & community

Connectivity Networking & facilitating entrepreneurial idea collisions, energy & success

CONTACT US TODAY TO GET STARTED! NIIC_53254 1/2 pg Business Excellence BW: 11/18/16

VeraBradley_53636

Creating accessible pathways to funding

62 Wendy mj/jg/jg/mj/jg/mp/tr 2016 4c

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Page 3

THANK YOU

for years of service and dedicated leadership.

Mac Parker President, Board of Trustees

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Bradley Company Bradleyco.com 111 E. Ludwig Road, Ste. 101 Fort Wayne, Indiana 46825 (260) 423-4311

Bradley Company is the choice of clients who desire a nimble, entrepreneurial and long-term real estate service partner. We provide a diverse portfolio of services for all commercial real estate needs: commercial brokerage services, corporate services, commercial and multihousing management, real estate tax consulting, project and facilities management, research services, and strategic planning. We provide this wide range of services through our incredible professionals with varied skills and specialties, with a continuously expanding geography.

This has resulted in almost $200 million worth of brokerage transactions annually, over $2 billion in capital markets experience, more than 10 million commercial square feet, 2,000 multi-housing units managed and, since 2011, over $1 million saved in tax liabilities.

Since our founding in 1978, our company has been creating value for our professionals, clients and community through excellence in service delivery, our strong partnerships and our commitment to creating innovative solutions that assist our clients in achieving their goals.

Get to know Bradley Company.

BradleyCo_53251 Page 4

Our core asset is our Capital Integrity and it is what you can expect from every member of the Bradley Company team. We create value for our clients and our communities while maintaining the highest ethical standards.

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Mac Parker Business Excellence Award Mac Parker

Awards 2016

Always finding something to do Mac Parker sees his work as a practical matter

BY LUCRETIA CARDENAS lcardenas@kpcmedia.com

“For better or for worse, but not for lunch.”

That’s what Pat Parker lovingly tells her husband. And, according to him, that understanding is what keeps him active and engaged in the community, long past the age many professionals hang up their workday suit.

“Work is not necessarily a bad thing; … you get up and that’s just something you do,” said Mac Parker.

He is retired from practicing law after more than 50 years but maintains an office at Faegre Baker Daniels in Fort Wayne and remains employed by the Olive B. Cole Foundation, where he maintains a second office.

Being involved and working is simply a part of Parker’s life, and his wife’s for that matter. She too doesn’t sit still and serves area nonprofit organizations when she’s not making serves on the tennis court.

Parker enjoys golf and time with friends, but these days, many of his friends are those he’s met through his community involvement.

Chances are that, if you are a business professional in northeast Indiana, you’ve heard of Mac Parker.

If you aren’t familiar with the name, you are most certainly aware of some of the projects and organizations in which he’s been instrumental – bringing the Fury to Fort Wayne, the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center and the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber, now part of Greater Fort Wayne Inc., to name a few on a very long list.

“Started young”

Since the age of 6, maybe he was 7, Parker said he helped his folks out at the family grocer in Moreland, a town of less than 500 outside New Castle.

He bagged apricots and prunes for customers. A year or two later, he was

managing the cash register at the local feed store.

By high school he was working in a factory and he helped out on a cousin’s orchard, taking the horse wagon through to spray the trees.

But the one work experience that taught him the most was the three and a half years he spent in the U.S. Navy.

“I felt like I was contributing,” said Parker, who attributes his leadership skills to his service from 1954 to 1957.

He joined primarily to avoid the Army draft. He’d already wrapped up an undergrad degree from DePauw University, where he played basketball and was a pole vaulter. A plaque on his downtown office wall recognizes Parker for being inducted into the university’s athletic hall of fame.

Although his lean figure is a bit more hunched over than it used to be, it’s easy to picture him as a young, standout athlete.

He’d also graduated law school from

the University of Michigan prior to joining the Navy.

So, once released from his military duties, he and his young bride decided to take on the town everyone was talking about – Fort Wayne.

“They walked with a swagger”

Mac and Pat moved to Fort Wayne nearly 60 years ago, “when everyone wanted to move to Fort Wayne,” he said. The city came out of World War II with “some of the best industry.”

The Parkers were two of the 30,000something people who moved to the Summit City between the late 1950s and early 1960s. Downtown had more than 300 stores and six hotels. To Mac, it was an ideal sized community and he and Pat could easily get involved.

“People couldn’t wait to get to Fort Wayne,” Parker said. “Those from here, they walked with a swagger.”

The attitude that brings forth that n

See MAC PARKER on PAGE 11

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Page 5

Business of the Year - Revenue Less than $5 Million Reecer Properties, Inc.

Awards 2016

Reecer Properties Inc.

medical recruiting and relocation services, staging, design and remodeling, transitional rentals, and assistance with financing and building.

Reecer Properties has had the number one ranked agent/agent team in sales volume in the northeast Indiana MLS and the regional MLS for the past three years running, out of over 4,000 agents and teams.

