NORTH CAROLINA 2008 SBA SMALL BUSINESS PERSONS OF THE YEAR

Wendy Banks & David Van Zee
Carolina Management Team, Inc.

Siblings Wendy Banks and David Van Zee are the 2008 North Carolina Small Business Persons of the Year. They own Carolina Management Team, (CMT) an industrial paint and protective coating company in western North Carolina. 
CMT was honored for its staying power, growth, innovative services, response to adversity and contributions to the community. CMT has been growing steadily and has gone from two to ten employees since Wendy started the business in 2003. In 2007, the company hit the $1 million sales mark.

Now CMT has a client list that includes municipal clients across North Carolina: Cities of Asheville, Burlington, Raleigh, and Winston-Salem, Towns of Apex, Forest City, Pittsboro and many others. Konica-Minolta USA is among the company’s private sector clients.

CMT offers industrial coating solutions to local officials giving them the option to repair steel and concrete rather than replace expensive buildings, tanks, piping and other equipment. This innovative approach solves maintenance problems and saves municipalities thousands of budget dollars. That’s a winning combination.

The company's relative newness to the water treatment industry made making new contacts in a closely knit industry difficult. To overcome this obstacle, CMT forged a relationship with well-known paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams and began to make joint sales calls bringing the client, contractor, and supplier together.
Wendy believes in giving back to her community.  She has provided pro bono business consultation to area small businesses. She has helped launch start-ups and helped companies procure government contracts. She also works with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which supports people affected by cancer.

Wendy and David work as a team to make CMT a success. Wendy handles marketing/sales, human resources and accounting functions. She has an MBA and has worked with Walt Disney World and Hyatt Hotels. David manages the technical staff and reviews all jobs for industrial government clients, estimates and writes proposals. Together they work on the vision of the company, implement policies and set procedures.

As Wendy envisioned the business concept in 2003, she turned to her brother for help. She also contacted the North Carolina Small Business & Technology Development Center (SBTDC). The SBTDC is a business development service of the University of North Carolina, part of SBA's National Small Business Development Center Network.
Wendy and SBTDC business counselor Annice Brown developed a business plan, discussed banking and payroll issues and marketing. Wendy also attended SBTDC strategic management retreats which helped her analyze opportunities and threats for CMT and create an action plan.

When CMT was ready to venture into government contracting, Wendy was referred to Procurement Technical Assistance Counselor (PTAC) Mark Mills. The PTAC program provides practical guidance on how to do business with federal, state and local governments.  Mark assisted Wendy with identifying industry codes and creating a profile in the Central Contractor Registry which are necessary when bidding on government contracts. Mark also helped Wendy register as a Women Business Enterprise, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and a Historically Underutilized Business with the State of North Carolina. 

In 2007, CMT was approved for an SBA gauranteed loan from RBC Centura for $27,000 to help them purchase painting equipment that they were leasing, saving them thousands of dollars.
Wendy received a 2007 Diamond Award from the Western Carolina Business Journal, to recognize her as an outstanding woman business owner.

CMT was honored with the 2007 Cron Knoy Award for Commercial Coatings at the National Painting and Coatings Expo hosted by the Society of Protective Coatings in Dallas, TX for painting of a 5 million gallon clear well at the North Fork Water Treatment Plant.