Location: 2238 Bluemound Road Suite B, Brookfield
Website: www.centralofficesystems.com
Year Founded: 1973
Product or Service offered: “Digital office equipment including laser printers, color laser printers, production laser print systems, production laser color print systems, multifunctional laser copier/printers, high speed scanning systems, copiers, and fax systems. Also offering service, supplies and support of various brands, including HP, Konica Minolta, Lexmark, NEC, and OKI.”
Projected 2010 Revenue: Not disclosed
Owners: Art Flater, vice president and principal and Christopher Rosecky, president
Other key leadership members: Andrew Navarro, vice president of technical services; and Deb Arena, controller and administrative manager Perry Bartkiewicz, logistics manager.
Target Clientele: “Small to midsize businesses requiring high levels of support with high quality standards. Local organizations with 5-250 laser printer/MFP placements. Price sensitive organizations that place a high level of importance on value and performance. Organizations looking to reduce their carbon footprint and be green.”
Business Organization Memberships: MMAC, Waukesha Business Alliance, West Suburban Chamber of Commerce, Muskego Chamber of Commerce
What has fueled your company’s growth?
“Our growth has been a direct result of being able to offer both new, repossessed and refurbished equipment to our clients. Many clients are attempting to reduce their costs across the board, and we have been able to show them how Central Office Systems can help them accomplish this task. Our growth is also a result of our team members applying our vision to be ‘The Professional Standard of Comparison’ to our clients’ everyday needs and requests.”
What has been the biggest obstacle to your company’s growth?
“Our largest obstacle to growth is our limited ability to tell our story and our concepts to everyone. Once organizations understand our unique approach to the established way they are used to acquiring and supplying copiers and printers, we usually reduce their operational expenses and add a new client. An internal obstacle to growth is simply the availability of capital to expand even faster.”
Do you have any planned changes for your company in the coming months?
“We are adding additional management team members and growing our Managed Printer Services offerings. We are looking to add space to our already cramped 7500 square-foot offices/distribution center.”
Who are the business people, locally or nationally, whom you admire? What traits do those people exhibit that make you admire them?
“Locally and nationally, I admire Paul Ryan and his willingness to actually talk specifics about the nation’s budget crisis when most others are not willing to address it at all. Honesty, integrity, work ethic, and intelligence are traits I admire in anyone.”
What is the outlook for the business conditions of your industry over the next several months?
“The office equipment industry is actually expanding, but not in the United States. So the outlook is great if we are a global organization. Here in Southeastern Wisconsin, the outlook as a whole is less promising. Many businesses have reduced their staffing or actually left the area. Less employed people and fewer businesses mean fewer prints and copies. Thankfully, the standards of many of our competitor’s customer service and support have slipped. We simply offer a better value proposition on equipment, service, and supplies and have been able to grow in the face of a declining market for printers and copiers. Our outlook for growth is even better in 2010 and 2011, based on the local competitive marketplace.”
What has been your company’s key strategy for rising out of the recession?
“Central Office Systems found underserved and overcharged customers almost everywhere we looked. We took advantage of the repossessed and refurbished MFP/laser printers flooding the market and began to offer these options to our clients and potential clients. Market share is like a long bike race. The lead changes in the hills and mountains. When everyone gets on a flat surface, it is hard to change positions. We look at the current economic climate as the mountains, and we are gaining market share that would be more difficult to acquire in a stable growing economy. We have made this the mindset of the entire organization. We have the strongest team members in our marketplace, and we all expect to overtake our competitors in every account and every opportunity. It is hard not to grow with this mindset.”
Congratulations from the strategic partners behind Central Office Systems Corp.
Bernard R. Hertel, CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC
(262) 784-1446
(414) 298-1000
www.reinhartlaw.com
