Eger Products wins SCORE Client of the year award

A year ago, leaders at Eger Products in Amelia Ohio were leading a company that was staggering on a number of fronts.

Divisions such as accounting, financial planning, sales, quality control and even manufacturing, the firm's forte, were losing ground as the industry itself was growing.
Officials at the company that molds polyvinylchloride turned for help to SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives. The non-profit group asked retired plant manager Doug Martin to analyze operations and recommend solutions.

After 15 sessions with Mr. Martin, the balance sheet began to turn. On Friday, Eger Products was named client of the year by SCORE and given the John J. Frank award.
"He has done a fantastic job of helping turn around our company - 180 degrees," said Reva Eger, president of the firm. SCORE, which annually advises 1,200 local companies and 350,000 companies nationwide, brought advice to Eger's boardroom, and the company should be commended for taking the advice, said John Campbell, chairman of SCORE Chapter 34 in Cincinnati.
"The company appreciated the fact that someone on the outside might more easily identify the faults," Mr. Campbell said.

Richard Koebbe, vice president and general manager of Eger, a company with $7 million in annual revenues and 110 people on the payroll, said asking for advice was easy. Implementing advice is a lot tougher.

"You have to do what they say if you want results, "Mr. Koebbe said.
Mr. Koebbe said problems began in 1994 when the firm started a rotational molding operation downtown. By 1996 it needed to grow again and moved into its 36,000-square-foot plant.
"We expanded too fast and found our company was not being profitable," he said. "Sometimes you can just dig a bigger hole."