South Office (main office): 5750 Coventry Lane, Suite B-1 Fort Wayne, IN 46804 North Office: 6821 Lima Road Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Roanoke Office: 184 N. Main St. Roanoke, IN 46783 REECER Lakes Office & Guest Cottage 10685 N. Southshore Drive Syracuse, IN 46567 Website: reecerproperties.com

What efforts has the business recently taken that led to its recent achievements?

Years in operation: Six Owners: Lynn Reecer Top executive at company: Lynn Reecer – President/CEO/Managing Broker

Number of FTE employees: 13 employees;

nine additional agents not including the employee agents

Brief description about the business: Reecer Properties is a locally-owned, boutique real estate firm that provides personalized, quality services in the areas of buying, selling, and leasing residential, investment and commercial property in northeast Indiana.

We use a unique business model with a collaborative team of functional experts during each phase of our transactions to optimize our clients’ experience.

Other services include: corporate and Page 6

We are focused on investing in people, systems and tools to save our clients time, money and inconvenience throughout their real estate transactions all the way to closing.

In the past two years, Reecer Properties added three new offices (Roanoke, Lake Wawasee and NW Fort Wayne) for the convenience of our clients and our agents in these locations.

Our Lakes Office and Guest Cottage in Syracuse offers clients the option to stay overnight in the guest rooms at no charge while our agents help them search for a lake property to purchase.

What is the philosophy behind the way business is conducted?

Several words best sum up our philosophy: Caring. Driven. Tenacious. Empathetic.

Creative. Innovative. Community-focused.

Attention to detail. White glove service.

Ethical. Ambitious. Enthusiastic. Competitive. Fun. Energetic. Knowledgeable.

What makes the business standout from others in its industry?

We are told by our clients that we have a strong and specific brand, not being a part of a national franchise or hiring a large number of part-time agents. We prefer to have a smaller number of productive, quality agents supported by a tremendous staff and a high-quality marketing engine.

We are known for getting effective results even with unique and difficult properties to sell. This year our listing in Kendallville, the McCray Mansion was named the Wall Street Journal 2016 House of the Year as a result of our marketing team’s efforts and skill.

What’s one word the business hopes its customers uses to describe it?

Exceptional.

What are the future plans for the business?

Our vision is to be known as northeast Indiana’s most respected and successful locally-owned, residential and commercial real estate firm. With that in mind, we just hired a new VP of Sales and Operations who will lead us into 2017 as we open our fifth office to serve clients in the Warsaw area. He has just hired our future Warsaw branch manager and we are also recruiting three to five more agents now that can uphold our high standards of ethics and effort. We have formed two strong partnerships with competitive, yet local real estate brokerage companies that each have a different expertise as an additional creative and effective way to serve our clients’ needs.

Business Excellence Awards • 2016 • fwbusiness.com • ©KPC Media Group Inc.

Business Excellence Awards • 2016 • fwbusiness.com • ©KPC Media Group Inc.

Page 7

Business of the Year - Revenue more than $5 Million 1st Source Bank

Awards 2016

1st Source Bank 1st Source Bank has 12 locations in the Fort Wayne area

Website: 1stsource.com (260) 420-2427

Years in operation: 153 Owners: 1st Source Bank is publicly traded on the NASDAQ

Top executive at company: Larry Mayers Fort Wayne region president Number of FTE employees: 80 FTE in the

bank’s Fort Wayne region

Brief description about the business: 1st Source Bank is the largest locally controlled financial institution headquartered in northern Indiana. With $5.4 billion in assets, 1st Source operates 12 of its 81 banking centers in the Fort Wayne region and also provides trust and wealth management and insurance services in the area. With roots in northern Indiana dating back to 1863, 1st Source is strong and stable and looking forward to a sound future.

What efforts has the business recently taken that led to its recent achievements?

1st Source Bank has invested more than $10 million in the Fort Wayne Page 8

“

1st Source Bank is the largest locally controlled financial institution headquartered in northern Indiana. With $5.4 billion in assets, 1st Source operates 12 of its 81 banking centers in the Fort Wayne region and also provides trust and wealth management and insurance services in the area.

— 1st Source Bank area to add new offices and improve its facilities to enhance the client experience. This included the introduction of the bank’s innovative side-by-side banking design in which the traditional teller walls are removed allowing clients to share their bankers’ work space and

screen. The result is a more personal banking experience.

What is the philosophy behind the way business is conducted?

1st Source is committed to our mission of helping our clients achieve security, build wealth and realize their dreams by providing straight talk and sound advice and keeping their best interests in mind for the long term.

What makes the business standout from others in its industry?

Client relationships mean everything at 1st Source Bank. Consistent with that belief, the bank measures success not in terms of accounts opened or number of loans closed, but in the development of full banking relationships.

What’s one word the business hopes its customers uses to describe it?

