Success Story: Management
The Next Level
ACME Scenic and Display, INC. was created in 1992 by three Portland area craftsmen to fill a growing need for specialty construction in the entertainment, display, and trade show industries. The principle partners, Michael Lowe, Jan Pederson and Bill Burbach, have decades of experience in the areas of opera, ballet, film, video, live concerts, trade shows, and special events. The shop is equipped to fabricate with wood, metal, and plastics and to engineer moving sets and scenery. The staff is experienced in creating any kind of look or mood; from rustic to high-tech, simple to complex, straight-ahead to whimsical.
In the spring of 1994, Jan Pederson enrolled in the Clackamas Community College Greenhouse program in order to learn how to take the company to the next level. He felt the partners had excellent building and design skills but lacked the formal business training that would be required to grow the company. Pederson said, "I feel the training I received in the Greenhouse class and in individual counseling sessions has helped us avoid many of the traps and pitfalls so many startup companies experience."
In the fall of 1998, Pederson felt that he needed to further improve his skills and again he turned to the SBDC for help. This time he enrolled in the Small Business Management class. "I find the lecture and discussion periods of these classes to be beneficial, but another aspect of the classes is the networking with other small businesses. This is great!"
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