California Company Sews Up 2006 Small-Business Excellence Award
Dell, NFIB honor California-based custom sewing company for supporting customer experience with technology
WASHINGTON, D.C.—From backdrops for Sting, Elton John and Madonna to red velvet curtains for the cover of Rolling Stone, custom theatrical drape maker Sew What? marries new technology with a centuries-old craft.
It's the use of technology that has earned Sew What?, Inc. the 2006 Dell/National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Excellence Award.
|
|
| Dell Vice President Frank Muehleman and award winner Megan Duckett |
"I never dreamed that the tiny business I started on my kitchen table in 1992 would grow into the global business we have today," said Sew What? owner Megan Duckett, who came to the United States at the age of 19 from Australia to pursue a career as a theater technician. "It took establishing a creative, information-driven Web presence to help us reach customers beyond our local community and provide customer service that wouldn't have been possible otherwise."
Sew What?'s newly optimized Web site—www.sewwhatinc.com—is highly interactive and allows visitors to browse the company's extensive fabric and drapery selections prior to purchase, provides electronic previews of work in progress and stores flame certifications for completed drapery.
"It's unaffordable for many small businesses to advertise," Duckett said. "But it is affordable to have a Web presence."
Through its broadened ability to reach customers over the Internet, Sew What? has grown 45 percent in the last 18 months alone and now boasts clientele from New York to Athens to Sydney.
"In starting the award program in 2004, we wanted to look for firms using technology in innovative ways," Frank Muehleman, vice president of Dell U.S. Home and Small Business. "It was quite a chore to choose the winner out of the final group of 10."
As the 2006 winner, Sew What? will receive $30,000 in Dell technology and services, a lifetime NFIB membership, and will spend a day at Dell's headquarters to learn best practices from Michael Dell and other senior Dell executives.
Established in 2004, the Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence Award honors small businesses that represent a spirit of innovation in applying information technology to improve the customer experience. For more information on the program, visit www.dell.com/ceaward.
