Watertown Company Takes Entrepreneurial Edge to New Levels

The Connecticut Law Tribune
June 2000

"A.J. has awesome ideas - he is an entrepreneur to the core," said John Pavlovich, Chief Financial Officer for ArchivesOne. He was speaking of A.J. Wasserstein, Founder, President & Director of Customer Happiness at ArchivesOne in Watertown, Connecticut. A.J. is the Connecticut U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Small Business Person of the Year.

"My typical day consists of 75 percent working on the business and 25 percent working in the business," said A.J. of his work at ArchivesOne, a records management and storage service company with facilities in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

A.J.'s focus remains on business development (generating new customers), cultural issues (team member building) and overall strategy (company vision). As his title of Director of Customer Happiness may suggest, A.J. works on building relationships with ArchivesOne customers, team members and partners. It's not surprising that he started ArchivesOne at the age of 24 with only $5,000 and a vision.

In the nine years since starting as a one-man operation, ArchivesOne has grown into a multi-state corporation. Today the company has over 900 customers, 60 team members and sales of $7 million with a steadily climbing profit margin. For A.J., the drive and determination was always there, even in the early days of ArchivesOne when he would wear his best suit and meet with a potential customer.

"Everything was so exciting and challenging. It was a rush," he said of those first three years of the business. "I would sign on a new customer, go into my car and scream at the top of my lungs. I would think. 'Hey, this is going to work.' "

Although he will be the first to state that the records management business is not glamorous, the entrepreneurial drive and spirit haven't left A.J. or his vision for the company's future. "I love what I do. I'm very passionate about business."

A.J.'s vision of the company continues with Team Member Incentive programs to help empower the employees to be a part of the process. "ArchivesOne cannot work with me alone," A.J. said. "I need team members to do the day-to-day operations. I want people to feel good about going to work and making a living. I want them to be a part of the company."

That concept, along with innovative and creative ideas from ArchivesOne team members, the Board of Directors and ArchivesOne's venture capital partners, makes ArchivesOne a strong and constantly growing company with a great future moving into the 21st Century.

"We never want to say we can't take on a project because we don't have the resources. We want to have the ability to take on any project if it benefits ArchivesOne and our team," A.J. added. This attitude and focus were very important when ArchivesOne began acquiring other companies in the industry to further ArchivesOne's expansion. And this is where ArchivesOne's Management Team comes into play. Jim Kallipolites, Vice President of Operations and John Pavlovich, CFO handle both the pre and post stages of ArchivesOne acquisitions.

"We have never had to lay off any worker due to an acquisition," Jim said. "We give every employee information on the first day, explaining benefits and changes in the company. We truly believe the employees know their jobs and perform them well, and they can only benefit us."

"It's very exciting," said John, who heads up the financial side of ArchivesOne. "When we acquire another company, we are able to offer more opportunities, everyone benefits."

A.J. and ArchivesOne's team built a strong incentive program for their team members. One incentive is ArchivesOne's willingness to partially pay for a new home personal computer. "It's their computer, they can use it for what they want. In the process if they are able to experiment at home for their own benefit, the intimidation of the technology and software is greatly lessened. That's a benefit to their job and ultimately to ArchivesOne," said John.

The program benefits go on and on from bonuses and gift certificates for a job well done to recognition for expressing ideas or suggestions to help make jobs easier and the company more efficient. "When we look at a project or opportunity, it is never one person's issue, it's a team opportunity," John added. So when one of ArchivesOne's drivers suggested to the management team a more effective way to run his route, Jim, John and A.J. listened and the driver was awarded a bonus for his creativity and design help.

"I love my job," Jim said, who has been with the company for 6 years. "We've come a long way. We've been able to take this company to new levels, and it's exciting. We are all striving for the same goal." John, who left the Arthur Anderson firm to become ArchivesOne's CFO in January, says "The culture here is dynamic and visionary."

ArchivesOne currently services customers from Westchester County, N.Y. to Springfield, Mass. from its Connecticut facilities. The company is a full-service provider of records and information management and related services, enabling customers to outsource record management functions. ArchivesOne has a diversified customer base, with Fortune 500 organizations and numerous commercial, legal, banking, healthcare, accounting and insurance organizations.

The SBA Small Business Person of the Year Award is based on criteria such as staying power, growth, innovation and creativity. A.J. and ArchivesOne clearly demonstrate these qualities. The Connecticut SBA Advisory Council selects the small business awards each year.

"A.J. represents an entrepreneurial spirit, continuing to grow the business while accessing new strategies to provide customer satisfaction. I am truly honored to name A.J. as the Connecticut SBA's 2000 Small Business Person of the Year," said Penn Ritter, Chairman of the Council.

A.J. has taken what could otherwise be viewed as a pretty uninteresting kind of work and turned it into a fun, exciting and fast-paced place of business in which the employees have many creative and rewarding opportunities to succeed, and help ArchivesOne succeed. A.J. is the first to assure any asker that he could never do it without his team.

And he could have started his business anywhere. A.J. obtained his MBA from New York University, but came back to Connecticut armed with his education, tremendous energy and love for business. His decision has been Connecticut's gain. This is not the first recognition received by A.J. or ArchivesOne. ArchivesOne was selected the 1998 Small Business of the Year by the Greater Waterbury Chamber of Commerce. There have been volumes of articles in papers and magazines as well as recognition by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing inner-city companies in America.

A.J. demonstrates the same drive and commitment outside ArchivesOne as well. He is community oriented and sits on several boards in Waterbury. He clearly values family, is a husband and father, and chose Connecticut in part to remain near his parents. He has worked hard to develop a quality life in all aspects of living. We look forward to the next decade, what it will bring to A.J. and where he will lead ArchivesOne.

Lynn DeJoseph, President of DeJoseph, Ohlsen Group, nominated A.J. for the SBA award and describes A.J.'s multi-level success by saying, "It is a rare and truly unique entrepreneur that can be successful with customers, staff, community and financially. It is the balance of all of these constituencies that makes A.J. and ArchivesOne so different."