Company Background

Founded in 1942, Springfield Spring Corp., an award-winning minority-owned business, makes precision-engineered springs, stampings and assemblies for clients in many industries, including aerospace, automotive, electronics and medical devices. With 42 associates in two plants (total manufacturing space: 23,000 square feet) the $7-million, New England-based company has been playing its own Great Game since 2003.

Company Background

Turbonetics is a business based in Simi Valley, California which designs, engineers and manufactures turbochargers it got its start 34 years ago to meet the burgeoning demand for performance automobiles. The company once worked with the California Highway Patrol, for example, to outfit its vehicles. The business has since diversified into other markets like industrial and military by specializing in delivering custom-built forced-induction solutions. Hit hard by the recession, the company credits starting the Great Game of Business in 2010 for helping spark its recent turnaround.

Business Challenges

When the recession hit, the automotive industry flat-lined – which slashed the company’s revenues by 27% in 2009. “The industrial markets were being cut in half and even our customers were going out of business at the time,” says President Brad Lewis. With reve-nue down, cash became short, which made it difficult for the company to service its debt. Turbonetics’ bank even suggested that the company go looking for another lender. In re-sponse, the company began a work-share program and mandatory pay cuts at all levels to help to cut costs and reduce its cash needs moving forward.

Company Background

In 1988, entrepreneur Carl Carpenter saw an opportunity to turn some used sheet metal rolling equipment into a small business based in Rogers, Arkansas that would sell metal building components. The business soon took off, and the company moved in 1990 to a larger facility in Lowell, AR. Not only has that facility grown exponentially, so, too, has the company as a whole as it now operates five facilities (in Lowell, AR; Michigan City, IN; Cedar Hill, TX; Jasper, AL; and Mount Airy, NC) and employs 400. On the strength of more than 2,000 post-frame, commercial, residential, and architectural customers across 26 states in the U.S., the company earned revenues of more than $250 million in 2011.

Business Challenges

While their competitors cut back on product lines and services offered in the wake of the recession, Central States, which is 100% employee-owned, decided to get aggressive by expanding geographically – something the management team needed its associates’ help with. “We told everyone we were going to hit the mar-ket head on,” says Donna Leger, the company’s president. “We were taking a chance and we needed everyone to be behind us.” Because the company’s operat-ing revenue and margin are so dependent on the price of steel, they also rely heavily on their associates to minimize mistakes and waste.

Company Background

Dorian Drake International is an export management company that helps U.S. manufacturers in four product categories - automotive, food service, industrial and hardware – developing their international sales, distribution and in the building their brand. The company was originally founded as Dorian International in 1980 by Ed Dorian Sr. and later changed its name in 1996 based on the integration of British-owned Drake International – a company five-times its size – which is acquired in 1985. “It was like a minnow swallowing a whale,” says Ed Dorian Jr., the company’s CEO who joined his father at the company full-time in 1983. The company is celebrating its 10th year of playing The Great Game of Business in 2012.