Convenient. 1st Source is here to assist clients however they want to do their banking – in person, over the phone, online or on the go with mobile banking.

What are the future plans for the business?

1st Source Bank is committed to the community and looks forward to future growth in Fort Wayne.

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1st Source Bank

Awards 2016

NAMED GREATER FORT WAYNE BUSINESS WEEKLY’S

BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

*

Reflecting how we are genuinely helping Fort Wayne succeed: ✓ Helping businesses grow and succeed ✓ Helping consumers with a full range of helpful solutions for their financial needs ✓ Helping the overall community as a truly “committed corporate citizen”

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Not-for-Profit of the Year SCAN Inc.

Awards 2016

“

SCAN Inc. (Stop Child Abuse & Neglect) 500 W. Main St. Fort Wayne, IN 46802 (260) 421-5000

Website: scanfw.org Years in operation: 42 Founders: Charlotte Salinger Top executive at organization: Rachel Tobin-Smith, MSW, LCSW

Number of FTE employees: 209 Number of volunteers: 300 Brief description about the organization: The sole focus of SCAN is to prevent child abuse and neglect through protecting children and preparing parents. SCAN provides a vast array of innovative, outcome based services that build and strengthen families so that children can grow and thrive verses being neglected and beaten. SCAN is effective at delivering positive outcomes for children each service arena. Part of SCAN’s success is solid administrative practices and partnering with others in the region.

The sole focus of SCAN is to prevent child abuse and neglect through protecting children and preparing parents. SCAN provides a vast array of innovative, outcome based services that build and strengthen families so that children can grow and thrive verses being neglected and beaten.

— SCAN

What efforts has the organization’s recently taken that led to its recent achievements?

SCAN has continued to stay nimble and able to respond to the need of families. This has been exhibited in the recent assumption of services across Northern Indiana in a three

month period of time to make sure children and parents did not go without help.

What is the mission of the organization?

SCAN protects children, prepares parents, strengthens families and educates our community to stop child abuse and neglect

What’s one word the organization hopes the community associates with it and why?

HOPE – We can live without a lot of things but children cannot live without hope. Hope that mommy and daddy get better, love them, nourish them and provide for them a home that is free of violence, drugs, sexual abuse and pain.

What are the future plans for the organization?

To keep the momentum moving to be able to respond to community and children’s needs to be protected by preparing families. This means continuing to address the challenges or inadequate number of staff available and to be able to respond quickly when a need arises.

Facebook.com/businessweekly Page 10

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n

MAC PARKER:

“No more ability” but gave freely of time Continued from PAGE 5

swagger is something that Mac Parker strove to keep alive in the community – but it hasn’t always been easy, especially when the community battled economic downturns.

“These things go in cycles,” Parker said. “The better the economy and the more going on, the more it encourages people to get involved.”

The trick is, keeping the energy alive when factors outside a community’s control work against its momentum. Parker notes that a lot of organizations continue on regardless of the economy and people shouldn’t lose hope.

“If people have an inkling at all to go out and be involved in the community, there is always something to do,” Parker said.

“A lot of lucky breaks”

Parker certainly had that inkling and sought opportunities to be involved in his community as much as possible. It began with his involvement in the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber, where he has served as president, and expanded from there.

“I’ve never felt I had particularly a lot more ability … I figure I’ve been the beneficiary of a lot of lucky breaks,” Parker said.

His involvement has brought him accolades such as the Sagamore of the Wabash, an honorary doctorate from Purdue University for community service, the Junior Achievement Business Spirit of Leadership award, DePauw’s Community Service Award and Indiana University-Purdue University’s Robert Jesse and Paul Shaffer awards, the second of which he received jointly with Pat. “You are always highly appreciative … I often can think of five more qualified than I am,” Parker said.

Now, he has an award named after him, for which he is the first recipient at this year’s Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly Business of Excellence Awards.

When asked what type of person he hopes receives his namesake award in the future, he said he’s certain that finding a recipient worth the award would not be difficult.

We are honored to be awarded Not-for-Profit of the Year!

Every day, our dedicated staff go into the community to help families.

In fiscal year 2016, we impacted the lives of 5,927 families by protecting children, preparing parents, strengthening families, and educating our community to Stop Child Abuse and Neglect.

Thank you!

500 W. Main Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802 260-421-5000 www.scanfw.org This advertisement was made possible thanks to an anonymous donor.

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Start-up of the Year Sport Wayne Inc.

Awards 2016

“

Sport Wayne Inc. 327 E. Wayne St., Suite 200 Fort Wayne, IN, 46802 (260) 423-1444 sportwayne.com fortwayneescaperoom.com fwadventuregames.com indianasportsfestival.com Years in operation: One year and six months

Owners/Founders: Corey Ford Top executive at company: Corey Ford Number of FTE employees: Six Brief description about the business: Sport Wayne Inc. runs the Fort Wayne Escape Room, Fort Wayne Adventure Games, Indiana Sports Festival and several other programs and events.

