second quarter // 2013

KRAMER ENTERPRISESMEMbER SPoTlIghTpage 16

Laundry Pro

1999 Marcus Avenue • Lake Success, NY 11040 • 1-800-422-5842 • www.BalticLinen.com

Laundry Pro

It’s like nding money in the laundry.

The Baltic Laundry Pro - your on-call expert to help you maximize e�ciencies in almost any laundry environment. The Baltic Laundry Pro offers onsite troubleshooting in the following areas: • Washroom chemistry and formulation• Production flow from soil to the customer• Flatwork / ironer quality and production• Pars, inventories The Baltic Laundry Pro can also provide: • Product comparison prior to purchase from yarn construction to wash testing• Product damage analysis• Assistance in washroom formulation• Analysis of tensile strength for both new and processed items• Even the ability to simulate formulas for offsite testing

A true partnership is founded on an intimate understanding of how to link a product to a process. At Baltic Linen Company, we are dedicated to ensuring that our customers are able to optimize all aspects of their

facilities in processing our products - in the most profitable manner possible.

To that end, Baltic Linen Company employs a reknowned laundry expert with experience in all four main areas of laundry

management - operations, chemicals, equipment and textiles in your hospital, hotel, food & beverage, or industrial laundry.

If you should ever find yourself in need of such expertise, please contact Baltic Linen via phone or email and we will begin the process of examining your specific needs.

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»CONTENTSsecond quarter 2013

CSC NETWORK NEWS // Q2 2013 3

CSC UPDATE

MEMBER NEWS

SALES

EMAIL MARKETING

FLEET

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT

HIRING

MANAGEMENT

DIGITAL MARKETING

PRODUCTION

LEGAL

CALENDAR

From There to Here and Beyond

Building a Twenty First Century Sales Team

Content is King: A How-to Guide for Writing Valuable E-mail Comm.

Natural Gas Moves Transportation Forward

Kramer Enterprises

Century Place Apparel

How do you Know Who's the Right Person for the Job?

Where Did All the Money Go?

Is 2013 The Year to Outsource?

Using Value Stream Maps to Uncover Waste and Improve your Operation

Hundreds of NLRB Rulings in Doubt

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What is the history and how was your company founded?Kramer Enterprises was founded in 1944. From the beginning, Kramer Ent. has transcended generat ions and markets while maintaining a high level quality of products and services. Each generat ion brought a new twist to the business. Founder, Carl Kramer, started the businesses as a home laundry and retai l dry cleaning business. Second generat ion and son to the founder, Paul Kramer, brought his v ision of commercial laundry and text i le rental services. Third generat ion and son of Paul, Rich Kramer, brought faci l ity services and anci l lary products. Third generat ion and daughter of Paul, Andrea Kramer Wilcox, created a new div ision that of fers direct sales for corporate apparel, uniforms, promotional products and custom company e-stores. Today, Kramer Ent. is comprised of four brands: City Dry Cleaning, Schafer Dry Cleaning (retai l stores), City Uniforms & Linen (rental div ision) and City Apparel (direct sales div ision).

What markets does your company serve?Both City Apparel and City Uniforms cater to the same markets, essential ly. Unti l 2009, both company's focus was manufacturing. When the uniform market was devastated by the economic downturn in manufacturing, City Uniforms made a strategic decision to focus on the healthcare and the hospital ity markets, specif ical ly with microf iber products, tablecloths and napkins.

What products/services are offered? City Apparel of fers corporate apparel, uniforms, promotional products, incentive programs, design services and custom eCommerce stores. City Uniforms of fers uniforms, mats and related dust control products, hospital ity l inens, faci l ity services which includes a ful l l ine of JanSan products. Both retai l stores of fer ful l service, upscale dry cleaning.

What are the advantages for your customers doing business with City?In the best interest of al l part ies, we are transparent with who we are and what we produce, and our associates are empowered to make decisions. Training our associates in sales, customer service and technical know-how benef its the customer through impeccable communicat ion, quick response t ime and ease in understanding our process. A l l companies are heavi ly invested in technology, using state of the art equipment, software, websites, handhelds, etc., g iv ing our team and our customers the best in innovation.

»MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

16 Q2 2013 // CSC NETWORK NEWS

Kramer Enterprises 116 East Main Cross St. Findlay, OH 45840 Paul Kramer - Chairman, President, CEO (419)422-7924 x 126 http://www.cityuniformsandlinen.com CSC Member Since 2010

How many customers/routes/employees do you have?All brands serve over 5,000 customers throughout OH, IN and MI. 15 City trucks are deployed on the road 5 days a week. Approximately 65% of our customer base is serviced through our industr ial business, and the rest are comprised of retai l and City Apparel customers. City Apparel also services customers throughout the US, Mexico and Canada. Current ly we employ 80 associates with an average tenure of 10 years.

