chfield
company
swamped
with orders
By Mar
y Ethridge
B eacon J ournal business writer
W hen anthrax began showing up in
government buildings, corporations and post
offices , the phone at the Wright Safety Co. in
R ichfield started to ring.
An d ring . An d ring .
C rews i n Washington D.C. needed
respirators in less than 12 hours. New Jersey
and Florida needed
protective gear ASAP.
T eams i n Connecticut ,
P ennsylvania and
K ansas needed suits
and masks.
T hen there were the
fire departments,
emergency teams and
ordinary businesses
that felt compelled by
tragedy to update their
equipment .
We had everyone
from the guy who owns
the gas station down
the street to doctors
running hospital
departments calling
u s, said Laura W robel ,
director of sales and
marketing for Wright
S afety .
Bu t it was
government
contractors hired to investigate and clean up
anthrax sites that gave the company its biggest
boost .
S ales quadrupled at the relatively small
equipment distributor in a matter of weeks.
Th e seven - employee crew in Richfield has
been working double shifts, nights and
weekends in the Congress Parkway office and
warehouse .
Its been a little overwhelming, said Dick
W right , the companys founder and president.
Iv e never seen anything like this in my 22
years in this business.
W right has experience operating under
pressure . In th e Vietnam Wa r, he served as a
sergeant in Army Intelligence stationed in
S aigon . He came home with a Bronze S tar .
W hen the anthrax calls started coming in,
W right began working every source he could
think of. One of the biggest problems he faced
was a severe supply shortage.
P lease see
S afety , B5
T echnology makes PBJ
sandwiches even easier
E ntrepreneur takes slice of food
industry with new wrapped
squares of peanut butter, jelly.
B3
P rivate security
firms , hospital
laboratories , and
some
government
agencies may be
hiring in the near
future . D emands
related to
security and anti-
terror efforts are
spurring the need
for certain jobs.
We had
everyone from
the guy who
owns the gas
station down
the street to
doctors
running
hospital
departments
calling us.
L aura W robel
D irector of sales and marketing
SEC .
B
T he B eacon J ournal
S unday
D ecember 9
, 2001
DIANE
EVANS
Inside Business
E dwin S haw
deal seems
much closer
Akron General would
keep programs intact
F inally , S ummit C ounty
officials seem near a deal on the
sale of the county - owned E dwin
S haw H ospital for R ehabilitation .
A kron G eneral M edical
C enter is offering to buy Sh a ws
name and rehabilitation business
meaning Sh a ws outstanding
therapy programs would stay
intact . Th a ts great for the
community , especially because
S haw would become part of a
respected nonprofit hospital with
a mission for service.
Sh a w, however , wouldn t be
the only winner. I tseems Akron
G eneral has negotiated quite a
deal , pending approval by Sh a ws
board and the Summit County
C ouncil . If everything falls into
place , the deal could be a coup
for G eneral s newly appointed
chief executive, Ala n Bleyer .
Th a ts because Akron General
could end up buying Shaw for
what some consider a deep-
discount price, and on top of
that , G eneral may even get the
county to build the new facility
where Sh a ws programs would
be housed on the Akron General
campus .
Th a ts right . A kron G eneral
has been in talks with the
S ummit C ounty P ort A uthority
about the possibility of the port
authority issuing bonds for a new
rehab facility. The scenario
under discussion: The port
authority would own the
building and Akron General
would lease it.
T his has been done before in
Oh i o. In one case, the C leveland -
C uyahoga C ounty P ort
A uthority financed and retained
ownership of a surgical center
and a medical office complex
that is part of Parma Community
G eneral H ospital .
Po r t authorities were set up
to acquire land on the waterfront
and develop it, said Gary F ailor ,
executive director of the
C leveland authority . We
figured out we could do the same
thing inland.
An d what about the $1.3 5
million General has proposed to
pay for Sh a ws name and
programs ?
On one hand, you can say that
S haw put away $1 million in a
reserve fund in the first 10
months of this year. With that
earning potential, $1.3 million
seems practically a steal.
H owever , nothing would
prevent Akron General from
starting its own rehabilitation
program from scratch. I fthat
happened , the county could have
trouble finding another buyer for
Sh a w, given that rehabilitation
hospitals across the nation are
struggling and Shaw itself had
been on the verge of financial
collapse a few years ago.
