This Bud's for you

Detroiter, July, 2001 by Terrence Oprea

How Budco's Bud Brian went from schoolteacher to entrepreneur to successful businessman, and why he's in the game for more than the money - far more

You've heard the old cynical saying: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."

Well, cynics take note: This is the story of a former schoolteacher who's shown that some in the business world still have a thing or two to learn about values like commitment, human resource development and investment in the community.

William "Bud" Brian is the chairman, owner and founder of Budco, a Highland Park-based marketing service company. Brian takes pride in calling Budco "the dialogue company." It specializes in marketing strategies that focus on two-way communication getween groups, customers, partners and employees.

With over 900 employees in his brand-new facility, Budco is the largest employer in Highland Park - and one of the most respected direct marketing and fulfillment groups in the region and the nation. Clients like the automotives and Disney mean that Budco is on the "radar" of the big guys.

Whoa. Wait a minute. I know what you're thinking. Did he mix the words "brand-new facility," "Highland Park" and "900 employees" in the same sentence? You heard it right.

It all came about because of Bud Brian's vision. He describes himself as being "to the right of Attila the Hun politically, but calls himself a "raving liberal socialist" when it comes to his beliefs about providing people with opportunities for self-improvement. It all stems from his formative years - experiencing the anguish of poverty. That mix of business horse-sense and social responsibility has created a success formula for Brian and his firm.

Brian: We have a need for people who have a limited education and limited skill set. It (requires) some basics: You show up for work an time. You do what you're asked to do. You come to work with a positive attitude. (Then) adds are you're going to succeed with Budco. We have people who started as temp employees working on tables, putting paper in envelopes. who moved to our IT department and ended up running digital printing equipment.

Brian's career in business starred as a part-time venture. A 1966 graduate of Western Michigan University, the English major became a teacher in Walled Lake. He worked part time as a salesman at Helm Inc. to supplement his income. He took a full-time position at Helm and became the company's top salesman. In 1981, he bought D.W. Hacker Co., a small printing and distribution company. When he renamed the company Budco, it had 15 people and gross sales of $800,000. Twenty years later, Budco's annual revenue is around $60 million.

About a year ago, when Brian built a new $20-million headquarters for Budco, he decided to do it his way. Instead of locating in the suburbs, he stayed urban -- moving from Detroit, where Budco had been for 20 years. And he built a beautiful, edgy, state-of-the-art facility.

Brian: We've set a standard. We moved in here and people started painting their buildings. People started mowing their lawns. I mean, it's amazing. When you start to give people a vision of where you can be, that's really where we're at. This is an outstanding location -- and people looked at me cross-eyed when I said Highland Park.

Bud Brian is in business to help people. Yeah, I know. Everyone's in business to serve customers. A business has got to do that to survive. And sure, a lot of businesses want to help their community. A business has to do that to grow. But Brian started his business primarily to help create jobs. That was his primary purpose!

Brian: When I started this business it was to put people to work.... You've made these decisions based on some sort of social commitment of providing people with some basic dignity of having a reason to get up in the morning and go to work. And that ends up being a good business decision.

That doesn't make him a saint -- but it's precisely what makes him a good businessman. An entrepreneur has to pay attention to his profits, sure. But the vision that drives a business has to be something more. There has to be a reason beyond wealth to make a business survive. Capital might fuel a business. But a passionate vision drives it.

Brian: Henry Ford -- who I don't quote a lot -- said, "Wealth sought directly is seldom achieved." So if that's your purpose, odds are you'll fail; but if you're doing something that you love to do, then oh by the way, it'll probably make some money. And what a difference (that makes)I

Brian's "purpose" was to put the people around him to work, and he has made good on his vision. Over 200 of Budco's 900 workers have come on board in the last six months! Over the years, naysayers have criticized Brian for keeping his business in the city. But to Brian, Highland Park is the perfect location -- and the perfect place to get the kinds of people he's looking for.

This urban strategy costs more in terms of HR support, but it gives Budco access to a much broader labor pool -- often the less educated and disadvantaged members of the community. Employees are given training, sometimes in the most basic areas, and molded into excellent workers. Brian believes that any person, in principle, can be a positive value to Budco, and he is willing to stand behind this belief.