To what do you attribute the success and growth of your company?All 4 brands can easi ly attr ibute our sales mental ity and savvy market ing techniques to our success. On the same hand, we bel ieve that our Customer Service Reps, Management and production associates al l hold the key to a sat isf ied customer. A l l are equal ly as important and necessary for continued growth. Running email campaigns, using Social Media, SEO, creat ive market ing col lateral and fresh websites that engage our customers al l g ive us a competit ive advantage. In 2012, daughter Andrea started a new business, Go Grow Strategies, a ful l service agency special izing in web design, SEO and al l things dig ital. This has been a tremendous boost to our market ing ef forts overal l by adding more young innovative people to the mix at our of f ice. Our associates at al l levels maintain the success that comes our way. We have a wel l-def ined plan and a very focused, intentional approach to achieve the goals of the company. Our work with Six Discipl ines has g iven us an ef fect ive means to al ign the organizat ion to drive high performance. Consistency and accountabil ity are keys to our success. Tools that we use to keep our team in tune are project management applicat ions, Six Discipl ines Methodology, Quarterly Team Meetings, Continuous Process Improvement techniques and SOP’s that are being created and documented on a regular basis.

What is your company’s mission statement/slogan/model?Our Slogan is Delivering Image. It started as our strategic posit ion, but eventual ly became our tagl ine. It truly

encompasses what our main focus is as an organizat ion. We bring image enhancement solut ions to our customer’s door with a trained professional and a great looking City truck.

Our Values:

MISSION STATEMENTDelivering excel lent value, products and services to

enhance the professional image of our partners.

VALUE STATEMENT Integrity – The character to be honest and the

competence to del iver on our commitments. Excel lence – To consistent ly del iver outstanding

performance in everything we do for our Partners, Team Members, Customers and Vendors.

Last ing Relat ionships – To develop and maintain relat ionships that y ield value for al l part ies.

How do you effectively communicate your message to your employees, customers and prospects?This is a perfect t ime to talk about our music v ideo! In the spring of 2012, son Rich decided to write and produce a parody song to LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem”. Once Paul and Andrea heard the f inal version, it was clear that we had to fol low it with a ful l music v ideo. Within 2 months, City Truck came to l i fe in a ful l day production with the part icipat ion of many of our associates. Andrea produced the v ideo, a sales rep from City Apparel choreographed and recruited dancers, and many of our associates danced, acted and assisted in some way. This project, from beginning to end, communicated to our customers and prospects that we are a fun, innovative, not your run of the mil l laundry. And it was a HUGE team building project that brought smiles to our team’s face with laughter and the spunk of pitching in on a project that none of us have endeavored as a team in the past. It was an amazing experience by al l! Don’t wait another second….check out our City Truck sing along with its very own website custom designed around the LMFAO theme: www.DeliveringImage.com We just surpassed 25,000 views in 6 months.

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MEMbER SPoTlIghT continued from pg. 15

What innovations have been implemented in your company/plant recently?Since 2009, our focus has been to build a highly ef f icient processing plant to include: Two new f latwork folders, one of which is equipped with a f ive lane napkin accumulator, conveyers, and Felin’s automated shrink-wrap system and an Ergocon small piece bagging system. Addit ional ly, we have instal led a complete wastewater pre-treatment system. Our Service team has al l new City Trucks and highly trained Customer Service Route representat ives armed with hand held technology. We wil l be instal l ing GPS technology on al l of our City Trucks by year end, 2013.

What are the advantages of working in a family business, and what does it mean to you?From our v iewpoint, we enjoy the abi l ity to work with people that we love and have fun with on a dai ly basis. We truly try to provide a family atmosphere throughout the company. There are t imes that Paul, Andrea and Rich may disagree, but they are outweighed by the t imes they can poke fun with one another and be proud of the accomplishments each have contr ibuted to the organizat ion. Each is passionate for the business and brings dif ferent and appreciated v iewpoints to the table.

What is the succession plan/training strateg y for future generations?Paul has brought an excellent foundation to the table when it comes to succession planning. In the forefront is the company’s use of Six Disciplines methodology. Our organization’s management team meets annually for a full day of planning and reviewing the previous year’s results and what we hope to accomplish the following year. The team also meets quarterly to ensure we are on

target with company goals and projections in a half day format. Furthermore, Andrea, Paul and Rich meet weekly for breakfast, deliberately outside of the off ice in a public environment (to maintain peace at times), to discuss updates on their areas of responsibilities and troubleshoot any issues that may have crept up in the past week. It is clear Andrea and Rich are passionate and bring their own sets of expertise that will ensure continued success when a transition is made All three complement each other in both their strengths and weaknesses.

What do you see as the greatest challenge for our industry?Recruit ing the r ight associates is a chal lenge. We have taken extensive measures in the recruitment, hir ing and training process. We incorporate more marketable job ads, ut i l ize assessment tests and have a 3 phase hir ing process that involves many members of the management team. A lthough we feel we have a strong program, we have remained dedicated to the process and t ime it takes to be successful.

What do you see as the greatest opportunities for growth/change in our industry?We feel the greatest opportunity within our industry has is to continue of fer ing a great product, at a great price with exceptional customer service. We wil l a lso continue to pursue opportunit ies that can reduce our costs through technology and highly trained associates.

What is the greatest value you get from being a CSC Member?Networking with industry leaders, buying advantage and educational opportunit ies such as the Owner’s Summit. We LOVE that CSC is spot l ighting us in this real ly cool magazine! POW!!!!!!

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