SureShade is a Philadelphia-based designer and manufacturer of sunshade systems for the marine industry that are designed to enhance and facilitate the boating experience. Initially launched right on the Delaware River, SureShade serves OEM factory and aftermarket clients with its line of automated or manual retractable shade awning products.
Read our interview with Dana Russikoff, Business Leader and Co-Founder of SureShade, as she describes the moment of going into the business with her husband, defining moments for the business, the rewards of being a business owner, something that would be surprise others about SureShade, and what she thinks about manufacturing in our region:
When my husband, business partner and inventor of the SureShade product line explained in detail how his concept would transform the boating experience, how it would be designed and how he planned to build the prototype it just seemed like the natural next step was to explore the feasibility of patent protection, invest in product development and assess market interest. It was empowering to make such a bold decision and as we progressed it just became more and more exciting because we were literally creating something from nothing and we were finding that our product was indeed meeting an unmet need in the marketplace.
Given the timing of our startup, which was during the 2008 financial downturn, for several years it was difficult to obtain funding as the business lending environment was in turmoil. It got to the point where we literally gave ourselves a deadline to secure adequate funding for the next level of growth or we would have to reconsider the business. Fortunately that did not happen. We took matters into our own hands and executed two unconventional strategic initiatives that secured our business position.
First, we bypassed the financial institutions and went directly to the regional SBA office in King of Prussia where we learned that despite being told otherwise, we were more than qualified for an SBA loan – in fact we were “textbook.” So we went from being told “no” to having a number of banks now wanting our business. We have the 2010 Small Business Jobs Act to thank for that, which a number of local community banks took advantage of and therefore had funds to lend, and we closed on an SBA loan within 4 months of that fateful visit to the regional SBA office.
Second, because we were now at the point where a substantial tooling investment was essential to the next level of volume production, we did some research and learned that we actually had the capability in-house to build our own tooling rather than pay someone to do it. That alone saved us over $100,000 and we found local manufacturing partners who would assist us in our tooling build in exchange for the parts business. Again given the economic environment at the time, it was a true win-win and we now have an excellent relationship with these suppliers who not only manufacture our parts but now have our new tooling business as well. It was these two creative “outside the box” approaches that defined our business and set the foundation for where we are today.
The most rewarding part of owning a business – after you secure that first strategic client of course – is creating jobs. We are so proud that we have doubled our workforce in the past year – going from six employees to 12. And we’re not just creating jobs – but more importantly we’re creating MIDDLE CLASS jobs, as our minimum wage is $15 an hour. That’s what differentiates us. And, if you take care of your customers and employees, the numbers (and everything else) will take care of themselves.
Something that might surprise people about our business is probably how small our facility is relative to its output. Apparently there’s a metric out there that measures revenue based on square footage. We’ve been told more than once that we blow that metric out of the water. We run quite lean and literally use just about every square inch of our 2,500 sq ft facility. That said, we look forward to expanding our operation here in the region – preferably in the Tacony area on or near the Delaware River, the former “Workshop of the World”. We have begun discussions with local political and economic development leaders to plan for this next level of growth.
As a fellow manufacturer, I admire every manufacturing business in our region, because they are defying the conventional thinking that U.S. manufacturing is dead. Manufacturing is the only industry where you literally create wealth – taking something of lesser value and transforming it into something of greater value that people are willing to pay for. It’s the only industry where you can take a $5 piece of aluminum, perform a machining operation on it and it’s now worth $55 or $155 or $1055. It’s one of the only industries where you can start a career right out of high school. I admire the manufacturing companies that chose to not just stay in our region but also expand, like Dietz & Watson and Augusta Westland. Companies like this are rewriting the book on Philadelphia business success. We look forward to writing the next chapter.
