Content provided in partnership with

Business Services Industry

To the rescue: change is brewing: entrepreneur and Xerox stir things up with a new look for a very deserving brewery

Entrepreneur, Nov, 2005 by Geoff Williams

"PLEASE EXCUSE our outdated office," Randy Sprecher would begin, standing in a drab space that pretended to be a lobby. And if people looked down the narrow room filled with cubicles and doorways, they would see decor that smacked of the 1970s--even though the business had come into being in 1985. Sprecher would explain to visitors that his brewery put all its resources into its beer, root beer and other sodas. And if the office appeared to be having a particularly bad day, Sprecher might go further in his act of contrition, saying: "We put all the emphasis on quality control, training our people, making pay-roll, providing a good health plan...." Then he would try to change the subject.

Most Popular Articles in Business: Research and Markets : Tesco Plc - SWOT Framework Analysis; Do Us a Flavor - Ben & Jerry's Issues a Call for Euphoric New Flavors; eBay made easy: ready to start an eBay business? These 5 simple steps will ...; Katrina's lawsuit surge: a legal battle to force insurers to pay for flood ...; Wal-Mart's newest distribution center opened last month near the southwest ...; More »

Sprecher never held important meetings in the Milwaukee offices of Sprecher Brewing Co. Inc. He did his best to take people anywhere else. Or if they dropped by unexpectedly, he would take guests on a tour of the brewing facilities, which he was understandably proud of. Above all, he avoided leading anyone into the nucleus of his operations.

Sprecher, now 58, would have liked to do something about the offices, where about a dozen of his 54 employees work, but the reasons he gave his guests for not doing anything were accurate: If there were available funds to spend, he put them into the rest of the business.

His wife, Anne, 44, married him in 2001 and joined the company a year ago. She was in love with Randy, but wanted to divorce his office. The low ceilings weighed on everyone, and the threadbare carpet and dark paneled walls were depressing. Meanwhile, the computers seemed to be something from the Stonehenge era, and the furnishings from a rummage sale. In fact, the countertop in the center of the offices resembled something found in a hospital nurses' station--it was big, bulky and a catchall for clutter. Clutter, in fact, ruled in the office. Paperwork was everywhere, despite the fact that no one wanted to do paperwork--it could take the printer up to six minutes to spit out a single color page.

Randy was sympathetic, but he always had an excuse as to why any extra funds had to go somewhere else. And so when Anne learned about Xerox and Entrepreneur's "Most Deserving Small Business" makeover contest, it seemed like her last chance to bring redemption to their motley collection of desks and offices.

The Sprechers' situation isn't unusual, according to Dave Burdakin, president of The HON Company, one of the nation's leading office-furniture manufacturers and the furniture provider for the makeover contest: "Entrepreneurs are very busy people, and sometimes office decor is not their top priority--until they wake up one day, look around their office and realize it's a hodgepodge of material that looks like they acquired everything at a rummage sale." As an example, Burdakin notes that Sprecher Brewing Co. was using a wrought-iron plant holder for their document storage: "It reminded me of something I used to see in my grandmother's backyard."

The judges who chose the winner from this year's batch of contestants consisted of Burdakin; Dan Holtshouse, director of corporate business strategy for Xerox; Stephen Jordan, vice president and executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Corporate Citizenship; Rieva Lesonsky, senior vice president and editorial director of Entrepreneur magazine; and Thom Filicia, interior-design specialist on NBC/Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The criteria for winning included considerations on how sorry an office looked, of course, but there was another twist. The business had to be practicing social entrepreneurship--that is, giving something back to its community.

PAY IT FORWARD

The 2000 book and movie Pay It Forward put that expression into the popular lexicon and reinforced an idea that has been around presumably as long as humankind: Do something good "just because," and almost inevitably, good things will also happen to you.

The corporate world has been onto this for some time now. But you already knew that. Just think about Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, Ronald McDonald Houses, or Ben & Jerry's and their environmental causes. But being involved isn't just a matter of being nice--it's sound business practice, points out Jordan.

"Being a good neighbor in the community is part of the DNA makeup of small companies," says Jordan. "What companies [sponsor] the local Little League team? It's the local bicycle shop, the dry cleaner, or the local bar or restaurant. And why do they do that? In part, it's because of community relations and marketing. If they don't have good relations with the people they're close to, their sales are affected."

The judges were particularly impressed with Sprecher Brewing Co. and its owners' commitment to both their business and their community. "We chose them because, like so many entrepreneurs, they were so focused on growing the business, they neglected their own needs. And to top it off, they were so active in their community, they just rose to the top," says Lesonsky.

Business Services Industry

To the rescue: change is brewing: entrepreneur and Xerox stir things up with a new look for a very deserving brewery

Entrepreneur, Nov, 2005 by Geoff Williams

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Reference

Most Popular Articles in Business

Most Popular Publications in Business