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28 • NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA BUSINESS JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 2003 Montoursville youth launch aviation magazine By John Beauge Adam and Bryan Makos were in middle school in Montoursville when in 1994 they launched Ghost Wings, a two-page newsletter they produced for family and friends on their home computer to share aviation stories inspired by their grandfather’s World War II accounts. In May 1999, the brothers, along with their younger sister Erica, and friend Joseph Gohrs, moved from a newsletter to a magazine format. Today, Ghost Wings has a paid mail circulation of about 3,000. More than 7,000 other copies of the magazine, published four times a year, are sold through selected newsstands and by staff members at air shows. The four still work from an office in the basement of the Makos home near Warrensville, where they self-taught themselves how to create and design a magazine that is printed commercially. Editor Adam Makos, 22, who graduated in May magna cum laude from Lycoming College, plans to devote his full-time efforts to the magazine.The other three will continue to split their time between school and the magazine. Associate editor, Bryan Makos, 19, is a sophomore at Lycoming and Gohrs, 22, the production manager, is a senior at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. Erica Makos, 18, who handles public relations duties, graduated in June from Montoursville High School. Their work has won accolades from veterans including Richard Winters, a World War II paratrooper from Hershey who was among those featured in the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers.” Winters, 85, is featured in an article in the current issue reliving his account of jumping into Normandy on D-Day.“We were focusing on these guys before we saw them on TV,”Adam Makos says.“It didn’t take an HBO series to show us they were real American heroes.” He had interviewed the late Stephen Ambrose, author of the book “Band of Brothers,” in October 2000 when he came to an air event Ghost Wings hosted at the Williamsport Regional Airport. Makos’ article, illustrated with World War II photographs, goes beyond the HBO series to include first-person accounts of those who flew the paratroopers to the jump zone on June 6, 1944. “They did a beautiful job,”Winters says. Makos interviewed Winters who started making notes of his D-Day experience three days after he landed in Normandy. He had time because he had suffered a left leg wound. Winters, who retired as a major after training troops to go to Korea, is to be featured in a commemorative art print by artist John Shaw in Florida.The Ghost Wings staff plans to sell the prints as a fundraiser for the magazine. They do much of their research for articles about World War II during the summer by attending air shows throughout the United States. Adam Makos was at Edwards Air Force Base in California in October when Chuck Yeager made his last flight in a jet, a F-15 Eagle. He had met Yeager at an air show in Oshkosh,Wis., and learned he did not have a Web site.The Ghost Wings staff built one for him, which was launched Feb. 13 on Yeager’s 80th birthday. The young writers have learned to take advantage of situations to get their stories and expand their experiences. In July 2002 at a fly-in/air show in Oshkosh, Erica Makos got to go up in a World War II vintage P-51 fighter. She describes her experience in the current edition.Their work on the magazine has brought them recognition in high school and college. Adam Makos this year won the Global Student Entrepreneur award for the Ohio Valley region, which is composed of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia. He will represent the region in the national competition held in November in Chicago. For the third consecutive year, Erica Makos is in the running for a national Future Business Leaders of America award. Bryan Makos went to nationals three times when he was a Montoursville student. The Makos brothers and Gohrs won a state award for the magazine’s business plan when Adam Makos was still in high school. Many of the letters the staff receives include the comment that not many youngsters today are writing about the experiences of World War II veterans. Time for getting first-person accounts of these events is running out,Adam Makos says.“We have to act fast to get them into the hands of young people who can learn so much from them,” he says.