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National Small Business Week - Success Stories

National Small Business Week
Message from the EDD Director

Ameritac
Isiah Harris

In 1994, when Isiah Harris founded Ameritac, it was essentially a one-man operation. Now it is a thriving business with $25 million in annual revenue and 150 employees working in three states.

The Concord-based environmental services business won its first big job managing the cleanup of contaminated underground water for CAE Electronics in Sunnyvale. More private sector jobs followed. Then Ameritac took a new direction, expanding its operations with the help of a federal Small Business Administration program that awards government contracts to minority-owned businesses. Ameritac’s first federal contract put the young company in charge of housing maintenance at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow.

The company grew from a staff of 5 and revenue of more than $1 million in 2001 to 150 employees and $25.8 million in revenue in 2007. In 2004, Ameritac earned a spot on Inc. Magazine’s list of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the nation with a four year average annual sales growth of nearly 200 percent.

Ameritac provides total technical solutions in the fields of engineering, construction, facility management, maintenance and operations, environment work, and military family housing maintenance services to the government and commercial sectors. Its current contracts include facilities maintenance and management for three military bases in California and one each in New Mexico and Virginia.

The company finds the California Employer Advisory Council and the California Employer, the quarterly newsletter published by the Employment Development, helpful resources. “They provide the expert advice on business and legal questions that small businesses need,” says James Farmer, human resources manager for Ameritac and EAC board member.

JEM Restaurant Management Corporation
Joseph F. Desmond

The story of the JEM Restaurant Management Corporation is steeped in the history of the fast food business in America, its roots entwined with both the Kentucky Fried Chicken and Wendy’s hamburger chains.

JEM’s founder, Joseph F. Desmond, was already in the restaurant business when the legendary Colonel Harlan Sanders arrived in Fresno in the 1950s on a cross country tour selling franchises for his then little-known Kentucky Fried Chicken business.

“Mr. Desmond became one of the earliest KFC franchisees,” Kris Stuebner, a JEM executive says. “The Desmond family still tells stories about the colonel dying his hair in the bathroom of their home. Over the years that one KFC restaurant has grown to 15.”

Later, Mr. Desmond met another fast food pioneer, Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s, and bought the first Wendy’s franchise. Now, JEM has 23 Wendy’s franchises, plus one of the largest walnut ranches in North America, and a total of nearly 1,200 full and part-time employees at the ranch and restaurants in Kings, Tulare, Fresno, Madera, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Butte counties.

Joseph Desmond died in 2007 but Mr. Stuebner says his family continues to run the company based on his vision: “Being conservative during the good times, saving and reinvesting back into our stores, taking care of and treating our employees and customers like family and being involved in our communities.”

The company is careful with its money, Stuebner says. “We have 14 people in our corporate headquarters. We didn’t just add to our headcount when times were good. Now times are tough and we are doing well. Mr. Desmond always surrounded himself with good people and good employees.”

JEM is also committed to giving back to the communities it serves, supporting the arts, schools, sports and other community activities. “We let people know while we have franchises from national companies, we are a locally owned business,” Stuebner says. “We hire from within the community, buy local products whenever possible, and reinvest in the community.”

Mr. Stuebner is a member of the California Employers Advisory Council (CEAC), a nonprofit organization in partnership with the Employment Development Department (EDD) and approximately 50 local Employer Advisory Councils throughout the State. It is recognized as one of the premier information resources on employment and workforce development issues. JEM also takes advantage of EDD tax seminars, CalJOBS^SM—EDD’s online job exchange system, and the California Business Portal. JEM has also found many of the services offered by the Small Business Administration and the Internal Revenue Service very helpful.

Nelsen Law Firm
Robert Nelsen

The Nelsen Law Firm began in Sacramento in 1993, later moved to Roseville and now exists in cyberspace, with the lawyers and employees working from home, connected by the Internet and various other electronic means.

The firm views this use of sophisticated technology as more than an interesting detail in its business plan; working in cyberspace is the secret to its success. High-tech equipment and services, along with flexible personnel policies which includes telecommuting in a home office, helps the Nelsen Law Firm “to be lean and responsive to a changing business world” - delivering high quality business and employment law services to small and mid-size companies at affordable rates.

A high-tech, worker-friendly approach benefits not only employees but clients - and the firm itself by “cutting overhead to the bone.” Working with state of the art technology, Nelson provides clients with the most up-to-date means of communicating with the firm while receiving low-cost, first-rate legal services.

The Nelsen Law Firm takes advantage of the Employment Development Department (EDD) Tax Seminars and the California Employer, EDD’s quarterly newsletter, to help achieve its goals: providing affordable legal advice on how to establish, run, and succeed in a small business. This includes advice and representation in court on issues involving incorporation and partnerships and all other employment issues.

PayCare
Scott Willsea

PayCare, a payroll service company is committed to offering its clients a personal touch that is often lacking in its larger competitors. That commitment has paid off: over the past 12 years the Riverside-based firm has become one of the fastest-growing full-service payroll companies in the nation.

Scott Willsea, chief executive officer of PayCare, worked with major business service providers before deciding to start PayCare in 1997. Scott believed that the giant payroll companies focused exclusively on their own bottom lines, not the needs of customers. He began PayCare with a focus on providing affordable service with both professionalism and concern for the client.

While PayCare has a strong focus on the personal side, it also provides the most up-to-date professional services handling payrolls by fax, phone, or the Internet, depending on the needs of the customer. It recently began using video conferencing to troubleshoot issues with clients. The company’s customer service representatives have an average of 12 years experience in payroll, human resources, tax, and business operations.

PayCare has tapped into the no-cost tax seminars offered by the Employment Development Department (EDD) and has recruited employees at EDD job fairs; an example of making tax dollars work to better your business.

Scott Willsea built the company on a foundation of integrity, innovation and excellent customer service patterned on the belief that “the customer is always right even when they are wrong.”