LaDorna Ellison Eichenberg spent much of her life dutifully raising her three daughters. Then she really got cooking.
At 50, a divorced Eichenberg graduated from Brigham Young University. She got her teacher’s credential about a year later. Around that time, she married Robert Eichenberg, whom she met in a creative writing class at the University of California, Irvine.
In 1977, the Eichenbergs started Lake Forest-based Ellison Corp.
The Eichenbergs since have retired from Ellison, a maker of arts and crafts supplies for schools and just about anyone else. They’re still active as co-chairs.
Lisa Corcoran, LaDorna Eichenberg’s daughter, now runs the privately held company. She and others don’t disclose Ellison’s revenue. Kent Chesley, Ellison’s president, said yearly sales are in the “healthy eight digits.”
Ellison employs about 400 people. The company makes machines called die cutters that use patterns to cut shapes out of paper and other materials. Think shamrocks on a school wall for St. Patrick’s Day, or pumpkins for Halloween.
Next year, Ellison plans to start selling its products through a big national retailer (Corcoran declined to say which one).
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Robert, LaDorna Eichenberg: started company in 1977 |
The company has come a long way from the early days, when LaDorna Eichenberg set out to find a time-saving alternative to cutting out shapes by hand.
As an art teacher for the Tustin Unified School District in the 1970s, LaDorna Eichenberg noticed that she and her colleagues didn’t have time to cut out hundreds of paper Valentine’s Day hearts and other classroom decorations.
So she came up with an idea to replace tedious cutting: a die cutting machine that stamped out shapes like a cookie cutter.
Bob Eichenberg designed the product, which first was used to stamp out letters.
With $12,000,$6,000 of LaDorna Eichenberg’s own money and $6,000 she borrowed from a great aunt,the Eichenbergs began selling their die cutter to school districts.
Not everyone shared their vision. When the Eichenbergs sought more money, folks at the Service Corps of Retired Executives, a nonprofit business advisory group, suggested they get out of the business.
Having invested all of their money, the Eichenbergs ignored the advice.
The Eichenbergs were able to survive the early years thanks in part to Bob Eichenberg’s unique skill,he was good at radio and TV game shows. It was a triumph on the Hollywood Squares that secured a car, green stamps and a year’s worth of Denny’s food.
Ellison today has the bulk of the national educational market and is big in arts and crafts, selling its products in stores such as Michaels The Arts and Crafts Store.
The company’s die cutters stamp out 7,000 different patterns,cats, pigs, flowers, people, butterflies, to name a few. Along with paper, the devices can cut through magnets, felt and fabric. They even can emboss printed digital photos.
Now the arts and crafts market, which grew for much of the past five years or so, has slowed. Rivals, such as Nebraska’s AccuCut Systems, are many.
“The craft market is competitive,” Corcoran said. “You’ve got to fight for it.”
And schools these days have less money to spend on classroom gear. So Ellison has had to find new markets and venture overseas.
Corcoran, eager to delegate some of her duties, decided that she needed some new blood.
She took a chance on Chesley, a Harvard University graduate from Laguna Beach who had worked in New York. Chesley started out as director of strategic business in 2002.
“There was no talk of presidency” at that time, Chesley said.
Corcoran had it in the back of her mind, though. But she wanted to see if Chesley could adapt to the Ellison workplace, which is dominated and led by women.
The company’s office is decorated with the fruits of its die cutters: cutouts of flowers and cute boxes with bows. Corcoran, who looks like the head housemother, forgoes stuffy business attire.
Ellison is the type of place where workers are family. In many cases, they are.
Jorli Perine, Corcoran’s sister, is a die designer. Corcoran’s son Erin works in research and development. Her brother-in-law is an idea guy. A recently hired cousin handles filming products for DVDs.
Kristin Highberg, Corcoran’s daughter, is director of corporate business relations and sales. Highberg is likely to be Corcoran’s successor, marking a third generation for the family business.
“I want to leave this business to my daughter,” Corcoran said.
Chesley said at first he didn’t understand how to operate in Ellison’s family,and predominantly female,culture.
“It wasn’t easy at first,” Corcoran said.
One thing Chesley said he’s had to get used to: Ellison hires for personality as much as skills.
“We interview in a different way,” he said. “What are the softer sides of you?”
Chesley has brought a push for new markets and global expansion. To which Corcoran said, whoa, slow down.
“She would say: ‘No, let’s try it this way,'” Chesley said.
He said he was able to adapt by hearing her out.
“I listened to Lisa,” he said. “Lisa’s very good at knowing her markets. I’ve been able to augment the business strategies.”
Chesley’s now the only board member not from the family. But he’s fitting in. He said he makes his own handmade cards. For Valentine’s Day, he sent his wife cutout roses from the road.
China Expansion
About four years ago, Ellison began making die cutters in China with a manufacturer based there. Now it has its own plant with about 280 workers.
Ellison recently built a 300,000-square-foot “feng shui” factory and an adjacent living quarters for the workers, complete with basketball courts.
“If we’re going to be a global company, we’re going to have to own our own infrastructure,” Chesley said.
Ellison’s expansion in China has meant more workers in Lake Forest, Corcoran said. That was one of the conditions in going there, she said. She didn’t want any layoffs.
Before going to China there were 130 local workers, she said. Now there are 180.
China cranks out Ellison’s most promising product, its consumer line of child-safe die cutters and accessories. The Sizzix line is sold online at arts and crafts stores. A redesigned line is expected to hit the shelves of a major retailer next year.
“It pretty much saved us,” Corcoran said.