What is the philosophy behind the way business is conducted?

Sport Wayne Inc.’s philosophy is that you should DO and BE, not simply watch, listen, or consume. We aim to provide unique entertainment opportunities that allow people to be physically involved and play an interactive role in the outcome of their experience.

For example, looking at the Friemann Square fountain is cool, but zip lining through it is better.

How did the business get started? How did the business go about getting the capital it needed?

I worked for four years as our cities director of sports tourism. During that

Sport Wayne Inc.’s philosophy is that you should DO and BE, not simply watch, listen, or consume.

We aim to provide unique entertainment opportunities that allow people to be physically involved and play an interactive role in the outcome of their experience.

— Sport Wayne Inc. time, I was assigned to the “Community Sports Task Force.” The mission of this group was to identify ways to improve our city through sports and entertainment. After about a year of hiring expensive consultants, conducting dozens of surveys and town hall meetings, it was evident that the initiative was spinning its wheels. That’s when I presented the concept of Sport Wayne Inc. and suggested instead of waiting around for government support, legacy funds, hotel tax or other free money we take a more entrepreneurial approach and laid out the plans to become a self-sustaining organization.

I was told by high-ranking officials that

I was a “very good salesman” but it just wasn’t going to happen. They said I needed $450,000 and eight full-time staff to pull of the “overly ambitious” scope of work.

Subsequently, I left my job to work full-time launching Sport Wayne Inc. All of the startup funds came from my personal savings.

What makes the business standout from others in its industry?

Because Sport Wayne Inc. is totally self-sustaining we can work on projects that we are truly passionate about, be infinitely creative, and take as many risks as it takes. I believe this allows us to create some truly unique experiences for our customers.

What’s one word the business hopes its customers uses to describe it?

Any Antonym of “boring” is flattering.

What are the future plans for the business?

If a city is built by a mountain, its citizens can ski. If a city is built by the ocean, they can surf. If a city is built by cornfields, they can travel to those places for adventure. We are working on a huge project that will change that and the way cities fabricate adventure for their citizens.

We currently have projects and businesses developing in three states and two countries and several more on the horizon.

Follow BW on Twitter: @fwbusiness Page 12

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CEO of the Year - Revenue less than $5 million

Mark Bohler, Plant Engineering Services Inc.

Awards 2016

Company: Plant Engineering Services Inc. Years with company: 20 Education: Associate degree in Electrical

Engineering Technology, Purdue University, and a certificate in Industrial Supervision also from Purdue.

What led to you becoming the CEO? Upon entering industry in 1981, I was always successful and moved up the ladder in whatever company I was a part of. I joined Eagle Picher Industries, Plastics Division in 1986 and quickly moved into the position of divisional facilities engineer. In this position, I was a member of the divisional staff as well as several plant staff responsibilities over the years. I was hired in during a time when the original founders of the division were preparing for retirement. Many of these senior executives took the time to mentor and guide me through all aspects of business and business management.

Between the mentoring and the staff level operational experience, I became knowledgeable in all aspects of business management as it relates to long term planning as well as day to day operations needed to run an effective business.

In 1995, the buyout of our division; from a company with an unfavorable history of liquidating and bankrupting the companies it purchased, I left and accepted a project manager position with a hard drive component manufacture here in Fort Wayne. Supporting my clients that included Western Digital, Maxtor and Logitech allowed me to polish my skills in dealing directly with customers.

The position also gave me the much needed understanding of developing and presenting customer quotations.

When a major downturn hit the company, I decided to move on and pursue Plant Engineering Services Inc. as my full-time source of employment. My primary drive at the time was from the viewpoint: “If I am going to worry about my future, I would rather be direct control of it”.

What is your philosophy in managing the company and the team that runs it?

My primary philosophy for the company is to focus on supplying our clients with state of the art, world class designs, services and systems at a fair price and then back that up with good after-market service and support. Our commitment to always provide well engineered solutions and strong project management to our clients. This strategy allows us the opportunity to expand into new services within the industrial services sector.

After almost 20 years of full-time operation, our project depth and experience, as well as our industry reputation; fuels our growth into other industries as well. We strive to keep our operating overhead and debt low as well as match labor costs with sales dollars, as much as possible. The ability to quickly change direction to fit market demands; has

proven to be our greatest asset, as different market sectors experience dramatic swings in production and profitability.

