This is the time of year all the big, national magazines give you their annual “summer reading” issues. I’ve always wondered if what they’re really doing is taking an in-house vacation by packing their pages with fiction that, by definition, doesn’t require fact-checking.
At SBN on the other hand, we never rest in our pursuit of providing you with the most important and factual reading material anywhere. (OK, so if we’re not on vacation, at least allow us a little summer hyperbole).
This issue, though, does have its share of sizzle.
As I flipped through the proofs in the late editing stages of the magazine, I was surprised at the amount of good stuff we’re packing into the issue this month.
Like Senior Editor Teresa Dixon Murray’s cover story on Tom Murdough, the guy who started Step 2 in Streetsboro after disagreements with ownership after his sale of Little Tikes to Rubbermaid.
Murdough is not a man to bite his tongue, which makes for an insightful and fast-reading dialogue that touches on all sorts of touchy subjects—from wrestling with retailers over pricing, to a sideways answer whether he’d like to buy back Little Tikes now that it might be available, to a quick explanation on how, if he succeeds in his quest to buy the Browns, he would manage both organizations.
Associate Editor Diana McGonigal turned in a piece that we’ve labeled “Econ 101.” It takes a basic look at the issues behind a business few ever really think about from the perspective of profit: a driving range. (And the answer to the first question you’ll probably have is 50,000 balls a year.)
Not long ago, Ken Thompson was honored by the Akron Regional Development Board’s Small Business Council as its entrepreneur of the year. Dustin S. Klein, associate editor in our Cleveland office, gives the view of a man who enjoys ruffling the feathers of birds who fly by conventional business wisdom.
So, if you’re still in town to read this column when it’s hot off the presses, I hope you’ll pack this issue of the magazine and take it with you on the vacation you undoubtedly have planned.
Because while none of it is fiction, it sure does make for good reading.
Tune in early
SBN is proud to announce its sponsorship of two business shows on WNEO/WEAO TV 45/49. The shows are Small Business 2000, at the great viewing time of 6:30 a.m. Saturdays; followed by This Week in Business at the slightly improved time slot of 7 a.m.
The first show presents case studies of small and growing businesses; the second is an insightful review of current business events in an interview/round-table format.
We’ve joined Kwik Kopy Printing in Stow and the Burton D. Morgan Foundation in underwriting the programs because, well, we like them and it’s our goal to help our readers obtain useful information from any number of sources.
And if you’re like me—pre-empted from watching TV on Saturday morning by your cartoon-loving children—you have two choices: Record the business shows to watch later, or send your kids back to bed and tell ‘em you’ll call them when Arthur comes on.
Bob Rosenbaum can be reached at (216) 529-8584, or by e-mail at [email protected].
