Businesses share some ‘aha’ moments in The Garage

“It was one of those funny moments,” recalled Davide Dukcevich, one of the third generation of family members to lead Burrilville-based Daniele Inc., producers of gourmet charcuterie, or cured meat products.
“My father was selling prosciutto to distributors and one of them was a company called Costco,” he said. “They wanted pre-sliced prosciutto. My father said, ‘They don’t know prosciutto in California.’ But it was a seminal moment. We realized shoppers would want to just pick up the package off the shelf, take it home and use it. We managed to invest in a slicer.”
The company thrived and the take-away is that small businesses can often be more flexible than large corporations and make investments that boost business dramatically, said Dukcevich.
His story was among several “aha” moments shared by local business leaders on May 14 at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce’s newly designed business conference called The Garage.
The event at the R.I. Convention Center was the Chamber’s effort to move the business meeting into the rapid pacing of the environment made iconic by startups in Silicon Valley. The Garage has replaced the Chamber’s two-decades-old Business Expo that was marked by rows of exhibitors and more-structured presentations.
The consumer-products panel Dukcevich was part of was one of four during the afternoon. Business leaders ranging from third-generation family executives to leaders of rapidly-expanding young businesses were allowed three minutes to describe an “aha” moment here, a few sentences on growth opportunities there and a brief commentary on overcoming challenges meant to inspire others.
Another “aha” moment came from panelist Danny Warshay, executive chairman of Providence-based G-Form. The 2.5-year-old company creates “reactive protective technology” products of material that hardens for a micro-second then goes back to its original state, said Warshay. One of its uses is to protect smartphones from damage.
“We had come across this chemical and started playing around with it,” Warshay told the business audience. “We realized we could mold it into kind of funky shapes. We had this one that we thought was a mistake and we tossed it aside.” The thin material turned out to be a discovery and the molding process was patented, he said.
A surprise discovery for Narragansett Brewing Co. was that 16-ounce cans stood out in a sea of 12-ounce containers, said Jim Crooks, the Providence company’s vice president of sales and marketing. That turned out to be a valuable element to increase brand identity, he said.
While the audience was the intended recipient of the fast-paced, focused bits of business wisdom, Greater Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce President Laurie White said one of the unexpected results of the event was the interaction among panel members.
“I was surprised at the degree to which the panelists enjoyed engaging with one another as much as with those in attendance,” said White.
Positive feedback about the new structure came rolling in via a stream of emails, she said.
The Garage included the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition Finale, where Rhode Island jewelry-company Haverhill, Inc. won the top prize with its line of sterling silver jewelry with semi-precious stones. The fine jewelry ranges from $250 to $5,000 per piece, and is sourced through Rhode Island suppliers.
The Garage was kicked-off with the Economic Outlook Luncheon with keynote speaker CVS Caremark Corp. President and CEO Larry Merlo. He highlighted the trajectory of the company’s success from an innovative idea to offer name-brand health and beauty products at a discount to becoming a pharmacy-innovation company expanding with MinuteClinics and digital services that simplify the complexities of medications and information for consumers.
“I think The Garage went extremely well,” said White. “It was fast-paced and brought out a whole cadre of new companies that shared insights. We also had established companies sharing stories of how they reinvented themselves.”
Unlike the Business Expo, Garage events are expected to be held a few times a year. And while the expo was free, The Garage has fees ranging from $10 for a reception for networking, $30 for networking reception and programs and an additional $70 for the economic-outlook luncheon. A corporate package is $800. •

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