The company’s most prized assets are the key people that design or build our systems and manage the day to day challenges of ever changing customer needs. At this point in time we are rebuilding a world class team which presents its own unique challenges in today’s job market. We encourage employees to operate as a team but take individual responsibility to help the company grow. Each employee is encouraged to become their very best and know that: “It is better to ask for forgiveness than to constantly ask for permission.” Often times; our employees must travel and we make every attempt to accommodate family needs with flex time n

See MARK BOHLER on PAGE 23

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Page 13

CEO of the Year - Revenue more than $5 Million Don Cates, 3Rivers Federal Credit Union

Awards 2016

Company: 3Rivers Federal Credit Union Years with company: Four Education: Purdue University - Agricul-

ture 1991

What led to your becoming the CEO? I have been a CEO for 15 years at two different financial institutions — the last three years with 3Rivers. It wasn’t ever my direct ambition to be a CEO but, as is often the case, I was in the right place at the right time. I went after an opportunity that I might not have been really ready for, but I continually learn along the journey.

What is your philosophy in managing the company and the team that runs it?

Be a grower of talent, be a coach, help our team be the best they can be, and then stay out of their way. I like Steve Jobs’ quote: “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” And we are in the people business, so we want people who have the heart and attitude to make a difference in other people’s lives. We want to always be putting our team in a position to tell us how we can best do that.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

What I love most about my job is I do not have a “typical” day. I am in the office early, and I usually stay late — not because I have to, but because I love my job and I want to. My best days are the ones when I have the deepest interactions with our team members. I oversee a few member relationships. I enjoy working with them and I value those relationships very much. My job and our credit union’s culture also allow me the freedom and flexibility to be involved in the community.

How many cell phones and/or tablets and/or computers do you use on a daily basis?

I have a cell phone, a tablet and a laptop. However, I still write down a daily agenda and take notes throughout the day on paper.

Page 14

What was your biggest career fail and how did you handle it?

I have had ample “learning opportunities” in my career. And there are many times that if I could have a do-over, I’d take it and use the experience to do things differently. I handle “failure” best when I don’t let it be that. Every failure is a learning opportunity and a chance to do better next time.

How do you prefer to communicate?

I prefer in-person communication but,

for efficiency, I do send a lot of emails — probably too many. We’re all busy, so I intentionally don’t “drop in” on folks, because I think it’s intrusive. I tell our team that I’ll come to any meeting or gathering they want me to attend and have discussions and quality time together. I try to be very accessible to my team and to our members. We also open up many leadership meetings to everyone who is able to attend. Transparency is key. Additionally, I try to have many different ways to interact, whether n

See DON CATES on PAGE 18

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CFO of the Year Ron Turpin, Gibson

Awards 2016

Company: Gibson Years with company: Two Education: Bachelors – Indiana State University; Juris Doctorate – Indiana University

What led to your becoming the CFO? My professional background was in tax law. I decided early on in my tax career I wanted to be more involved in the financial planning process, so obtained my CPA about a dozen years ago. I was at Lincoln Financial for 14 years and during that time moved from the tax department to the retail sales division. There I moved from the director of field accounting through the ranks to end my career there as the head of finance for that division. After I left Lincoln, I went to work with Gibson as their CFO and love every minute of it.

What is your philosophy when you go about budgeting?

I view the budget really as part of the strategic planning process. Your budget walks you through the investments you want to make in your organization and the ROI that you expect those investments to yield. For that reason I try to make the process as open as possible and have as many people involved as we can so that there is early buy-in and adoption of the ultimate plan.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

Because a number of departments report to me, my typical day not only involves solving a financial issue, but also could include sales issues, IT, HR, marketing and compliance/legal matters. With a list like that there are no typical days!

What is your favorite Excel function and why?

Pivot tables. One of the first functions I learned how to use in Excel was the formation of pivot tables and they saved me a great deal of time in organizing data. I don’t use Excel as much as I used to, but it is still a tool that comes in handy.

How do you de-stress or wind down?

My passion is community service. I derive pleasure out of serving others and

my community. By being highly involved in my community I de-stress because I am focused on others and not myself.

What do you think is least understood about a CFO’s roll these days? How has the roll changed over the years for you or has it?

Most people see the CFO as the “bean counter.” They have the perspective that you are the promulgator of the “no” answer and aren’t strategic. The longer I have served in a role like CFO, the more I have learned that the accounting function is a small part of what a good CFO does. In the modern company, a good CFO is heavily involved in understanding the business and what makes it successful; they are a key partner in the success of the enterprise.

I think more and more executives are

seeing that.

What do you consider to be your greatest success thus far in your career?

The career I had at Lincoln and what I am having today at Gibson is far beyond what I would have imagined 20 years ago. I have been very blessed to work with many great people and have a number of mentors over the years that have been really good to me and taught me a great deal.

Who and/or what has made your current success possible?

This will sound like a cliché to some, but I view God as the ultimate source of my success. He has given me the skills I have, the opportunities that have come my way and most importantly, provided me with my biggest cheerleader, confidant and supporter in my wife, Kathleen.

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62 Excellence Wendy Awards • 2016 • fwbusiness.com • ©KPC Media Group Inc. Business

Best Website

The Philmore on Broadway, Contractor: 86 Creative Awards 2016

Website: PhilmoreOnBroadway.com Who manages your website: 86 Creative Age of website? One year Website highlights:

ence the uniqueness of the Philmore in a virtual way. The clean user interface allows for the main images and features to be more prominent and stand out.

