Long, Cook & samsa, inc

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Giving 150 percent Wooster Chamber recognizes efforts of community's small businesses

WOOSTER -- Nagy's Collision Center founder David Nagy said he built his business on hard work and integrity.

So it should come as no surprise that 36 years after Nagy opened up his repair shop in Doylestown, his son Dan, who has since taken over the operation along with brother Ron, was busy working while the company was one of two businesses honored at the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce's 21st annual small business reception Thursday.

Nagy's was honored in the category for businesses employing 15 or more, while accounting firm Long, Cook & Samsa won the award for the under-15 group.

"My brother is in Michigan at a 20-group business meeting, so he couldn't be here," said Ron Nagy, whose company won the award for businesses employing 15 or more. "I was supposed to be with him but I stayed back. I told him we didn't have a chance of winning, but I wanted to come and meet a lot of people."

Gene Spittle of REA & Associates, which co-sponsored the event with Critchfield, Critchfield & Johnston, told audience members that private industry in America produces 80 percent of job growth and 50 percent of our gross domestic product, adding, "Strangely enough, we hear little on the nightly news about these companies, yet they are the backbone of our country."

"I'm completely overwhelmed," said Nagy, whose company employs 41. "I didn't expect it at all. Running a business is something where you just have to give 150 percent. You have to treat your employees well because they're really the ones who keep the business going. I'm just a guy in an office."

Other businesses nominated in the 15-and-over group included The Clothing Warehouse, WQKT/WKVX Radio and Wholesome Pet Distributing.

Long, Cook & Samsa's origins can be traced back to 1983, when company president Greg Long and Dave Wilson opened an accounting firm on Liberty Street in a space above what is now the Jackwood Law Office.

In 2000, Long and Wilson split their practice. Long merged with John Cook and Todd Samsa's Cook & Samsa CPAs to form their current business, although Samsa has since retired from accounting.

The company has 13 employees.

"I'm very proud of this award, of this business and the fact that we do a lot within the community," said Cook, who joined with Samsa in 1992 after stepping down as a professor at The College of Wooster. "We almost have an unwritten policy that we're either going to do the work for not-for-profits or we're going to help the not-for-profits. Hopefully we can do the work for them and help them, too. You've got to get the clients to keep coming back. Overall, you hope your clients are happy with you and in that respect I guess accounting is easy. A lot of them depend on you for taxes, and they have to get their tax return done, and if you do good work for them they'll come back."

Long added, "I think you've got to be a little bit good and a little bit lucky. We've been able to attract enough of the right clients to keep the firm going. The partners have to be in the community and be visible so the firm has steady growth. I think our longevity is because for CPA, we should know how to run a business. And if you have enough capital and the right clients, you can exist for the long term."

Other companies nominated in the under-15 category included Bowden Bells, Putt-N-Stuff, Quizno's and Westwood Studio and Spa.

New Wooster Chamber executive director Jeff Griffin praised the work of small businesses, calling them the "shining stars of the community.

"At the Chamber, the vast majority of our members are small businesses," Griffin said. "Tonight's nine finalists employ nearly 150 people between them, and that's not to be taken for granted. These folks are the risk takers, the entrepreneurs who are building on their dreams."

Rod Crider, president of the Wayne Economic Development Council, said small businesses have become a target of his group because of the way they fit into Wayne County.

"All the statistics show that small business is what drives our economy," Crider said. "So the more we can encourage the establishment and preservation of small businesses, the better off we are. ... A company like Speed (North America) is considered a small business now. When LuK came here, they were about the size of Speed, but look at them today. I think that's a good example of what can happen when you recruit and help a company get started here in Wayne County."

Reporter Bryan Schaaf can be reached at 330-287-1645 or [email protected]

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