THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 15, 1995 TAG: 9505130176
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 8 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: SMALL BUSINESS
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, BUSINESS WEEKLY
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
When William G. Kamarek founded Electronic Systems Inc. 15 years ago, the mainstay of the office-machines industry was the electric typewriter.
Personal computers, laser printers, high-speed faxes, full-color copiers? They were just dreams - if that. And networking? That's something ABC, CBS and NBC did.
Virginia Beach-based Electronic Systems has not just survived the technology revolution that's swept the work place. It has capitalized on it. Kamarek has built one of the country's most unique and forward-thinking office-machines dealers.
That's why his company was chosen South Hampton Roads' Small Business of the Year by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
Burly, brisk Bill Kamarek's local operation, which includes a satellite office in Newport News, is heading for $30 million in revenues this year. Separate offices in Richmond and Northern Virginia that he owns a large chunk of will combine for another $30 million.
And typewriters will account for, maybe, 1 percent of his companies' total sales, Kamarek says. Fifteen years ago they generated 95 percent of his revenues.
A big reason for Electronic Systems' success is Kamarek's early grasp of the importance of ``connectivity'' in the work place. In the midst of the shock waves caused by each new product that made typewriters ever more obsolete, he landed authorizations to represent the three largest providers of computer-networking software and services: Microsoft, Novell and Banyan.
That gives Electronic Systems a lot of options when it's tying together personal computers, printers, faxes and other office machines. In the last two years, even copier manufacturers started making ``connected'' models. Sitting at a desk, you can zip off a copy of what's on your computer screen, then walk to the copier and get it.
``All new products coming out in the future are going to be these kinds of products - networking products,'' Kamarek says.
Electronic Systems is Hampton Roads' largest locally owned office-machines dealer. ``Only a handful of dealerships in the country are as broad-based as we are,'' he says.
Along with selling and servicing PCs and office machines and providing networking services, the company also sells office-machine supplies, provides training programs and rents equipment. The company has a full-time technology director who spends most of his time keeping up with and keeping associates informed about what's new.
Electronic Systems' work force has grown from eight to 135 in 15 years. As the company has gotten larger, Kamarek says he has become more open with workers - sharing, for instance, financial information. About 40 percent of the company's net profit goes to employees through profit-sharing or 401(k) savings plans.
Kamarek, 47, puts in a lot of 12-hour days. And don't look for his car next to the entrance to the company's headquarters on Southport Circle. He parks on a side street and expects other senior managers to do so too. The good spots in the parking lot go to rank-and-file employees.
Kamarek's right-hand man in Hampton Roads, general sales manager Steve Allosso, says he's never met a better motivator. ``He's nothing short of a miracle worker,'' Allosso says. MEMO: Norfolk and Chesapeake winners/16
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Steve Allossa and Bill Kamarek, Electronic Systems Inc.
KEYWORDS: AWARD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE by CNB