Did the company ever have an “aha” moment with the design or back-end of the website that made it what it is today? How did that come about?

We wanted to highlight the unique experience of celebrating or entertaining that happens at the Philmore, but in a unique and virtual way. Big images that showcase the lively events were key to making that a reality.

What is the company’s goal with the website?

The first goal is to help the general public get a good feel for the excitement and glamour of hosting an event, or attending an event at the Philmore. With that, the goal was to increase requests for in-person tours of the building. That goal was certainly met and surpassed!

How often does the website change?

showcase the latest upcoming live shows, concerts and events being hosted at the Philmore. There are news articles that highlight the Philmore’s outreach to the local neighborhood. A more detailed calendar of events is located on the site and is updated whenever the Philmore gets booked for a wedding, business event or live show. That helps potential brides, business owners and bands see when they could host their event at the Philmore.

What do customers most appreciate about your website?

The ease-of-use and friendly navigation allow end users the opportunity to experi-

The website is updated regularly to

When I originally was sketching ideas for the site, I went back in my memory a bit when I was in high school and working for a little historic theatre very similar to the Philmore. What makes these little theatres so grand is their elegance that old Hollywood feel. I wanted to capitalize on those feelings and emotions with particular font choices and colors that would communicate visually that the Philmore is rich with history and glamour. The main point of the website design was to let the experience of the Philmore jump off the page without being hokey or unoriginal.

Best Business Blog Vera Bradley

Blog: The Inside Stitch, verabradley.com/

What do customers most appreciate about your blog?

blog

Who edits/composes your blog: Social

Media Coordinator, Kaylee Delacy, and Social Media Manager, Anna Rudicel

Age of blog? Six years Blog highlights: • Interviewing successful women from around the country about their morning routines. Women include an editor from Vogue, Today Show correspondent and senior director of design at Vera Bradley - verabradley.com/blog/2016/09/16/morningroutines-of-successful-women-sherry/ • Collaborating with five different fashion bloggers and showing five different ways to wear a Vera Bradley Crossbody bag - www. verabradley.com/blog/2016/09/28/5-ways-towear-a-crossbody/ • Style Your Space –Two Vera Bradley designers chose a pattern and decorated a room based on the pattern they chose. We

Awards 2016

Customers and fans can relate to the fashion and styling posts of our blog. We have done many DIYs and how-to posts to help our target audience with everything from transitioning their wardrobe from summer to fall to what to gift your bridesheld a contest on social and asked fans to vote on the room they liked the best. - www. maids. We create content that is helpful and verabradley.com/blog/2016/06/27/style-your- relatable to our fans. We also listen to our fans on social media and create content with space-after/ what they want to see, i.e. more behind the • The Duffel Stories – Interviews with scenes and interviews with pattern designers. designers of our exclusive duffel collection out of our Soho store in NYC - verabradley. How did the company decide what voice com/blog/2016/09/06/the-duffel-stories-nyc/ to use in the blog and what topics it

What is the purpose of the blog?

would address?

The purpose of the Vera Bradley blog is to inspire women to be positive, empower each other and find beauty in the everyday.

When the Inside Stitch started, the voice was a girl’s best friend. It was written by the copywriter that also wrote for the website and emails. Now, the blog is written by the social media team and is a little more playful and editorial in style.

How often is the blog updated?

The Inside Stitch is updated with a post about two to three times per week.

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that’s by video (not my favorite), all team meetings, lunch-and-learns, “Courtyard Collaborations,” or Wednesday night development sessions.

How do you de-stress or wind down?

I find it curious when asked “how do you handle the stress?” because there is an assumption that I am in a stressful position; I am not. Stress comes from pressure, or a fear of interference of joy and happiness. We strive to do both well and do good, and that isn’t stressful, that’s exhilarating. I trust our team to continue to do well, so that we can do

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even greater good for our membership and the community.

I do enjoy spending time with my wife Rae and my daughters, Ellie and Claire, when she’s home from college. I should say I exercise, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Maybe this question will shame me enough to do better in that respect.

What do you consider to be your greatest success thus far in your career?

My career is a culmination of opportunities that went well and ones that were opportunities to learn. All of

those opportunities and experiences come together to shape us into who we are today. I show up every day in the hope that the ratio of successes to failures continues to improve and that “greater’” is yet to come.

Who and/or what has made your current success possible?

I attribute my success to my upbringing, learning the value of hard work and knowing that you get what you put into something. Additionally, I have a very supportive family and have had the fortune to work alongside some pretty great people.

Business Excellence Awards • 2016 • fwbusiness.com • ©KPC Media Group Inc.

Best Television Commercial WaterFurnace International

Awards 2016

Commercial link: waterfurnace.com/switch/ Who produced the commercial: WaterFurnace in-house creative team

What was the purpose of the commercial?

