NFIB

Small Business, Take a Bow
03/ 29/ 2002

by Jackie Ross

Whether it's the Academy Awards or the Super Bowl, you'll find small business has a major impact behind the scenes of virtually every event we read about in the headlines.

With America's small firms making up 98 percent of all business in the country, it's no surprise they touch nearly everything we experience. Rarely in the spotlight themselves, these small businesses quietly toil to make major events spectacular.

Take Scott Siegel. He has enough Oscars to fill a warehouse, yet he's not an actor. He didn't win them, he's the guy who makes them. He's president of R.S. Owens & Co, the 170-year-old Chicago, Ill., firm that has made the Academy Award statuettes for almost 20 years. The firm took center stage last year when the Oscars were stolen from a delivery company's loading dock. For the first time in history, R.S. Owens learned it would have to remake the gold-coated figures weeks before the awards ceremony.

"It was an unbelievably hectic time," says Siegel. "We found out they were stolen a week before media heard about it and started production of new ones immediately. Fortunately, the Oscars turned up before the show."

Siegel says R.S. Owens also refurbishes and recasts Oscars for celebrities, as some statuettes are lost or damaged. "We're always getting prestigious awards back for repair after fires, earthquakes and people dropping them," he says. Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelley and Geena Davis are among those who requested repairs.

"Davis' was bent—it's almost impossible to bend them," Siegel says. "The base also needed repair. She decided to leave the Oscar bent because she thought it had character."

Late January is when American Whistle's product takes center field. The Columbus, Ohio firm makes the whistles used in the Super Bowl . It engraves each official's name on the handcrafted, solid brass whistle the week before the big game.

New York-based Spaeth Design,Inc. is where Santa's little helpers come to life. At a 27,000-square-foot workshop on the West Side of Manhattan, 40 engineers and artists create motorized figurines and magical villages for the country's most famous holiday window displays. Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor are among the department stores on Spaeth's client list, and millions of tourists travel to New York and Chicago to view the intricate displays.

Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence, a 75-employee Nashville, Tenn., firm, beat out several Washington, D.C., firms to design this year's presidential inaugural invitations. The advertising and public relations firm illustrated a line drawing of the White House that was featured on letterhead, envelopes and other inaugural materials.

Because the results of the 43rd presidential election came a month later than usual, the firm was under the wire.

"It was a tight turn for everyone involved," said Chuck Creasy, partner and chief creative officer of Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence.

American Industrial Casting, a 130-person manufacturer in East Greenwish, R.I., takes small business to the moon and back. The firm makes hooks and seals for space suits and components for moon rovers. NASA depends on the firm for almost every mission. One small step for small business, one giant leap for mankind.

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This article originally appeared in the March/April 2001 issue of MyBusiness Magazine, NFIB's member magazine.

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