Philadelphia Business Journal – Page 2

The Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund showing the Spirit of Philadelphia

As filed – without edits – for last Friday’s of the Philadelphia Business Journal.

THE SPIRIT OF PHILADELPHIA partnered with the Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund on April 20 to benefit families in the region with seriously ill or disabled children. Four hundred patients and their loved ones were aboard the Spirit of Philadelphia, along with Miss Philadelphia Brintha Vasagar and Miss Pennsylvania Rachel Brooks. The cruise was also meant to honor the Dolan Memorial Fund, which has raised more than $7 million and helped with the uninsured needs of more than 17,000 families in its 31-year history. The nonprofit has treated more than 2,000 children and their families by welcoming them onto the Spirit of Philadelphia over the past six years.

See similar profiles for the Philadelphia Business Journal here. See other examples of my reporting here.

SCA Americas celebrates Earth Day with Philadelphia schools

As filed – without editing – last week for yesterday’s edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal.

SCA Americas has gone green with its educational advocacy.

The Swedish consumer goods and paper company with U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia celebrated Earth Day last week by donating a book with a message to elementary schools in Philadelphia.

“For SCA, sustainability goes beyond environmentalism,” said Amy Bellcourt, vice president of communications for SCA Americas. “It goes to creating sustainability communities.”

The company donated 10 copies of “Earth Day Hooray” by Stuart J. Murphy to each of Philadelphia’s 170 public elementary schools, some of which were visited by SCA employees on April 21.

“This is a great opportunity to learn how to make stronger environments where they live,” she said.

Continue reading SCA Americas celebrates Earth Day with Philadelphia schools

Janet DeArmond: demoted to the top of Customer Service Review

As filed – without edits – last week for today’s edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal.

IN 1999, JANET DeARMOND FOUNDED Customer Service Review Inc., a consulting firm specializing in customer service training in Wayne. Somewhere after spending 14 years as the company’s president, she left.

She’s back.

“There was an opportunity. I know the company. I love it. Probably the most engaging years of my career i spent here,” DeArmond said. “I know the clients. I know the business. I really missed it.”

So after to attend to personal obligations, Liz French, the company’s current president and CEO, who was a vice president under Dearmond, brought her back into the fold.

“I’ve always stayed in contact with Liz. We both have a lot of respect for each other,” she said. “There are no strong egos here.”

Continue reading Janet DeArmond: demoted to the top of Customer Service Review

Our promise to Lacey: Lacey Gallagher remembered one year later

As filed – without edits – for last Friday’s edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal.

IT IS DISTURBING JUST HOW often you think you have heard the story.

How an 18-year-old finds a drive after the prom to be her last.

Last year Lacey Gallagher was a senior at Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls, at Lycoming Street and 10th near Hunting Park.

She died one year ago Monday. And it was hard. But, Lacey’s parents wanted to find good out of tragedy. People on the1600-block of East Eyre Street in Fishtown find good out of tragedy. They implored support for Pennsylvania House Bill No. 163, which would increase the phased licensing of young drivers in Pennsylvania. They raised awareness of the dangers of teenage drivers, particularly during late night drives in crowded cars on prom night.

The family wanted a more permanent way to keep Lacey’s memory alive, so they have launched a scholarship fund and are in the process of establishing a nonprofit in Lacey’s name.

“It is about going on our own and establishing our own name,” said Denise Gallagher, Lacey’s mother. “We want this to last.”

Continue reading Our promise to Lacey: Lacey Gallagher remembered one year later

Page one, double byline for Philadelphia Business Journal

I GOT A BIG THRILL on Friday.

I shared a byline with staff writer Peter Van Allen on the cover of the Philadelphia Business Journal. I didn’t realize it at first, but, indeed, it is the first time I have ever made it to Page One of any professional publication.

Pretty cool. I’ll see if I can get the entire story posted here as a clip, but, for now, I’ll link to to the story’s beginning, as PBJ is by subscription only.

The Pennsylvania primary that had Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama criss-crossing the state spotlighted Philadelphia in a rare way. Tourism officials sought to capitalize.

Whether it was the CNN truck parked in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art or the television satellite trucks lined up outside the National Constitution Center, Philadelphia was in the national eye. Both locals and visitors say the resulting free publicity will have a long-term benefit on the city and region.

Chet Zoltak: the human resources feel eight hours closer to home

As filed – without edits – for today’s edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Chet Zoltak has taken on another time committment after the workday and still can’t believe he’s at his Philadelpia home so much.

Zoltak, minted as president of the Philadelphia Human Resources Planning Society in November, spent 2005 commuting to a job as global leader of learning and talent development for the Timken Co., a friction management and power transmission manufacturer in Canton, Ohio.

“Two weeks there, one week here,” he said. “Sometimes I’d jump on a plane. Sometimes I’d drive… 7 1/2 hours.”

He took the position in late 2004 after operating his own consulting firm in the region, after being contacted by a headhunter.

“It was an opportunity to build a new function, which is something I love to do,” he said.

But midway through 2005 the commuting drained him and he and his wife wouldn’t move. So, it came as no surprise when, in January 2006, he took the position of corporate director of organization development for the AmerisourceBergen Corp., a pharmaceutical company in Valley Forge.

“I am developing key leaders,” he said. “It’s talent acquisition and management.”

Continue reading Chet Zoltak: the human resources feel eight hours closer to home

Dan Soskin of Pinot: wine and dogs, 'the good things in life'

As filed – without editing – last week for yesterday’s edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Dan Soskin, the owner of Pinot, a wine and accessories store in Old City, wants you to give a home to needy animals.