This commercial was developed to generate leads, sales, and awareness for WaterFurnace and its dealers.

Commercial highlights:

• Scheduled to receive over 30 million total impressions • Thanks in part to the commercial, leads are up 329 percent overall • Thanks in part to the commercial, web traffic is up 56 percent overall

How/What was the feedback from the commercial?

This commercial has been extremely effective in generating leads, sales, and awareness for WaterFurnace and its dealers. Website traffic is currently up a healthy 56 percent. Every major website metric has improved — including unique users, page views, pages per session,

average session duration and bounce rate.

Any advice to others who are considering a commercial?

We started running this commercial at the beginning of October 2016 in markets nationwide. It’s scheduled to receive over 30 million impressions across the country.

We suggest advertisers have a foundation to track return on investment before jumping into television advertising. Google analytics and your website are good tools to help track basic response rates. One other piece of advice for TV and radio advertising is that responses should come in almost immediately after airing.

How long did the commercial run and in what markets?

Best use of Pinterest Vera Bradley

Awards 2016

Website: verabradley.com Pinterest account: pinterest.com/

verabradley

Who manages your Pinterest account:

Social Media Coordinator, Kaylee DeLacy, and Social Media Manager, Anna Rudicel

Years on Pinterest: Five What is the company’s goal with Pinterest?

Our goal with Pinterest is to engage with fans and inspire their lives through curated images promoting her lifestyle and beautiful solutions to uplift her senses and solve everyday challenges. We intend to drive traffic from Pinterest to both our website and blog.

How often does the company post?

We post multiple pins daily, aligning with marketing drive period and promoting blog content.

What is the most rewarding aspect for the company by maintaining the account?

It’s rewarding to see future fans be inspired by our content that they may not have otherwise found. Pinterest is also a great conversion tool to our website, so we love seeing fans engage and be encouraged enough to visit our website and hopefully make a purchase.

What’s the No. 1 tip you can give to others on this social medium?

Our key advice to successfully growing your Pinterest following is to post consistently, maintain brand aesthetic and collaborate. We utilized our strong relationships with many lifestyle and fashion bloggers by opening up our Style board to be a group collaborative. This collaboration has increased number of repins and followers for both our brand and for the bloggers, making it a success for both parties.

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Awards 2016

Josh Berry

Program Manager (260) 627-5001

John Deere

Manufacturing/Engineering (517) 673-7574

Mark Glidden President (260) 627-5009

Jerry Reinagle Sales (248) 225-4963

www.nicolettedoors.com R3Composites_213962 1/2 pg Business Excellence BW: 11/18/16

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62 Wendy jg 2016 4c

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Best Newsletter

3Rivers Federal Credit Union

Awards 2016

Website: 3riversfcu.org Who edits/composes your newsletter: Aly Hess, Digital Marketing Analyst

Age of newsletter? As it exists in its current format/state, about three years old.

Newsletter highlights: 3Rivers highlights one main feature (usually tied to a campaign) and two smaller features (education based.) Photos and links are provided for each of these, as well as a call to action. The newsletter is wrapped up with a “What’s Happening This Month” section – where we share upcoming events, sponsorships, classes, etc. and an “In Case You Missed it” section – where we recap the previous month’s events, awards, community involvement, etc.

What is the purpose of the newsletter?

To promote products and services and to educate readers about financial topics, as well as to share recaps of the past month’s

community events and highlights and promote the current month’s happenings.

How often is the newsletter sent?

Once per month (the first Tuesday of each month.)

What do customers most appreciate about your newsletter?

We see a great deal of engagement with our community involvement and upcoming event links, as well as the main features, which are typically education pieces relating to a current campaign.

Did the company ever have an “aha” moment with the designing the newsletter? How did that come about?

We spent some time looking through

various newsletters that we’d received and that we were drawn to, and picked our favorite elements from each of those to incorporate to our own, reworking here and there for the first few months until we reached a layout we felt flowed best and resulted in the most engagement (these changes were made by closely monitoring our analytics.)

Best use of Facebook Dancer Concrete Design

Awards 2016

Website: Dancerconcrete.com Facebook account: facebook.com/dancerconcrete/ Who manages your Facebook account: We manage the account internally.

Abby Reuille is the main manager of this. Andrea Bauman and Nick Dancer also do some posting.

Years on Facebook: Between six and seven

What is the company’s goal with Facebook?

To inspire others to consider using concrete as a finished floor.

How often does the company post?

One to three times per week.

What is the most rewarding aspect for the company by maintaining the account?

To be able to share project features of places we have worked in the Fort Wayne area. To help spread the message/support the organizations that have chosen to work with us.

What’s the No. 1 tip you can give to others on this social medium?

You don’t have to have a large

number of followers to have big impact.

Try to add value to others. Post things other people may be interested in.