“We have to do this before such valuable history is lost.” Yahoo! launches tools to create ‘business class’ Web sites Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, announced the launch of Yahoo! SiteBuilder, an innovative design tool enabling small businesses to build professional, business-class Web sites quickly and easily. The new tool is available now on Yahoo! Web Hosting (webhosting. yahoo.com), and is free for Yahoo! Web Hosting customers. Yahoo! Small Business created and developed Yahoo! SiteBuilder, a Javabased client-side Web site design tool with business-class authoring, management and customization, to make it easier than ever for small businesses to establish an online presence.With Yahoo! SiteBuilder, no programming knowledge is required.The easy-to-use tool enables small businesses to use drag-and-drop editing to build professional and sophisticated Web sites. Yahoo! is offering the new tool for free. Yahoo! Web Hosting customers can publish their Web site directly to their Yahoo! Web Hosting account. New users can publish their Web site by signing up for any of the three affordable Yahoo! Web Hosting packages. Yahoo! SiteBuilder provides more than 200 templates such as professional services, interior design, real estate and travel, among many others. It enables users to drag and drop images anywhere on the site, insert backgrounds, layer designs, edit, preview and “undo” mistakes.Also,Yahoo! SiteBuilder provides a Getting Started Guide that walks customers through a step-by-step process, from creating a page to publishing a site. Yahoo! SiteBuilder allows for offline management, providing small businesses the freedom to modify their site without being connected to the Internet. In addition,Yahoo! SiteBuilder uses open standards and is designed to create multipage sites versus individual pages, allowing for link management. Integrity Building Systems locates corporate headquarters in Milton In May, the Milton Area Industrial Development Association, the owners of Integrity Building Systems Inc., and other noted dignitaries, joined together in a groundbreaking ceremony at a site in the Milton Industrial Park, Belford Addition. The 22.5 acre site is part of a Keystone Opportunity Zone, and will become the new corporate headquarters for Integrity Building Systems, a leading manufacturer of modular homes, presently located in Montgomery. Construction on the site commenced last month, with anticipated occupancy of the new 70,000 sq. ft. stateof-the-art manufacturing facility, and 7,000 sq. ft. office complex by March, 2004. Integrity Building Systems presently employees 100 workers at its operation in Montgomery and, with the relocation of operations to the Milton site, anticipates the creation of approximately 40 additional jobs within the next few years as predicated by housing demands in the Northeast. Homes by Integrity, the retail marketing division of the parent company, will also maintain offices at the new location — allowing potential local homebuyers the opportunity to view firsthand the benefits of modular construction. Participating in the groundbreaking ceremony were, left to right, Integrity Building Systems officers, Richard Rowe, president; Michael Steimling, vice president of material procurement; Glenn Salsman, controller; Steven Weaver, treasurer; Mark Bowman, vice president of Mid-Atlantic sales; Martin Sickle, vice president of Northeast sales;Timothy McWilliams, vice president of production; Sam Deitrick, Northumberland County commissioner; John Boback, Northumberland County commissioner; Bob Hickox, president and CEO of the Milton Area Chamber of Commerce; and Edward Nelson, mayor of Milton.
Use exit interviews to gather feedback for company Information obtained in exit interviews assists in running efficient HR departments as well as retaining employees By Jennifer Butler During this latest recession, companies are finding that exit interviews are becoming increasingly more valuable in retaining current employees and pointing the way toward new hires. According to a recent study by the Society of Human Resource Management, more than 90 percent of companies conduct exit interviews and it is one of the most widely used methods of gathering employment feedback for a company. “Exit interviews can provide a wealth of information for both the employee and the company, said Donna Hewlett Bator, human resources manager at Marywood University. “The company welcomes the opportunity to find out what can be done to prevent future turnover and the employee is given an opportunity to talk about what they have experienced while employed with the company.” Other information can be obtained by the employee as well.This includes information on the continuation of any benefits, how to handle their pension plan, what will be included in their final check and any other pressing matters for the final transition, Bator adds.