“I have four pets of my own,” he said. “With the exception of the iguana, they were all adoptees.”

Using the visibility of First Friday on April 4, Soskin, who also has a dog and two cats, partnered with the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society to promote pet adoptions.

“Some say ‘What does wine have to do with that?” Soskin said. “Well, people who appreciate wine and good wine accessories have a heart… They appreciate the good things in life. I think pets are good things in life.”

Pinot pledged 10 percent of the night’s sales, as much as $500, to PAWS, which also found homes for a handful of animals on the night.

“I think at least one kitten,” he said. “It is kitten season now, you know.”

“We have been here a year and a half, so we wanted to do something good,” he said. “I know about the homeless population of animals in Philadelphia. It is a serious problem.”

More than 200 people came through Pinot, and at least as many visited PAWS, Soskin said.

Dogs were mingling with passersby on the sidewalk.

“They had ‘Adopt Me’ vests right in front of the store. It was a magnet.” he said. “Come in, we can talk about wine, we can talk about pets, we can talk about wine accessories.”

It was a success that may happen again, Soskin said.

“The volunteers at PAWS are great, Their whole operation, they get a lot of homes for animals,” he said. “We’re already talking about doing the same thing… It was very exciting to have the partnership go so well at the get go. I look forward for future projects.”

Photo courtesy of Pinot. Dan Soskin, owner of Pinot, and Tara Derby, CEO of PAWS, raise a glass to Snowy and some of the other dogs available for adoption at “Wines, Canines, and Felines” April 4 at PINOT’s 227 Market Street location and PAWS’ adoption center at 100 N. 2nd Street. Also pictured are PAWS volunteers Carla Schultes and Garrett Elwood, with pooches Mackey and Vegas.

See other examples of my reporting here.

Denise Williams: the Philadelphia branch of Goodman Marketing Partners

As filed – without edits – last week for today’s edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Denise Williams has a brutal walk to her boss’s office.

Denise Williams

She is a one woman-office charged with launching East Coast operations for Goodman Marketing Partners, a direct marketing company in San Rafael, Calif., 20 miles north of San Francisco.

“They’ve been pretty much West Coast exclusive, so my job now is 50 percent business development and 50 percent hands-on business execution,” she said. “It’s a remote world, but still clients need face to face time. I’m developing new business relationships and working with those clients.”

She hasn’t filled the role even two months yet, but her plans of expansion involve moving out of her home office in Morgantown to a higher profile locale.

“In the next three to five years, we want to be in a position to establish a significant presence in the City of Philadelphia,” she said, noting the region’s place in the advertising world. “I’ve been in and among the best marketing directors in the world right here in the direct marketing hub. This is where direct marketing is. This is the place to be.”

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Q&A with Joseph P. Campbell, CEO of Royal Bancshares

An interview transcribed last week for yesterday’s edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Name: Joseph P. Campbell
Title: President and CEO
Company: Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania Inc.
Education: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute, associoate’s degree, 1966; University of Florida BA and BS in corporate finance, law and secondary education, 1970
Career History: Royal Bancshares general manager of real estate division in Chester County (1970-1981); Royal Bancshares board of directors (1982-1991); Royal Bancshares managing director (1991-1999)

1. The bank has been owned largely by the Tabas family since 1980, when the name changed from Bank of King of Prussia to Royal Bank. How has that affected its development?

It was the smaller of two banks owned by two brothers… we were looking for a vehicle to get into the banking industry and wanted something that, as I like to say, already had the cash register ringing. We walked in the door and applied our management style to it. It was positive from day one… We gave it a larger regional scope, in moving branches from King of Prussia to Philadelphia. We wanted to make it a larger bank… we took our business model, our biggest asset that we knew what the other side thinks. We are not bankers by training, we came into it another way. We’ve stayed with what we knew, real estate, and grew in new ways.

2. You started as a bus boy at Tabas family hotel in Downingtown 40 years ago and became president and CEO. How has that experience affected your view of business today?

Dan Tabas was really my mentor, and there’s no greater ladder to success than having a great mentor… We’ve always looked at our business on a family basis. Every shareholder meeting I go to, I say… your employees are your greatest asset. Everything in life is a people business. Success or failure can be tied to how you treat people in business. The teller downstairs has a more important job than I do. I can be out of the office on a Wednesday… and no one would know. If that teller was out, she’d be missed.

3. Why did the company decide to add Royal Asian Bank in 2004? What has it brought to the company?

Continue reading Q&A with Joseph P. Campbell, CEO of Royal Bancshares

Stephanie Reyer: meeting old things for the first time, like Philadelphia and the Constitution

As filed last week for today’s edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal.

If only Stephanie Reyer could find a good dry cleaner.

The new director of exhibits at the National Constitution Center left a lifetime in New York and a career at the American Museum of Natural History in the city.

“I’m the new kid on the block again,” she said. “It’s both challenging and invigorating.”

She had a long tenure as the associate director of exhibition graphic design for the American Museum of Natural History during which it transitioned from a dusty after-thought to a first-date spot, but thought it a time to move on.

“After nine years, what we did was established,” she said. “You start looking for new adventures.”

So, she moved to Center City.

“The lifestyle here is fantastic, an amazingly walkable city, amazing beautiful,” she said. “It has everything New York does, on a scale that’s more human.”

She started Feb. 25, just enough time to get some homework done, part of her professional move from a science museum to one focused on American history.

“I’m doing a lot of reading,” she said. “I wish i had the way to keep it all in my head.”

Continue reading Stephanie Reyer: meeting old things for the first time, like Philadelphia and the Constitution