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Best use of Twitter Visit Fort Wayne

Awards 2016

Website: visitfortwayne.com Twitter account: @VisitFortWayne Twitter account manager: John Felts Years on Twitter: Five What is the company’s goal with Twitter?

Visit Fort Wayne’s goal is to generate excitement and awareness about local events, restaurants, things to do, and all the great things happening in our city.

How often does the company post?

Visit Fort Wayne posts three to four times per day on Twitter.

What is the most rewarding aspect for the company by maintaining the account?

Visit Fort Wayne loves engaging with visitors and hearing about their experiences in Fort Wayne. It’s inspiring to see a first-time visitor enjoy our city.

What’s the No. 1 tip you can give to others on this social medium?

Plan your tweets out ahead of time by creating a social media calendar.

Keep your tweets concise, consistent and clean. Additionally, tweets that contain photos are significantly more likely to get retweeted (shared)!

Best use of Instagram

Downtown Improvement District, Contractor: With a PH Digital Marketing and Development

Awards 2016

Company: Downtown Improvement District of Fort Wayne

Website: downtownfortwayne.com Instagram account: instagram.com/ downtownfortwayne

Who manages your Instagram account: Stephen J. Bailey

Years on Instagram: Four What is the company’s goal with Instagram?

The Downtown Improvement District uses Instagram to advance Downtown Fort Wayne as the vibrant, urban core of Northeast Indiana.

How often does the company post?

Daily

What is the most rewarding aspect for Downtown Fort Wayne has helped the company by maintaining the account? change how we all view Downtown by others on this social medium?

Be intentional with your photos, A photo really is worth a thousand words. Using this visual platform to show the people and places of Page 22

focusing on everything positive that is happening in our 99 block district.

What’s the No. 1 tip you can give to

focus on what is good, and be bold.

This will allow you to capture the magic of your community.

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people and procces Continued from PAGE 13

schedules. As demand for our services is at an all-time high this year, our current challenge is to find extremely talented employees that are willing to take on a sometimes vast, variety of different roles to fulfill the end result needed for the project.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

Normally, my mornings are filled with administrative tasks, dealing with day to day issues, and handling the sales and marketing portion of this position.

The afternoons are normally filled with meetings relating to quotation development, employee questions or discussions, project meetings and customer conference calls. I normally end my day with end of day updates from my field teams and end of day emails from clients.

How many cell phones and/or tablets and/or computers do you use on a daily basis?

I use one laptop, with a second laptop 100 percent ready to use in case of a crash. I do the same with my smart phone, and I use a tablet for sales presentations to clients.

How do you prefer to communicate?

While I probably communicate equally in person to person, phone conversations and emails, I often use text with my engineering and management team as well as some clients. We use a program call “Team Viewer” for conferences between remote offices and sometimes with clients.

I strongly believe that nothing can take the place of face to face communication with both clients and co-workers.

How do you de-stress or wind down?

My basis for maintaining a stable sense of control and stability is my strong faith in God, this I believe the company has been immensely blessed as my core strength and guidance. Monday through Friday can sometimes be a non-stop emergence of issues relating to the company, I make a real effort to set work aside on the weekends and engage in hobbies and time with family and friends.

There are also times when I can feel the stress starting to build and I will book a long weekend away, during these times I still do critical emails and phone calls but don’t bother so much with routine daily activities.

What was your biggest career fail and how did you handle it?

After years of experience in technical roles managing skilled trades and engineers, I thought it would be a great challenge to be a plant manager. I was given the position of production manager for a short period of time with over 200 production personnel directly and indirectly reporting to me. I felt I fell short in many ways making this my biggest career failure. In retrospect, I realize it gave me valuable insight in the dynamics of people and processes that I would not have had otherwise.

What do you consider to be your greatest success thus far in your career?

As I look back over the last 20 years as president, I think great successes come on a regular basis. Some are seeing a struggling employee catch on and excel, winning a long fought battle against a competitor, or simply securing work from a client that I had been pursuing for a long time. I think celebrating these smaller successes is what keeps me motivated and excited about coming to work each day.

In larger context, the development of our services across so many industry sectors has provided stable revenue as sectors like housing, energy, defense, automotive have their normal market fluctuations.

Who and/or what has made your current success possible?

Again, the first and most credit to my God, second my wife, who happens to also be the company CFO. Of equal importance are key employees over the years who have really done amazing things and taken us places, I never knew

Congratulations to

Congratulations to

@VisitFortWayne and @JohnPFelts

Mac Parker,

our long time Board Member and Community Leader!

on the “Best Use of Twitter” award. #Way2Go

From the staff and board at Visit Fort Wayne VFW_BusinessWeeklyAwardAd_.indd 1

Fort Wayne’s

Storyteller

10/27/16 1:35 PM

Arts • Entertainment Community

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Awards 2016

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Proud sponsor of the Fort Wayne Business Excellence Awards

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