Carolina Management Team Success Story
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Industrial and high-performance coating application is Carolina
Management Team (CMT)'s specialty and Wendy Banks owns 51% of the business.
As a painting contractor that provides full-service, on-site protective coating
solutions primarily in North Carolina, CMT applies high-performance, industrial
coatings in water and wastewater facilities, as well as manufacturing environments.
Wendy acknowledges that the success of CMT is a team effort and leans on her
two partners; brother David Van Zee, and her father, George Van Zee. CMT currently
has two offices, one in Waynesville and the other in Cary. Wendy and her brother
had previously worked with the North Carolina Procurement Technical Assistance
Center (NC PTAC) and the Small Business & Technology Development Center
(SBTDC) when they were working for another start-up company. They were very
much aware of the services available and understood that it would be confidential
and free of charge.
CMT opened their doors in September 2003, and Wendy and the rest of the team
knew they had a lot of work ahead of them. Wendy worked with her local PTAC
counselor to identify CMT's North American Industrial Classification System
codes (NAICS), as well as registering with Central Contractor Registration (CCR).
The PTAC counselor provided practical guidance on how to do business with the
federal government, the State of North Carolina, and local governments. In addition,
the counselor provided registration guidance with Woman Business Enterprise
(WBE), Disadvantaged Enterprise, and Historically Underutilized Business (HUB)
through the State of North Carolina. Wendy has made great strides in getting
certified as a WBE in Asheville, Buncombe County, Durham, Greensboro, Raleigh,
and Winston-Salem. CMT is registered as a HUB and a DBE through the North Carolina
Department of Transportation. CMT's client list includes the town of Apex, City
of Burlington, Town of Cary, Konica-Minolta USA, Town of Morrisville, City of
Raleigh, Silver-Line Plastics in Asheville, Town of Wake Forest, Water and Waste
Systems Construction, City of Wilson and the City of Winston-Salem. CMT is on
track to break the $1,000,000.00 threshold in 2006.
Wendy had this to say about the North Carolina Procurement Technical Assistance
Center, "The PTAC team has proven to be invaluable in starting and growing
our business. Since local governments are our primary client, I needed to have
CMT registered as a WBE all over NC. The PTAC counselor steered me through that
process. The NC PTAC and SBTDC team have become my sounding boards and mentors
as opportunities and challenges arise. The PTAC counselor I work with has always
made time to meet with me to discuss the latest happenings and I always walk
away better for having spent time with him. I hear his words in my head all
the time: 'Target your market, don't use a shotgun approach.' Those words have
kept us focused on municipal water and wastewater facilities and our goal of
becoming the painting contractor of choice for plant superintendents in North
Carolina. It's easy to want to go after every painting project that comes our
way -- residential, commercial, they are all over the place. But to be successful
it takes focus. The PTAC counselor knew that - and I now know it too!"
You can reach Carolina Management Team via their website, www.cmtcoatings.com,
or call them in the Waynesville office at (828) 648-7708 or in the Cary office
at (919) 414-8867.