QC Industries Conveyor Blog

The Material Handling Wholesaler cover story on family succession was a great profile of our friends at Conveyer & Caster – Equipment for Industry, a material handling distributor in Cleveland. They’ve been a great distributor of ours for the better part of twenty years, working hand in hand selling our belt conveyors.

There are great stories within the MHW article. The push from their father to cut their teeth somewhere else before coming on board. The sounding board which they bounce business ideas off of each and every quarter and then of course the succession plans that you need to have in place regarding estates, trusts, wills, etc.

But I feel the untold story about this business is the success they’ve had navigating through tough times over the last few years. Let’s not forget Cleveland is smack dab in the middle of the rust belt and we — all of us — are still digging hard during difficult times. According to Department of Numbers, Cleveland has lost  143,000 job since May 2000. So for a company to be having success, making moves to grow and hiring a great staff, I’m telling that story and shining a light on this company.

Knowing Jeff and Trevor now for many years. I was always impressed that their father made them go to work and be successful with other companies first. So thanks to dad for preparing the boys and setting the company up for potential turbulence and of course the work ethic to make success happen. The great part of the untold story is we are living, growing and prospering together with Conveyer & Caster and it is to be continued.

Last week our marketing team took part in our annual Marketing ROUNDtable event hosted in collaboration with our friends at Balluff. The event started at the beautiful Metropolitan Club in Northern Kentucky where Balluff played host. The Met overlooks the Ohio River with views of Paul Brown Stadium as well as Great American Ball Park. The entire group enjoyed a great dinner, drinks and good “marketing” conversation!

The next day, you guessed it — QR codes, Social networking, content for blogging, white papers, and marketing automation were just a few of the many topics discussed at Balluff’s North American headquarters. Last year’s theme gravitated towards personal interaction and trade show related discussions. This year was completely different and even more exciting as the conversations swirled around social media and marketing best practices.

Kelly Panko, Marketing Communications Manager from Balluff said, “Loved the format with a couple of timely presentations, a tremendous amount of great discussions and free-flowing dialog. The meeting gave everyone an opportunity to talk about projects they’ve done and suggest new ideas so at the end of the day we aren’t wasting time and money on dead end projects.”

We had two great presentations. One was by business consultant (and former Marketing Manager for ATS) Jim Beretta and the other by Scott McCafferty, the co-founder and Managing Director of WTWH Media, a family of over 25 dotcoms and two industrial publications including Design World Magazine.

Others in the meeting included Chris Thompson, Marketing Coordinator and Graphic Designer with QC Industries Conveyors; Anjna Petal, Marketing Manager from Epson Robots; Alisha Howard, Marketing Manager from Markem Imaje; Lisa Pitzer, Marketing Manager from Oystar Jones; Melissa Freeman, Marketing Manager and Marc Ostertag, President of B&R; Mike Hilsey, Director of Marketing from Flexlink; John Budd, Director of Sales and Marketing from Fiero Fluid Power; Roger Judson, Director of Sales for PMA and of course Tom Rosenberg, Director of Marketing, Kelly Panko and Roger Altendorf, Business Development Manager from Balluff.

Thank you all for coming this year. We are looking forward to another great meeting next year!

This year’s Marketing ROUNDtable event will take place at Balluff Sensors Worldwide’s offices in Florence, Kentucky. Balluff, founded in 1921, is the world leader in sensors for a wide range of applications and industries.

Everyone who attended last year’s event (hosted here at QC Industries) considered it a success. With a focus on personal attention to the customer, we discussed trade shows, print advertising and the web.

We’re looking forward to another great event this year. Marketing peers from Epson, Markem Imaje and others will be making their way to the Queen City for a great evening at the Metropolitan Club this evening and then a full round table event tomorrow.

Business consultant and speaker Jim Beretta (formerly the marketing manager for ATS Automation) will be speaking on “Retooling your Marketing.” Scott McCafferty, Co-founder and Managing Director of WTWH Media, LLC (owner of 20 tech based websites and two print magazines including Design World Magazine), will be speaking on new technologies for B2B Marketers.

I look forward to seeing everyone! Stay tuned for a recap here after the event ends.

Last week we were recognized by the Board of County Commissioners during Small Business Week. We were also featured in the recent annual report as a business poised for growth in support of an area boasting a 35% increase in job creation during 2010. The report annually chooses businesses that continue to post strong selling and hiring numbers. QC Industries continually reinvests in the business on a regular basis and is currently hiring again in 2011.

The office of Economic Development, which provided the award, is devoted to attracting and retaining businesses in the County. They offer many workshops, training grants and other ways of assisting businesses. Along with many other businesses on the east side of Cincinnati, the University of Cincinnati has also seen the value in supporting the area. They now occupy a Ford transmission plant which closed in 2008. The plant originally employed 2,500 people. UC East has now taken 81,000 sqyare feet of office space and as a part of a 25 year growth plan will offer Bachelors level degrees. The agreement includes an option to buy the 45 acres of land around the building.

Other companies recognized were Penn Station, which opened their new headquarters in Miami Township, Ohio. In December 2010 Entrepreneur Magazine announced Penn Station was ranked 141 in this years Franchise 500. Eagle Coach Company which resides in Pierce Township and Engineered Mobile Solutions, a leader in custom trailers for the military, were also recognized.

We are proud to receive this special award of recognition from the county.

The Buzz is the sound heard by companies in Florida planning to attend the ATX South and related shows in Orlando, March 16th & 17th.

“The show has been sold out for some time now,” said Lonnie Gonzales, Group Sales Manager for UBM-Canon. No show sales company has been able to say that for many years. With Disneyworld, Universal Studios and Ripley’s museum among other attractive draws, the destination makes for an easier decision for many southeastern travelers.

Like all of the Canon shows this one will also include the MD&M Show, South Pack, Design & Mfg., Plastec, Aerocon and the Green Mfg shows. “This bundling effect is one reason why the shows are so great…there is a nice cross pollination of the attendees.” I’ll give credit to Joe Pontonio, Sales Manager for the ATX show for the nice play on words.

We at QC Industries are no different. Having a show in Orlando is what we’ve been lobbying for with the Canon-UBM team for years. I have a sense that this show may just bring more than the normal regional show in Charlotte or Minneapolis. Somewhat like a Las Vegas show destination, Orlando attendees will want to bring their families. This way all of the exhibitors will enjoy the show buzz!