EDITOR'S NOTE: Building a Business is a yearlong series in which The Augusta Chronicle follows the progress of a local startup company, Everthere Carriers LLC, as it tries to take its fledgling product to a national market. The following is the fourth article in the monthly series.
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Mr. Threet and partner George Pocisk examine a piece of the carrier at METCAM. Mr. Threet quit his job at SRS to work full time on the carrier.
Kevin Martin/Staff
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Joe Shomake (from left), the assembly and paint manager at METCAM Advanced Metalworking in Alpharetta, Ga.; Bruce Hagenau, the plant's president; and Steve Threet, the president of Everthere Carriers, discuss the carriers at METCAM's facilities.
Kevin Martin/Staff
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Everthere is growing up.
Much like a child moving into young adulthood, the Martinez-based maker of hitch-mounted cargo carriers is gaining experience, getting bigger and showing direction.
The startup company has boosted its manpower through a life-changing decision of its president and through the company's addition of a new partner.
Focused on the business's progress is the complete attention of its president, Steve Threet, who resigned from his post at Savannah River Site, and the attention of George Pocisk, a 58-year-old Columbia businessman with a lifetime of experience in commerce.
"There's a certain seasoning he brings that I don't bring," said Mr. Threet, 41, who was a project manager at SRS but had never run a business.
The two are throwing themselves into Everthere Carriers LLC and pushing its progress to the maximum of their abilities.
"A business is a far cry from an idea; this is my life right now," Mr. Threet said.
Through the efforts of Mr. Threet and Mr. Pocisk, sales are continuing to skyrocket and new opportunities are constantly being pursued.
The company hasn't been without its share of good luck.
Mr. Threet and Mr. Pocisk, who now confide in each other, became friends just months ago through coincidence and the mutual respect that grew from their initial conversations.
While at a trade show in February for sporting goods outfitter Ducks Unlimited, Mr. Threet met Mr. Pocisk, who had retired at age 47 from a top management position at a major insurance software firm. The two immediately hit it off.
"He just walked up and started talking, and him and I seemed to have a certain chemistry," Mr. Threet said.
After several meetings and a thorough orientation for Mr. Pocisk, the two discovered a shared passion for the folding carrier and shared values on both family and business matters.
Everthere Carriers now has the added firepower of a two-man team working day in and day out to divide and conquer the company's many upcoming challenges and goals.
One of the binding values that the two share is keeping production of their product in America.
Everthere has in recent months faced steady pressure to find ways to keep its manufacturing costs down, while the price of aluminum - the main material for the carrier - continues to surge.
Both Mr. Pocisk and Mr. Threet agree that moving manufacturing from its Georgia producers to out of the country is something that Everthere will go to great lengths to avoid.
"Because I'm an American," Mr. Threet said.
The choice is not an easy one.
"We struggle with it all the time, because for what it takes to build here in the U.S. you could build it for almost a fifth of the cost somewhere else," he said.
The company won't, however, avoid moving production out of the United States if it means the company would go under, Mr. Pocisk said.
"I don't know that we'd go down with the ship, but we're going to do everything we can to keep it made in the U.S.A.," he said.
Although aluminum prices have gotten higher, the company is coping through tactics such as securing aluminum contracts that lock in the metal's price.
Everthere also is insulating itself by sallying forward with both sales and marketing - Mr. Pocisk's main responsibility - and Mr. Threet's focus on efficient manufacturing and product development.
Everthere has been successful at wooing major mail-order outlets such as the Sportsman's Guide catalog, in which the carrier has been available for months.
Success also is coming from other major retailers such as Cabela's, a Nebraska-based company that mails 120 million catalogs a year and has 18 major retail locations.
"I'm actually having a ball, it's fun and the product is fairly easy to conceptualize," said Mr. Pocisk, who acknowledges he puts in more than 40 hours a week researching, traveling, e-mailing and calling potential buyers.
Everthere recently inked a deal with the Minnesota-based Northern Tool and Equipment Co., which has a large array of catalogs and nearly 50 retail outlets.
Mr. Pocisk's aspirations, however, hardly end with sports and tool retailers. His plan of attack includes approaching several markets, including the medical industry, rental vehicles and auto suppliers.
His efforts work hand in hand with those of Mr. Threet, who spent almost half of last month on the road meeting with designers, a patent attorney, manufacturers and potential buyers.
"We're all adjusting," said Mr. Threet, whose said he's thankful for his wife's patience and understanding as he gets the business off the ground.
Among the new developments that Mr. Threet hopes can launch Everthere into an even higher sales bracket is a lift device that could help the company tap into the lucrative medical market.
"I think that it's the jewel in the golden crown," Mr. Threet said.
Although details are hush-hush while the lift is under development, it will be able to lower a carrier to the ground so a medical scooter or wheelchair can be driven onto it, and then raised to bumper level for transport. Mr. Threet hopes the lift, which also has dozens of other uses, will be available by summer.
Plans for the next month include continuing to aggressively seek and pursue potential buyers, and continuing to develop and test the lift.
Reach Adrian Burns at (706) 823-3352 or adrian.burns@augustachronicle.com.
Building a Business
Building a Business is a new, yearlong series in which The Augusta Chronicle follows the progress of a local start-up company, Everthere Carriers LLC, as it attempts to take its fledgling product to a national market. The following is the first story. Updates will be made monthly.
• Series will follow company's journey
• Area men get education in business as they mass-produce novel carrier
• Go to manufacturers, designers with ideas
• Trade show marketing is success for local business
• Patent process is easier with help
• As sales grow, Everthere is turning into full-time job
• Product's success is dependent on testing
• Local business picks up by latching onto Internet
• Company revamps Web site to draw business
• Everthere settles into new offices
• Negotiating lease can be challenging
• Family support is important to fulfilling dream
• Work-life balance is one key to success
• Licensing lets buyers tote interest
• Logo-product partnership is beneficial to both sides
• Everthere Carriers staff works together for success
• New hires ease burden of increased workload
• Everthere Carriers takes new product to health exposition
• Preparation is important at trade event
• Firm wrestles with issue of foreign labor
• Cheap overseas work has its drawbacks
• Everthere Carriers bids farewell to productive 2005
• Everthere Carriers has come a long way
• Q&A with Everthere's Steve Threet