“It is needed to tie up loose ends like collecting IDs, getting correct addresses for mailing W- 2s and other things, ” she said. For the most part, exit interviews are conducted a few days before or after an employee leaves the company, when the employment experiences are “fresh” in his/her mind and he/she is happy to express final thoughts about the employment.All part-time and full-time personnel are interviewed, according to Bator, and temporary or seasonal employees are also encouraged to contact her before their departure. “I prefer to meet with individuals one-on-one.This makes it more personalized and helps create an atmosphere where they feel free to discuss what is on their minds,” explained Bator. If this is not possible, she mails the information with a follow-up phone call, with all information kept confidential unless otherwise specified. Bator includes such questions as why the employee is leaving and whether anything could have prevented it. “I inquire as to how they perceived their salary, job security, benefits, managerial skills and opportunities for growth,” she said. She asks if they would work for the university again if the occasion arose and whether they felt the workplace was a safe environment. “This is a perfect opportunity to obtain constructive feedback.We can identify problems as well as things that work well in the department and the university, since employees often acknowledge Donna Hewlett Bator, human resources manager at Marywood University, right, conducts an exit interview, a situation she describes as “the perfect opportunity to obtain constructive feedback.” Photo by Bob Urban what worked well and have suggestions on what might work better,” she said. Bator takes the information she receives and combines it with other data to determine relevance and whether changes are due. “The more frequently a comment is made, the more significance it has,” she notes.“Possible underlying motives, differences in perceptions of a situation and the sincerity of the terminating employee at the exit interview serve as positive, objective tools to (use to) make appropriate changes,” she said. “I enjoy the opportunity to meet with employees as they are first coming to Marywood and those that are leaving. It serves as a source of connection for human resources and the employee. It is an opportunity to make sure the employees know we are concerned about their experience here and are here to be of service and maintain a positive relationship when they are no longer employed at the university,” added Bator. There are a variety of reasons that retention of an employee is so important. The cost of turnover to a company can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a company’s expenses, including hiring and training costs and productivity loss. Experts say that 25 percent of the average employee’s salary is a conservative estimate of the cost of turnover. The loss of company knowledge when an employee leaves can be harmful because employees may take what they know about the company, customers, current projects and past history away — sometimes to a competitor. There is a disruption of customer service when an employee leaves. Relationships develop between customers and employees that encourage business.These relationships are severed when an employee leaves. In addition, low morale, related to the loss of an employee can be felt throughout a company, and may intensify when coworkers are required to take on additional responsibilities. Interviews can also be conducted on paper or through the use of an online system like Nobscot’s Webexit Exit Management System, depending on the company’s preference. One disadvantage of in-person interviews is that, for larger companies, they may be too time-consuming, it may be difficult to track information verbally and some employees may be afraid to share negative information during these interviews. Telephone exit interviews can also be time-consuming and expensive if performed by an outside consultant. Paper and pencil interviews take less time and employees may be more willing to share negative information, but return of such interviews by the employee average only 30 to 35 percent. The online management system may be useful in saving time for human resource managers.The information is compiled automatically, and participation rates have doubled, according to Nobscot. Had Any Problems With Your Commercial Insurance Program Lately? Problems like... • Finding Insurance Coverage? • Cost going up? •New exclusions that weren’t there before? Hutchison Insurance Agency specializes in helping our clients find the best, most affordable coverage possible. We do this by working with some of the most prestigious carriers in the U.S., including CNA, Chubb, Donegal, Eastern Alliance, Guard Insurance Group, Harleysville, Hartford, Markel Insurance Co., Peerless Insurance, Philadelphia Insurance Co., Penn National, Presque Isle, PMA Group, St. Paul, Selective Insurance, State Auto Mutual, Travelers, Westfield Group, and Zurich. So, with that caliber of insurance companies behind us, wouldn’t it make sense to call Hutchison Insurance Agency today and see how we can help solve your insurance problems? A member of The Insurance Alliance of Central Pennsylvania, Inc. Hutchison Insurance Agency 445 Market Street Bloomsburg, PA 17815 1-800-222-2040 • 570-784-5550 NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA BUSINESS JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 2003 • 29
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Page 21 and 22: Training driven by managers Chief e
Page 23 and 24: Congress seeks way to pay for Medic
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Page 47 and 48: Dairy plant’s business model: buy
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