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Up to date, high-level business information that is relevant to our clients and contacts, helping keep up to date on the ver-changing business world of today.

[email protected] / January 24, 2025

Recommendation for Wilkinson Supply Co

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to strongly recommend Wilkinson Supply Co, for being a distinguished provider of premium kitchen, bath, and appliance products. With decades of experience, Wilkinson Supply Co has built a reputation for offering top-tier products that meet the needs of both its residential and commercial clients.

Wilkinson Supply Co. carries a diverse selection of high-quality fixtures and appliances designed to enhance any space. From kitchens to bathrooms, it has you covered. Its commitment to providing exceptional products and services has made it a trusted name in the industry.

The team at Wilkinson Supply Co. is what truly sets this company apart from others in the industry. Each one is highly skilled and knowledgeable, always ready to provide expert consultations and assist customers in selecting the right products for their specific requirements. Their commitment to customer service is evident in their attentiveness and willingness to go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction.

I confidently recommend Wilkinson Supply Co. for its quality products and excellent customer service. With extensive experience and a great team, Wilkinson Supply Co is a standout choice for anyone looking to elevate their space with reliable and high-quality appliances.

Sincerely,

Bryan Woodlief
Business Optimization Specialist
Schooley Mitchell

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[email protected] / January 24, 2025

Recommendation for King Kold

To whom it may concern,

It is with great enthusiasm that I am writing this letter of recommendation on behalf of King Kold. Starting as a father and son business to help provide people with cold storage for their beef, King Kold is now a fourth-generation, full-service food supplier.

For over 55 years, King Kold has been a fixture in its community, offering a wide range of products including fresh and frozen meats, fully cooked entrees, specialty portioned burgers, sausages, steaks, heat and serve items, pizza toppings, and much more. It is committed to providing quality products to food distributors, food service providers, and the families in its community.

The team at King Kold all share the values that the business was founded on, and each one strives to provide dedicated customer service that goes above and beyond expectations. They work hard to maintain quality and ensure all orders are completed properly before leaving. With a sense of family orientated values, the team at King Kold provides elevated customer service with a friendly welcome every time.

I wholeheartedly recommend King Kold to anyone looking for a trusted food supplier. Its commitment to customer service and exceptional products makes it an ideal partner for restaurants, food distributors, and more.

Sincerely,

John O’Connell
Strategic-Partner
Schooley Mitchell

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[email protected] / January 24, 2025

Recommendation for Classic Cupboards

To whom it may concern,

I am pleased to write this letter of recommendation on behalf of Classic Cupboards. Founded in 1983, Classic Cupboards is now a second-generation, family-owned business that specializes in customized cabinetry and design services.

Classic Cupboards has always focused on tailoring products and services to the needs of customers, creating customizable cabinetry. The team helps with planning and designing different remodelling projects including kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, bars, home offices and more. No matter what your personal style is, they will utilize a large array of products to create the custom design of your dreams.

The team at Classic Cupboards consists of professionally trained designers who understand the importance of tradition within the communities they serve, while also striving to help craft the designs of the future. Adopting a collaborative team-based approach with clients ensures the best possible planning and design outcomes. By utilizing a diverse range of high-quality products, every project is crafted with an emphasis on reliability, performance, and lasting value.

I wholeheartedly recommend Classic Cupboards to anyone looking to update their home. With a unique design approach and professionally trained team, Classic Cupboards can help provide you with customized designs to create your dream space.

Sincerely,

Charles Carriere
Strategic-Partner
Schooley Mitchell

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Ian Nairn / January 23, 2025

Featured in Wood River Weekly: Continuous Improvement


Originally Posted On: Wood River Weekly

By Mike McKenna

It’s pretty easy to get apathetic about almost anything in life, especially things like our daily duties for work. That’s why most of us follow the simple motto: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—even if it isn’t running very smoothly or cost-efficiently.”

That’s where the continuous improvement theory comes in handy. It’s a process of regularly evaluating your business or nonprofit to find ways to improve and reduce wasted effort, resources and, most importantly, money.

“If you don’t continuously try to improve, any process will start to degrade,” John Rumasuglia said, and he should know.

John spent his career as a consultant in the manufacturing and supply-chain industry, helping improve efficiency and costs.

