Promoting Excellence in Small Business
Two of the eleven winners of the Chamber’s 2009 Excellence Awards Honoring Small Businesses are featured in this issue: Small Business Person of the Year, Chuck Polin, The Training Resource Group; and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Tina Wells, Buzz Marketing Group. Be sure to look for additional winners in upcoming issues. Nominations for the 2010 Excellence Awards will be accepted starting in April.
Small Business Person of the Year, Chuck Polin, The Training Resource Group
The Training Resource Group (TRG) was founded by the husband-and-wife team of Chuck and Helene Polin when they purchased a Sandler Sales Institute franchise in 1994. TRG offers ongoing reinforcement sales training, coaching and management training for companies and individuals through weekly training sessions and one-on-one coaching. It also offers custom designed in-house training programs for organizations looking to improve their business development.
CEO Chuck Polin brings more than 35 years of sales, sales management and corporate executive experience to TRG. Before starting his business, Chuck spent more than 20 years in the women’s clothing industry. He started as a sale representative, moved on to a sales management role, and then became president of a Fortune 500 company division.
Chuck is a certified Sandler Trainer who is about to enter his 15th year with the organization. He provides consulting, seminar and corporate in-house training and coaching to growing companies and professional service firms seeking an increase in sales, profits and productivity.
The Training Resource Group’s in-house training programs are custom designed and delivered at the company’s choice of location. For companies with multiple locations, TRG is connected to a network of professionals who can simultaneously deliver a company’s program to all of its locations. The Training Resource Group’s niche is its Professional Advantage business development program for non-selling professionals such as accountants and lawyers. The program’s objective is to help these professionals develop new skills relating to their account development process.
The Professional Advantage program enables them to take control of the account development process to successfully deal with prospective and existing clients while building a strong referral system. Mr. Polin’s business mission has been to help his clients hit their personal and professional goals. He has also maintained his passion for helping others by giving back to the community. Over the years he has served on several Boards including Juvenile Diabetes, The American Heart Association, and The Union League Business Network.
Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Tina Wells, Buzz Marketing Group
Buzz Marketing Group® was founded in 1996 by CEO Tina Wells. The company’s goal is to serve as an information service provider to companies that target the youth market. Buzz Marketing Group informs
these companies about the current interests, needs and desires of the youth market to help with their efforts in marketing to them.
At 16, Tina began writing reviews on companies and their products that target youth for the New Girl Times, a newspaper for young girls. After realizing there was a disconnect between teens’ desires and companies’ misdirected outreach, she developed an innovative and creative strategy to merge the gap. She submitted her reviews and suggestions directly to the companies and was surprised by their positive responses. The companies valued her insight and Buzz Marketing Group was born.
Along with Buzz Marketing Group’s worldwide network of more than 9,000 teen consultants ("Buzzspotters"), Tina has created innovative marketing strategies, focus groups, and youth marketing research campaigns for numerous beauty, entertainment, fashion, financial, and lifestyle clients. These clients include SonyBMG, Sesame Workshop and Time Inc.
In Tina’s free time, she sits on the board of directors for Friends of the Orphans and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Tina has also recently signed a four-book deal with HarperCollins Children’s Books. Her first book called "Mackenzie Blue" will be released next year. The book is about a young girl who is intrigued by the environment, music, Tween/Teen problems, and community service initiatives. Tina’s honors include the Essence 40 Under 40 Award, Billboard’s 30 Under 30 Award, and AOL’s Black Voices Black Female Entrepreneurs Award.
Click here for more information on the Excellence Awards. |
