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Grand Rapids Business Journal Vol.23, No. 11 March 14, 2005 | | Business Journal Supplement | Street Talk Column | | 
Supplement of the Grand Rapids Business Journal
Top Women Owned Businesses | Irmgard Cooper Title:
President
Company:
IMC Products Inc /
IMC-Seabrook Inc
Location:
Muskegon MI
Category:
$1.5M-$3.99M
Annual Revenue |
Irmgard Cooper is a realist when it comes to business.
She started IMC Products, a small parts assembly firm, in 1990 and immediately filled a niche by promoting her company as "the problem solvers" for larger manufacturers. "Do what you do best and outsource the rest," she told them.
"We take the jobs you don't want and provide greater expertise, lower cost, higher quality and increased efficiency."
Something must be working, because IMC does work for a variety of manufacturers across many sectors and in 2004 was named a "Top 100 Diversity Owned Business" by the state of Michigan.
In 2003, Cooper saw another niche that needed filling and teamed with another Muskegon firm to form IMC-Seabrook Inc., a plastic injection molding company in which she is a partner. The arrangement is a good one, said Cooper, who is African-American, because more and more firms are looking for diversity in the supply chain.
But that doesn't mean IMC-Seabrook will just be handed jobs.
"Being a minority-owned business is a door opener," Cooper told Plastics News when the partnership was announced. "All it does is open the door. You can't be slipshod; you need to do quality work."
Cooper, who also has business holdings in Illinois, is a board member of the Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce, Streeterville (Ill.) Chamber of Commerce, Business and Professional Women's Network-North Michigan Avenue BPW and Chicago Executive Network.
She's also served on boards and committees for Harold Washington College, DePaul University, Chicago Business Opportunity Fair and the Business Institute of Chicago City-Wide College.
In addition to the Michigan award, Cooper has also picked up a similar honor from the state of Illinois in 2001 and 2003, and is a frequent speaker and volunteer in the business and education sectors both in Michigan and Illinois.
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|  STREET TALK
|  | Top of the Class | Celebrating the Top Women-Owned Business awards are, from left, Business Journal Publisher John Zwarensteyn, winner Cinthia Kay Afendoulis, winner Irmgard Cooper, keynote speaker Cynthia Pasky, winner Juanita Briggs and Journal Editor Carole Valade. Seated is top winner Rita Williams.
BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO/JOHNNY QUIRIN |
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| | Shattered Glass
By Business Journal Staff |
When keynote speaker Cynthia Pasky told the crowd at the Business Journal's Top Women-Owned Business luncheon, "they told me to talk about the glass ceiling, but I've never really given much thought to the glass ceiling," there were many nods of approval from the more than 200 in attendance.
And why not? Many of West Michigan's top women business owners and their trusted lieutenants were at the Pinnacle Center Monday, and while some may have had to overcome the good ol' boy network, their success was obvious.
The day's winners, each of whom received a beautiful crystal vase as a memento, represented some of the area's top companies, regardless of gender. Rita Williams, president and board chair of Gill Industries, a manufacturer with more than $100 million in annual revenues, received the top award, which was named in her honor.
Williams, the mother of 12 children, brought the house down during her remarks.
"I think it's only fair to tell you I didn't succeed in everything I've done," she said. "When I was young, I wanted to be a nun. After a year they kicked me out. I was born with a heart murmur and they told me I wouldn't be able to stand the rigors of convent life."
Juanita Briggs, president of Valor Industries, said she didn't prepare any remarks for an acceptance speech. "But I wrote one thing down. It was just 'breathe.'"
Irmgard Cooper of IMC Products in Muskegon and Cynthia Kay Afendoulis of CK & Co., both winners in their respective categories, captured the spirit of the luncheon.
Said Cooper: "I'm absolutely overwhelmed to be selected from a group of so many remarkable and talented women."
Kay concurred, saying, "I'm humbled to not only be in the midst of all of you who are nominated, but everyone who is in this room."
·You've just got to love the back-and-forth among officials at the local level. Especially when it comes to money, like the $750,000 spent on consultations for the state's fiscal crisis.
"I see my friend Kurt Kimball was quick to point out the cost of the consultants in the state's budgeting process," said Ken Parrish, Kent County treasurer. "What he didn't say was that it wasn't state dollars used to pay for it. They are funded by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and Michigan Association of Realtors."
OK, everyone clear on that?
·Who says Washington turns a deaf ear to West Michigan?
At least one local voice is getting through. Paul Hense, president of Paul A. Hense CPA and the author of the Business Journal's Small Business Matters column, is a finalist for the National Small Business Association's 2005 Small Business Advocate of the Year Award.
Hense is one of five finalists and represents a 12-state region that ranges from South Carolina to Oklahoma.
Other finalists include Stephen Cornell of San Francisco, Bernard Featherman of Kennebunlport, Maine, Elaine Longer of Fayetteville, Ark., and Valerie Perlowitz of Vienna, Va.
The award, which will be given during NSBA's Washington Presentation May 11-12, goes to a person who is a driving force for small business advocacy, according to NSBA President Todd McCracken.
"We always have been mindful that the best advocate for small business is not an association, a lobbyist, or a 'spokesperson.' The real advocates are the small business owners themselves, who give every day to make their businesses, their employees, their communities, and their nation a better place. We have dedicated this award to these small business advocates." McCracken said.
No wonder Hense, whose narrow focus on championing the merits of small business in his Journal column, is a finalist for the honor.
Hense opened his accounting firm in 1972 and has served as its president ever since. The business has grown since then, and now focuses on small business and personal tax and financial advising.
"My involvement in small business advocacy is based on my fundamental belief that people should be encouraged to be self-sufficient," Hense said. "When small business is discouraged, we lose the future medium and large business employers of the future. Small business is the incubator of our future significant employers."
That belief has driven Hense in operating his own business, and also motivated him to be active in myriad organizations. The list of positions he holds or previously held is extremely lengthy and impressive
A sample: Hense currently serves as NSBA's first vice chair, previously served as chair of the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM), was a delegate to two White House Conferences on Small Business, is a member of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce and is vice president of finance of the American Marketing Association of West Michigan.
And his struggles to grow wine-producing berries on his family farm in Cheboygan are legendary.·If Grand Rapids is to become recognized as a "Cool City," then its arts and culture will play a key role in that designation. To that end, the city has a new poet laureate. The Grand Rapids Area Council for the Humanities has named Patricia Clark as the new poet laureate for the city of Grand Rapids. She is the second person to be appointed to the two-year position, following in the footsteps of Linda Nemec Foster. Clark has a Ph.D. from the University of Houston, in English and creative writing, and is a professor in the Writing Department at Grand Valley State University where she is poet-in-residence.
"Dr. Clark has an excellent publication history, remarkable record of community involvement, and strong desire to increase public exposure to poetry," said Cheryl Van Til, executive director of the GRACH. "She will ensure that our record of successful poetry programming will continue to draw large and enthusiastic audiences." -BJ | SOURCE: Grand Rapids Business Journal, Vol.23, No. 11, March 14, 2005
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