“I have a passion for any process-type stuff. I really enjoy making things streamlined, taking out waste in a good way,” he said.

John grew up in Boston. After serving in the Navy, he spent 30 years working in the Silicon Valley and Bay Area.

One year, John and his wife, Pauline, came to Hailey to visit a friend and instantly connected with the place. They soon came back for another visit and Idaho really got ahold of them, so they bought a cabin at Smiley Creek that they owned for nearly 20 years.

When it came time to retire, John and Pauline began traveling around the Mountain West looking for a new place to call home. But nothing they visited compared to their feelings for Idaho.

“Nothing beats Sun Valley, “ John said.

So they decided to build a home in Hailey, but retirement didn’t really sit well with John. He wanted to do more and become active in our community. That’s what led him to Schooley Mitchell.

Schooley Mitchell is the largest independent cost-reduction consulting firm in North America. It’s basically a company that helps other companies of all sizes focus on continuous improvement. It was just up John’s alley.

“I like working, but wanted to do something different, something that can help me be part of the community and make a difference,” John said.

The Schooley Mitchell system is pretty simple. Basically, they come in and assess and track all the costs of doing business (like telecom, software, waste, shipping, processing fees, etc.) and figure out where they can save money. There are no up-front costs; Schooley Mitchell only takes a percentage of the savings they find and create. And those saving can be large. Most businesses or nonprofits can reduce costs by an average of 28%, or more than $10,000 or more in benefits annually.

“People don’t even realize they’re being overcharged or that there are other options. That’s where we can help,” John said. “We can help them save money that usually goes out of our town and keep it here in our community.”

By helping locals focus on continuous improvement, John can fulfill his goal.
“I want to make a difference for small businesses and nonprofits in the Wood River Valley,” John said. When asked what the “catch” was, he simply replied, “I get to feel good about how I helped our community.”

Find out more by contacting John at (208) 266-5252 or [email protected].

[email protected] / January 21, 2025

Schooley Mitchell Spotlight for Ten Point Complete

TenPoint Complete: There For All of Your Customer Contact Needs

Meet John Webb, partner and account manager at TenPoint Complete, a family- founded company headquartered in Plain City, Ohio. TenPoint Complete provides business process outsourcing to companies of all sizes through their contact center services.

“We take administrative burdens off of companies, things that they don’t want to do themselves or are not their core competencies,” says John.

While TenPoint Complete offers many specialized services, their main offering is through their contact center – powered by the world’s number one CRM and technology platform. Through the use of customer satisfaction and NPS measurement, employee engagement surveys, scheduling, help desk, IVR artificial intelligence and customer journey mapping, TenPoint Complete assists other companies in being able to understand and learn more about those they service.

As a company whose start was in pharmaceutical telemarketing and has transitioned over time into a call center, contact center and now proudly a business development center for automotive, insurance and government entities, TenPoint Complete is committed to evolving with the technological landscape.

As they are a smaller company, John is aware of the way technology is becoming extremely prevalent in business today, “I think technology is levelling the playing field to a certain extent so understanding how to take advantage of that is a big challenge.” Albeit a challenge they don’t shy away from, while TenPoint Complete has been providing social media and video review services for the last few years, they also look forward to more discovery and experimentation within these areas in the near future.

So, when John isn’t being a customer service whiz, what does he like to get up to?

You might be surprised to know that he is a bit of a thrill seeker, having raced for fun on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Daytona, “That’s certainly a rush, going 153 miles per hour taking a sharp right turn, that’ll get your attention pretty quick! It’s my passion away from work.”

If you’ve ever found yourself wanting to understand your clientele on a deeper level (or want to chat about the fast and furious life of car racing) reach out to John at TenPoint Complete.

Visit their website to learn more!

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[email protected] / January 21, 2025

Schooley Mitchell Spotlight for Ely Enterprises Inc.

Ely Enterprises Inc: Building Relationships in Recycling Since 1981

When it comes to things we utilize every single day, it is easy to take for granted those who work hard to ensure these systems run smoothly. Ely Enterprises Inc. may have even had a hand in installing the recycling systems you use in your workplace! They provide quality new and used recycling equipment, installation services, preventative maintenance, facility design, and more.