A lso keep in mind, the
current Edwin Shaw hospital and
grounds in Lakemore would stay
under county ownership. (Th a ts
going to be a future issue for the
county : what to do with 100
acres that arent well suited to
industrial use, because of ravines,
and isnt well located for retail
stores . )
S ave S hawadministrator
On e other thing to watch:
W hat will happen to Sh a ws
CEO , L inda Fa a?
Fa a is a veteran Shaw
administrator , who worked
under the troubled leadership of
the hospitals former CEO,
D aniel C hurch . Sh a ws finances
stabilized after Faa took charge.
T his past year, she worked
cooperatively with county
officials on a plan to save the
hospital , without posturing to
save her own job.
T hose close to negotiations
that have taken place with the
county , E dwin S haw and Akron
G eneral say her position is
expected to be eliminated so
G eneral can put its own
management in charge.
B leyer said nothing has been
decided . Go o d. Fa a doesn t
deserve to be turned out on her
ear .
D iane E vans can be reached at 330-9 9 6-
3587 .
H iring bursts appear amid gloom
Do you have security training, anthrax experience,
or manufacture gas masks? Jobs may be available
By Carrie Johnson
W ashington P ost
By the end of O ctober , well
over 7 million Americans had
joined the ranks of the jobless.
Th e hiring outlook for early
next year may not be much
brighter . A recent survey of
16 , 000 businesses by the
M ilwaukee recruiting firm
M anpower In c. found that 16
percent plan to slash their work
forces in the first quarter of 2002.
Bu t wait : S mack in the middle
of this hazy employment
landscape are American
businesses that say they will hire
hundreds , if not thousands, of
workers over the next several
months . I ndeed , 16 percent of
P lease see
H iring , B5
C atalog retailers rely on holidays
M ail - order companies hope lingering fear of malls
after S ept . 11 terror attacks works in their favor
By Colleen Valles
A ssociated P ress
SAN FRANCISCO:
S ince the
S ept . 11 terrorist attacks , T om
S ouza has stopped traveling, and
even driving, as much as he used
t o.
Th e retired Lo
s Angeles po-
lice officer restores C orvettes ,
and now orders the parts he
needs from catalogs instead of
going to stores. H
e also plans to
do his holiday shopping by cata-
log .
Iv e used them before, but
now Im using them almost ex-
clusively , he said. I feel more
comfortable buying through the
mail now.
C atalog retailers and some
W all S treet analysts are pinning
their hopes for solid holiday sales
on shoppers like S ouza , who
have opted not to travel but to
send gifts this season.
Th e catalog retailers, as well
a
s Internet retailers, are in a bet-
ter position, said Kristine K oer -
ber , an analyst with WR Ha m-
brecht & Co. Its going to be a
lot easier to send your package
across the country, especially if
you re not traveling across the
country .
T he change in buying pat -
terns is one bright spot for an in-
dustry stung not just by the re-
cession but by postal increases in
J anuary and J uly . I
n response ,
most companies had cut back on
circulation of catalogs, focusing
on current customers instead of
seeking out new ones.
C atalog companies that also
have stores and Web sites are us-
ing cross - marketing tactics . L ast
year , 13 percent of all catalog
company sales were made over
the I nternet , according to the Di-
rect Marketing A ssociation .
An d like their brick - and - mor -
tar counterparts, catalog firms
are offering deep discounts to at-
P lease see
C atalog , B5
This simple fact is important for women to
understand when choosing gifts for men. In
tomorrows installment of our gift guide, Wrap It
Up, Mad Shopper Mary Ethridge tells you the dif-
ference between male and female shoppers.
Consumer writer Betty Lin-Fisher takes a look at the fine
print of gadget purchases.
What they really want
Women buy 80 percent of mens
underwear and socks. Men buy 75
percent of global positioning systems.
Akron Beacon Journal
A ssociated P ress
P amela H olcomb o
f Arlington ,
Va., looks at catalogs as
retailers hope for a solid year.
KAREN SCHIELY / A kron B eacon J ournal
L aura W robel , director of sales and marketing for Wright Safety Co., holds a protective suit. Business at the company,
which rents and sells environmental protective products, skyrocketed after the terrorist and anthrax attacks .
W ashinton P ost photos
Story 12-09 b1 System AKRE
by TSCHNEID
Time 20:00:27 Date 12/08/01
Color layer: Black
B 1 4X Pg. Date 12/09/01 Story: 12-09 b1 Topic: 12-09 bus Keyword 12-09 b1
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