“Just when we decided to grow the company, the economy crashed,” Otis says. “So we created a new plan: ‘Let’s Survive.’ The idea was to hunker down, keep overhead low and create systems and processes so that when the economy improved, we would be in a good place to grab hold of it.”
Terry Cekola’s recipe for growth: An inclusive culture where employees are passionate about making customers and suppliers successful.
A rising star among government contractors, nLogic is helping design defense systems that protect the United States from foreign missile threats and space shuttles that will take astronauts to Mars and beyond.
SportCrafters Inc. aims to be the dominant global manufacturer of cycling training equipment by 2018 — and is well on its way. The Granger, Ind.-based manufacturer has developed a proprietary technology that will transform the market for trainers (devices that turn road bikes into stationary bikes).
Jonathan Nolan wants to raise the profile of private security officers. “There’s a perception that security guards are wannabe cops or jerks who have suddenly gotten a taste of authority and don’t know how to handle it,” says Nolan, founder of Nolan Security in Avon, Indiana.
At age 50, following careers in speech pathology, communications and sales, Beth Tully discovered that her real passion was chocolate.
An electronic design engineer and model train enthusiast, Steve Dominguez began creating light and sound systems for his trains in the late 1980s.
Mies van der Rohe’s aphorism that “less is more” applies not only to architecture, but also mouthguards — at least it does for Akervall Technologies, which has created lightweight mouthguards that offer athletes more protection than conventional models
Green construction and luxury homes might sound like an oxymoron — but not to Stephen Ellis and Grant Castilow.
Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Constructive Eating makes children’s tableware so engaging that even fussy eaters will eat their vegetables without whining. The company debuted with construction-themed products, such as a “forklift” fork and “front loader” spoon, followed by a line of “garden fairy” plates and utensils.