THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 13, 1997 TAG: 9701110206
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 110 lines
A Norfolk company is taking a new tack in a bid to do business on a global scale.
Joe Landy and John Hutcherson, new owners of Odessa Black Sea, a cabinet manufacturing firm, believe that focusing on the needs of their employees' families and the community in which they live will give them the edge when it comes to grabbing a bigger share of a worldwide market.
They're going to help workers keep a close eye on the kids by creating a day care center on-site, give needy youths a leg up to education and do some environmental good deeds, as well. They think that what makes good sense for people is also savvy for business.
Of course, they're also businessmen and expect their operation to grow and be profitable.
``If you're a mother and can't afford day care, if you're in a situation like that,'' getting quality child care will be at least as important as traditional benefits like health insurance when it comes to looking for a job, said Hutcherson. He and Landy are banking on gaining loyal workers who will stay with them, thereby saving training costs.
Eventually, the two owners want the day-care service to be free to workers. Even at the outset, though, they say it will cost much less than others. It may also be available to parents who don't work for the company.
On-site day care is a trend that's growing around the country, says Hutcherson, who became convinced of the importance of putting employees' personal needs up high on the list of management must-dos when he managed facilities for a Sheraton Hotel and saw the tangible results of people-friendly policies. He and Landy also agree that there shouldn't be much discrepancy between workers' pay and that of management.
Other family- and community-minded initiatives in the works include an academic achievement program that will provide financial incentives to kids from economically deprived families to stay in school and recycling manufacturing waste products, such as sawdust, into cabinet parts so they don't get into the municipal disposal system and use up tax dollars.
``We see eye to eye on this,'' said Hutcherson. ``A shared vision that companies have a responsibility to employees and the community. Plus, it makes good economic sense,'' because parents who must take time off to care for sick children or worry about their well being in an off-site facility are less consistent when it comes to their job, he said.
Landy, who's been a cabinet maker for 40 years, teamed up with Hutcherson, who owns other businesses elsewhere, to buy Odessa Black Sea for $250,000.
The new owners look toward rapid growth.
Since they bought the business in early December, they've hired 25 people - many of them workers laid off as the former owners prepared to close down - and they expect to put another 125 on the payroll in the next 24 months.
New hires will include those trying to work their way off welfare and many who are handicapped.
The academic achievement program will reward 25 needy youths each year for getting good grades - as much as $690 a year for students in grades 7 through 12.
Summer employment is part of the project, and money earned goes into a college fund that could amount to more than $8,000 at graduation.
Odessa's environmental initiative - a plan to make use of materials that were once discarded - is a joint venture with Sorbilite, Inc., a Virginia Beach company. It might just be so successful that by-products from other wood-working concerns will be collected to be pressed into use, said Landy.
The projects to help community and families are the foundation of the bright business future Odessa's new owners predict.
``When we're going full steam, within two years, we'll gross somewhat north of $10 million'' a year, said Hutcherson, who hails from Charles Town, W.Va. That's a 10-fold growth over 1996.
They expect to quadruple sales during their first year in business by increasing local wholesale and retail outlets, creating a network of outlets from Florida to New England and shipping their wood cabinets to places like Pakistan and South Korea.
Odessa's all-wood cabinets are produced in a large, unassuming structure on Barraud Avenue east of Huntersville near downtown Norfolk, where the woodsy smell of newly sawed lumber mingles with the pungent odor of lacquer and paint.
A new, $100,000 state-of-the-art saw stands ready to cut through the dense, 9-layer Baltic birch plywood, stacks of which line the walls almost to the high ceilings. Their edges look like the pages of piled library volumes a giant might thumb through.
Much of the material comes from Ukraine and is shipped from the port of Odessa on the Black Sea. Hence, the company name.
The former owners were Russian, and about one-third of the company's employees are Russian. So Landy and Hutcherson will also provide classes in English on site.
On one recent afternoon, workers seemed not to notice that their bosses were watching. They go quickly about the work of grinding, shaping and gluing the hardwoods, laughing and joking all the while. Landy and Hutcherson looked pleased.
``We're both community-minded, and we want to give back at least as much as we receive,'' says Landy. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
THE NEW OWNERS
[John Hutcherson and Joe Landy]
THEIR POLICIES
GRAPHIC
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
[Color Photo]
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
An employee of Odessa Balck Sea, a Norfolk cabinet firm, walks
through an assembly and cutting area. Since new owners bought the
business, 25 people have been hired - many of them workers laid off
as the former owners prepared to close down.