A teacher’s bleeding knuckles spurred a family business.
It was 1977. Teachers were using scissors to cut out shapes and letters for their classroom walls, as required by schools.
“We’ve got to help these people,” LaDorna Eichenberg, a former teacher, recalled saying to husband Robert Eichenberg.
Together, the couple came up with a die cutter,a sort of cookie cutter that easily stamps out shapes by pulling down a lever.
More than 25 years later, Lake Forest-based Ellison Corp.’s die cutters are used in about 80% of the nation’s schools.
A new die cutter is set to hit the shelves of Target stores in March.
LaDorna Eich-enberg started the business after being laid off as an art teacher for the Tustin Unified School District.
“You’re superfluous,” she recalled being told.
Ellison won the medium business honor at the Nov. 17 Family Owned Business awards luncheon put on by the Business Journal and California State University, Fullerton’s Family Business Council. The event was held at the Hyatt Regency Irvine.
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Chesley, Corcoran: hired hand, second generation |
The company employs about 400 people and does a “healthy eight digits,” in revenue, according to Kent Chesley, the company’s president.
Chesley is a Harvard University graduate from Laguna Beach who joined the company in 2002. He runs things alongside Lisa Corcoran, LaDorna Eichenberg’s daughter.
Corcoran’s daughter, Kristin Highberg, heads corporate business relations and sales. She’s poised to take over when mom retires.
The Eichenbergs serve as co-chairs.
Highberg has worked at Ellison since she was 6 years old, cutting out shapes and appearing in the company’s advertisements. She said she’s looking forward to someday heading the company.
“She’s excellent, and I know she’ll run it very well,” LaDorna Eichenberg said.
Several relatives work at Ellison.
David Corcoran, Lisa’s husband, heads up die cutter manufacturing done at Ellison’s corporate headquarters.
Jorli Perine, Corcoran’s sister, is a die designer. Corcoran’s son Erin works in research and development. A cousin handles filming for DVDs.
Highberg is in charge of global sales and spends about a third of her time traveling.
In the U.S., Ellison is working to get a consumer cutter on store shelves, focusing on the retail market. Ellison’s cutters sell in arts and crafts stores such as Michaels The Arts and Crafts Store and Jo-Ann Stores.
In Europe, Ellison is going after schools and the craft market, Highberg said. Other prospects include Japan, Mexico and Australia, she said.
Working with mom isn’t always easy, according to Highberg.
“We both have to be right,” she said. “But we always get through it.”
The Eichenbergs started their business with $12,000. LaDorna Eichenberg, formerly Ellison, was about 50 at the time. Her three daughters were grown. She married Robert Eichenberg after meeting him in a creative writing class at the University of California, Irvine.
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. A triumph on “Hollywood Squares” secured a car, green stamps and a year’s worth of Denny’s food.
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.
Ellison recently opened its own 300,000-square-foot “feng shui” factory in China, with dorms, a sports court and a cafeteria. The factory employs about 280 people.
The company had been making products under contract in China for four years.
It was Chesley who advocated owning a China factory. Corcoran was tentative at first. She didn’t want any layoffs at the headquarters. The expansion in China brought more support workers in Lake Forest, she said.
Corcoran, eager to delegate some of her duties, hired Chesley three years ago. She first wanted to see if he could adapt to the Ellison workplace. He soon was made president.
Chesley said it’s been an adjustment getting used to the Ellison family,and predominantly female,culture.
One thing he 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?”
