Similar principles guide business award winners

By JULIE CHURCH

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 15, 2001

The winners of last week's Oldsmar Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year awards share several important qualities, said chamber president Kevin Gartland.

"The three businesses all have excellent customer service, quality and value," he said. "If you have those three things, you can't go wrong."

The large business of the year award was presented Wednesday to 1 Nation Technology Corp. The telecommunications company began in 1995 in the back bedroom at the home of president and CEO Rick McKay.

"We worked under halogen lights and sweated packing our own boxes," McKay said.

Six years later, the company has 80 employees in five cities throughout the United States, recently opened an office in Singapore and is looking into expanding into Germany.

The company specializes in the sale, installation and repair of telephone systems. It is the country's largest independent distributor of Nortel and Lucent telephone systems, according to company literature.

Projected sales for this year are $40-million and McKay hopes to reach the $100-million mark in two years.

"So far we're beating all of our projections," he said.

McKay, 33, says he attributes his company's phenomenal growth to the quality of his employees.

"I heard a long time ago that the key is to hire people smarter than you," he said. "This way you will look smarter."

McKay said that the company philosophy is to promote people from within rather than to hire from outside, and that this strategy has produced very loyal employees and very low turnover.

The company leases 18,000 square feet of space at 4027 Tampa Road in Oldsmar, and McKay hopes to construct a headquarters building in the city in the future.

McKay, who is divorced, lives in Westchase. He has two children, a son, Skylar, 7, and a daughter Madyson, 5.

The midsize business of the year was awarded to Nu-Image Tile. The family-owned company, on the corner of Tampa Road and Forest Lakes Boulevard, specializes in tile importing and wholesale distribution.

Owner Robin Howe says the company began in 1989 with a 200-square-foot booth at the Olsdmar Flea Market.

During the past 12 years, sales have grown to in excess of $1-million per year.

Nu-Image sells to 38 Lowe's home improvement warehouses in Florida and Alabama, several other retail tile stores and a number of contractors throughout the Southeast.

Howe's partner is his son Mark. His other son, Peter, also works in the family business, as do his daughter-in-law, Cara, and nephew, B.J. Hayes.

The small business of the year award went to Home Floors Inc. The company, which started in 1999, sells carpet, tile, vinyl and wood flooring.

Owner Manny Nieves says the the company is guided by a handful of basic principles: complete honesty, customer service, quality product and competitive pricing. He said those principles helped his company grow to almost $1-million in sales in the 20 months it has been in business.

Home Floors, 3800 Tampa Road, employs four full-time staff members and has had zero turnover since its inception.

The three companies honored at Wednesday's meeting will be entered into competition against businesses from Clearwater, Dunedin, Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs and Safety Harbor for the Upper Pinellas Business of the Year, which will be awarded June 6 in Dunedin.

Fifth-grader honored

Kayla Herzog was named student of the month at Oldsmar Elementary School by the Oldsmar Chamber of Commerce.

Kayla, 11, is in the fifth grade. Her teachers are Vicki Singleton and Jeff Powers.

She was characterized by her teachers as being a well-rounded student who is involved in many activities at the school, including the safety patrol, student council and chorus, where she recently was selected as a member of the All-County Chorus and performed at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg.

Outside of school, Kayla is interested in softball, swimming and drawing. She would like to be a veterinarian.

Kayla lives with her mom, Kellie, in Land O'Lakes, and commutes to school each day because her mom works in Oldsmar.

Tae kwon do classes begin

The Oldsmar Recreation Center offers tae kwon do classes with master Randall Babbitt. Classes are offered from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the center, 423 Lafayette Blvd. For information, call (813) 855-4211.

Bloodmobiles to visit

Florida Blood Services bloodmobiles will be at two stores in Oldsmar this week.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, the bloodmobile will be at the Bealls Department Store at 3136 Tampa Road.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, it will be at the Eckerd drug store at 3771 Tampa Road, at Forest Lakes Boulevard.

Donors will receive a T-shirt and cholesterol screening. Generally, healthy people 17 or older who weigh at least 100 pounds can donate blood. Identification is required before donation.

Florida Blood Services provides blood for patients at Tampa Bay area medical facilities and requires more than 600 donations a day to keep up with demand. Information on the area's current blood supply is available at www.fbsblood.org. For information, call (800) 682-5663.

- If you have news or photos about Oldsmar schools, churches, businesses, neighborhood groups, community organizations or people, contact Julie Church at the North Pinellas Times. You can call her at (727) 445-4229, e-mail material to her at church@sptimes.com or mail material to North Pinellas Times, 34342 U.S. 19 N, Palm Harbor, FL 34684.

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