Congratulations!

Congrats to our President, Dorothy Martin, on being a finalist for the 11th Annual Visionary Award presented by the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). Several members of Optimum's management team attended the luncheon on July 10th when presentations created by each finalist were shown and this year's winner announced. Although Mrs. Martin was not this year's winner, she joins a select group of outstanding business owners that have been nominated and/or given this prestigious award. Previous winners include Cheryl Krueger of Cheryl's Cookies, Sue Doody of Lindey's Restaurant, Lisa Griffin of Griffin Communications and Elizabeth Rosetti of Americheer. The 2008 Visionary Award winner was Lynn Elliot, President of Columbus Window Cleaning.

The vision statement of NAWBO is "The National Association of Women Business Owners propels women entrepreneurs into economic, social and political spheres of power worldwide." Their Mission Statement is ". . . . helping women entrepreneurs toward economic, social and political achievement by helping them; develop, educate and grow strong profitable businesses; build strategic alliances and affiliations within NAWBO and other organizations; provide resources to emerging and sustaining women business owners; enhance the profile of women business owners; and transform public policy, influence opinion makers and politically educate members."

We may be biased, but all the Optimum associates attending voted Mrs. Martin's presentation as the best of the four shown. Her entry profiled Optimum as a family organization where associates care about each other and work as a team not only in the company's business but in making a difference in our community. The last line of the video said it all. . . ."experience the Optimum vision." We hope to obtain a copy of the presentation and present it at our next corporate meeting.

Green is good!

With spring showers fading & making way for blistering-hot summer days, I was thinking what a great time this is to take a deep breath, look around and enjoy all that nature as to offer. In between margaritas on Saturdays & lemonade on Sundays it does seem like the perfect opportunity to appreciate what surrounds me – while making sure I’m doing my part to protect i - And I know I’m not the only one to feel this way...

Optimum is no exception! I am proud to say that through our actions as individuals and as a company it is clear how much Optimum cares about the world around us. As a group we do strive to do our best to protect & preserve what’s around us for both present & future generations with our environmentally conscious actions. What’s even more exciting is that in recent months, as I’m sure is the case for many businesses around the country & the world, it seems we have found a renewed sense of urgency to do something now! We have really stepped up our efforts! From increasing the products we recycle internally (not just aluminum cans & paper anymore!) to touring plants that specialize in green products, it’s been refreshing to watch our group unite for this important cause. For some interesting facts & information, please read on! For products you can purchase to exhibit your company’s environmental commitment to its employees & customers, check out Optimum’s store.

The Store of YOU

Why buy off the rack when you can customize? Modern shoppers design everything from clothes, candy and even credit cards. Personalization has come a long way from those checks with Looney Toons on them that your grandmother had.

This is good news for the nonconformists, the sports fans, the gift givers. In order to get that competitive edge marketers must pay attention to this growing trend - the store of YOU and add something different, something personal to their branding options.

Driven by increasingly demanding consumers empowered by the Internet and new technology such as digital printing and online ordering systems, the shift to personalized production represents such a departure from tradition that the retail industry has been forced to come up with new terminology to describe it.

Owning one-of-a-kind sneakers, clothes, jewelry, wine, and even credit cards goes beyond keeping up with the Joneses. It is the need for individuality, expressing your own personal taste, personality, and lifestyle is the new sign of success and luxury.

At the same time, personalization is a form of frugality which is well suited to the current economic downturn. By customizing, shoppers can get the most out of less frequent splurges. This trend is not restricted to those with money—it spans ages, income groups, and regions.

Custom-made products were once so labor intensive, he says, that only the wealthy could afford them. While the printing and ordering technologies to customize for "the masses" have been available for at least a decade, only now is the trend really taking off as customers have come to realize it's available. Customers are no longer satisfied with generic items when they can get everything from M&Ms to shoes and even furniture distinctly tweaked to their liking.

This "me-tailing" instead of retailing has been a growing market for at least a decade. Visit Optimum's logomall to get a better idea of the thousands of customizable personalized products available.