Since 1981, they have led the way in delivering these services to industries across the board, and they continue to innovate and grow each day. Marketing and Development Specialist, Alyson Rundell, says that Ely Enterprises has a unique competitive advantage, “We are a cradle-to-grave company; we assist customers from initial inquiry all the way through to installation and beyond.”

The ‘beyond’ she mentions begins with a sales approach which puts Ely into the “passenger seat” next to our customer. Success is applying our 24/7 full-service support, expertise, and seamless team integration to ensure expectations are exceeded. “We have some of the biggest experts in the field at our company, uncontested,” says Rundell, who after being with the company for just over a year, is astonished at the level of teamwork the company achieves every day. She had the opportunity to attend an installation call with the service team and was amazed by their impressive coordination.

“We have a fantastic group of technicians who are amazing at what they do. Watching them operate is fascinating. They have their own hand signals, and they really are in sync with one another when they’re on the job site,” she said “The entire time I was just in awe at their proficiency in safety and efficiently executing their plan.”

While they have an incredible team that manages to fill any gaps that do arise, they are in the process of growing the team. Ely Enterprises will be ramping things up in the next few years as they have created a couple of exciting new partnerships. One of which is their access to an Italian-based product line — one that is relatively new to the US. When asked what makes Ely Enterprises special, Rundell took no pause in saying that the company culture is impeccable.

“We have a very deep philosophy that, if we can treat and support our team first, that inevitably ends with the customer feeling as a part of the team,” she said, later noting that Ken Ely himself is a wonderful boss. “He is the backbone of this company; he is what keeps us going.”

Visit their website to learn more!

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[email protected] / January 21, 2025

Schooley Mitchell Spotlight Gecko’s Grill & Pub

Gecko’s Restaurant Group: American Pub Food with a Gourmet Twist

Every town has its go-to local hotspot. Gecko’s Grill & Pub is proud to be just that in Sarasota, Florida. Born and raised in Sarasota, owners, longtime friends, and business partners, Mike Gowan and Mike Quillen, saw a need for an exuberant local watering hole that would also provide fresh and quality food. So, in 1992, Gecko’s was born, and it quickly became the place to be. Lines to get in would span the length of the street until 2:00 a.m. every night, and legend has it even the famous Michael Jordan used to hang out there!

Gecko’s Hospitality Group began as a single restaurant and, after much success, has expanded over the past 30+ years and it now has six locations and three additional seafood concepts. In speaking with Chief Operating Officer, Fiona Farrell, it is clear that while they aim to provide topnotch hospitality, one of their other main priorities is philanthropy.

“We’re incredibly focused on giving back to the community. We have three pillars of community outreach: children and education, first responders and law enforcement, and agriculture,” said Farrell

Gecko’s works closely with local farms to source fresh ingredients for their restaurants and has partnered with their local 4H club; they also give away approximately 20,000 free student meals each year. Not to mention, giving back to the community by way of connection. Farrell says that they employ hundreds of locals and that about 250-300 of their staff have been there for at least 10-20 years.

“We have an incredible amount of tenure at our company. We have a dishwasher and prep cook who’s been with us 28 years, which is very unusual in the hospitality industry,” she said “The reason they stick around I think is because of the family that we create for them.”

So, when Florida was hit by multiple hurricanes earlier this year, it was the dedicated and robust team at Gecko’s that Farrell knew she could count on to help get things at their waterfront properties back up and running.

“When we see ‘challenges’ in our company, there’s nobody else I’d rather have in my corner. They are just phenomenal, and they truly go above and beyond for our brand, and the loyalty they have to Gecko’s shows every day,” she said, getting emotional at the memory.

Not only do her staff feel like a second family, but Gecko’s guests, especially their regulars, do too! In fact, Farrell’s favorite part of the day is getting to connect with them.

“I love getting face-to-face time in our restaurants… saying hello to the regulars and interacting with the guests. That’s my favorite part – that I still have the opportunity to be out on the floor,” she said.

While Sarasota tends to be a fairly seasonal destination when it comes to tourism, Gecko’s remains open year-round largely due to their faithful regulars.

“It’s the local spot where people want to come because they know they’re always going to get consistency and a smiling face when they walk in the door,” said Farrell.

Just take it from their famous tagline, ‘You can’t buy friendship, but you can find it at Gecko’s.’

Check out their website to learn more or for their delicious menu!

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