 Drew Greenblatt '88, CEO of Marlin Steel Wire, has been getting a great deal of attention for his success as a small-business owner. In the "Making It" column in The Washington Post Magazine on Aug. 19, 2007, Greenblatt was profiled about his efforts to respond to competition from China by capturing a niche market for his company's products.
The Post article
recounts how he bought Marlin, which makes wire baskets and racks, in 1998 and moved it from Brooklyn to more modern facilities in Maryland. When many of his larger customers began purchasing less expensive products from China, the company tried to compete by lowering prices but soon began to lose money.
Greenblatt looked for a strategy that would allow him to compete and realized that there was a market for small orders of custom, high-quality products that could be sold at higher prices. By changing the company's focus, he was able to turn Marlin around, begin making a profit and increase the salaries of his employees. In addition to the Post article, his efforts were noted in an article in Fortune Small Business about companies that were able to innovate in order to compete in a global market.
A political science and history major, Greenblatt credits his liberal-arts education with preparing him for his experience as a small-business owner:
"Dickinson helped me succeed in a number of ways. First, I became a more effective writer. Marketing pieces, e-mails to clients, communications with my associates must be clear and concise. Dickinson profs demanded that I articulate my point of view more effectively. I got sharper because of those professors. In addition, I was introduced to a breadth of differing views on how the world works. Dickinson was the catalyst for improving my listening and judgment skills so I could evaluate alternative opinions. This enhanced my ability to work with myriad different personalities and styles in my avocation. Dickinson was part of the foundation of my success."
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