Stephanie Acri

 

 Stephanie Acri, president and owner

of Evans Premium Manufacturing

 

You can read more about Stephanie Acri in Issue 2 of The Royal Neighbor magazine.

 

Stephanie Acri purchased a machine shop in Rock Island, IL, in 2004 to be able to take care of her family and fulfill her career goals. She has a unique way of melding technology with family values throughout the business that is ensuring its success and is helping to retain strong employees.

 

How Stephanie financed her business purchase

 

As an entrepreneur, you have to go out and find what will be helpful. I took advantage of the low-interest loans that were available nationwide at the time. Because of the criteria of what I was going to do with the business when I bought it, I also qualified for a bi-state regional commission loan and a loan from the city of Rock Island. These loans were beneficial because interest rates were high when I was ready to buy. I also had to have a certain percentage of my own money on the table.

 

Stephanie’s management style

 

I think women in general do very well as head of a business like this. You have to make decisions, do research, and have a clear understanding of so many different things. We’re excellent at multi-tasking and managing.

 

I like this work because I enjoy the variety of the tasks. I don’t like monotonous work. But I have employees for whom it is critical to focus on a task and do it repetitively. That’s one of the key components of this company’s success is that there are so many different types of people who serve well in different capacities. I’m so grateful for that.

 

This is not just a job to my employees. It’s part of who they are and they want to do well. As the leader of the organization, it’s my responsibility to see that they are engaged. We are always dealing with challenging issues that are out of our control such as the price of raw materials and the economy in general. When I sense frustration, I have a one-to-one conversation. I have an open door policy that I adhere to because I need to understand what’s happening in their work day so I can eliminate the barriers that may be preventing them from doing their jobs. I keep us all optimistic and continually improving so we can be a prosperous organization. I want all my employees to continue to feel good about being associated with this company.

 

Stephanie’s volunteer beliefs

 

Volunteering is important. I found that during the times when I was struggling, I felt better when I was able to contribute and make a difference. I serve on boards where I can actually have some influence and that are important to me. For example, I serve on the Trinity Regional Health System board because I want to ensure my family and employees have access to quality healthcare. I also serve on the board of the YMCA because its afterschool programs children were so helpful to me and good for my children.

 

Evans Premium Manufacturing Company

 

Evans Manufacturing specializes in manufacturing cylindrical parts for use by equipment manufacturers. 

 

www.evanspremiumparts.com