There's never a smooth ride - Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative 1994 honorees

Nation's Business, March, 1994 by Sharon Nelton

What every entrepreneur learns, later if not sooner, is that the road to a successful business is paved with impediments. They are the potholes, the stop signs, the detours, and sometimes even the washed-out bridges of entrepreneurial life.

No entrepreneur's know this better than the leaders of this year's businesses selected as Blue Chip Enterprises in a program called the Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative.

"We have learned that the ups and downs of business are the norm rather than the exception, and we have learned not to expect a smooth ride," said honorees William and Susan Kroyer in their application for the 1994 program. The two are the husband-and-wife owners of Kroyer Films, a motion picture and television production company in Van Nuys, Calif.

Now four year's old, the Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative is sponsored by Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Nation's Business to recognize small companies that have overcome adversity and emerged stronger as a result.

Two hundred companies, from Puerto Rico to Alaska, have been named honorees in the 1994 program. (See the listing below.) Of these companies, 51 were designated as top state or regional honorees from which a panel of judges selected four National Blue Chip Enterprises.

The four national honorees were invited to receive their trophies at the U.S. Chamber's 1994 National Small Business Conference in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28.

The stories of the achievements of these four Blue Chip honorees will be told in the April issue of Nation's Business.

Entrepreneurs in this year's competition have bounced back from natural disasters such as Hurricane Andrew and last summer's Midwest floods. Some have recovered from riots, fires, severe financial difficulties, or the unexpected death of a partner. Others have successfully coped with the heartbreaking embezzlement by a trusted employee or the frustration of hearing over and over again that what they wanted to do "couldn't be done."

These Blue Chip business owners reflect not only the spirit of American entrepreneurs but also their diversity: They are men, women, couples, Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American, and Native-American. And some of them are immigrants, still fulfilling the American dream by building businesses of their own.

All designees will be profiled in a book to be made available later this year. In addition, the top state and regional honorees will be featured on different segments of "First Business," the small-business morning television newscast produced by the U.S. Chamber and Connecticut Mutual.

The television presentations--which will be made available on videotape--and the book are part of an effort to share the lessons that can be learned from the Blue Chip Enterprises with small-business owners throughout the country, and to assure these other owners that they, too, can work through the difficult challenges of being an entrepreneur. And there will always be challenges.

As the Kzoyers, the film producers from Van Nuys, put it, "We have found the essential ingredients for survival are these: looking for new opportunities when the old ones don't work, always taking advantage of new technology, always doing the best job we can do on any project, and never giving up, no matter how bleak the moment." 1994 Blue Chip Enterprise Companies

These are the 200 companies selected as Blue Chip Enterprises in the 1994 Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative program.

The company chosen in its state or in the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico for the national judging is listed first. (Not all states are represented on the list.)

The nature of the business is indicated when it is not evident from the company's name.

ALABAMA

Steiner/Bressler Advertising, and T.A. Lewis & Associates, Inc. (telecommunications consulting), both of Birmingham; NSP Corporate Graphics (design services and signage), Auburn; Summit Specialties, Inc. (manufacturer of metal hunting stands), Decatur.

ALASKA Summit Paving & Construction, Inc., Anchorage.

ARIZONA

Prescott Valley Broadcasting Company, Inc. (radio advertising) and Prescott Aerospace, Inc. (precision machining), both of Prescott Valley; Mastersoft, Inc. (computer software development), Scottsdale; CerProbe Corp. (manufacturer of testing devices for microchips), Tempe.

ARKANSAS

Gaston's White River Resort, Lakeview; The WAG Company, Inc. (backhoe manufacturer), Paragould; Ready Flow, Inc. (manufacturer of pen sets and inks), Rogers; Hubbard & Hoke Furniture/The Cupboard (retailer), Blytheville.

CALIFORNIA

Shoreline Professional Video Systems (retail sales and service), Hollywood; Kroyer Films, Inc. (motion-picture and television production), Van Nuys; Central Computer Products (software publishing), Fillmore; Unity Forest Products (lumber), Yuba City; GERBER Business Development Corp. (small-business consulting), Petaluma; James R. Gary & Company Ltd. (residential real-estate sales), Woodland Hills.