Winner of Rockford Chamber’s 2007 Small Business of the Year Award

From basement beginning, Samco has worked way up to Business of the Year  

By Melissa Westphal

        

New challenges drive Norma Polcek in her promotional products business, a trait that just made Samco Sales and Marketing Co. award-worthy.    Samco took home the Rockford Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year award Thursday during AMCORE Bank’s small-business breakfast at Giovanni’s.   Polcek founded Samco in 1984 in her home’s basement.   The company now employs eight people and runs out of a 3,000-square-foot building at 9950 N. Alpine Road in Machesney Park.  

        

Polcek expanded Samco by helping other businesses promote their brand identity with corporate ID clothing, employee gifts and customer gifts. Technology advancements allowed her to expand her customer base throughout the U.S. and Europe.   She said new challenges keep her motivated in her business.    “I just love when someone comes in who is frustrated and wants to do something but doesn’t know where to start on the project,” Polcek said. “It’s so exciting when we can find something for them, brainstorm and pull it all together. Everything is like a new project. It’s not the same thing every day.”  

        

Two of her unique projects have been creating a music box for Starlight Theatre at Rock Valley College and finding special wooden cutting boards for a company, an effort that relied on overseas connections.  “That’s the fun part,” Polcek said. “The business has grown out of the passion and the fun. And it can’t be done without the people who work with me. They are the ones who reach out with customer service. Without them, it wouldn’t be done.”  

           

Polcek said she has about 600 clients in the database, and she alluded to an expansion plan that will start within the year.   John Groh, senior vice president for marketing and public affairs at the Rockford Chamber of Commerce, said Polcek’s constant commitment to customer service appealed to review committee members who chose Samco for the award.  “Her entrepreneurial spirit comes through, and it comes through in her employees,” Groh said. “They make sure their customers look good.” Copyright 2007 Gate House Media, Inc.