Kim Pinaire, President of Engraft, Wins Statewide Award and Presents a Gift to Governor Janet Napolitano as Part of the Celebration

Kim Pinaire and team celebrated their win won by presenting Governor Janet Napolitano a gift yesterday at the Phoenix Civic Center before a crowd of 1200 guests. Kim’s team took home the grand prize yesterday at the luncheon celebrating small business week in Arizona.

(PRWEB) April 15, 2006 -- Kim Pinaire and team celebrated their win by presenting Governor Janet Napolitano a gift yesterday at the Phoenix Civic Center before a crowd of 1200 guests. Kim’s team took home the grand prize yesterday at the luncheon celebrating small business week in Arizona.

Kim Pinaire led her team to victory and received the award for best Extreme Business Makeover in the state. Kim joined the Extreme Business Makeover team in October of 2005. The event was sponsored by the Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA). The goal was to provide free business makeovers to six Arizona businesses in need. The teams were made up of volunteers. Kim’s team was asked to give a makeover to Duraflow Industries, an air filter manufacturing company started in Tucson over 18 years ago. The teams competed over six months to win the coveted Best Makeover award. “I knew we could win. We just needed to pull together the right team,” says Pinaire.    Pinaire did pull the right team together as proven by yesterday’s awards. Kim Pinaire, owner of Engraft, began contacting her customers and partners in early November soliciting their support. “I have some very talented and generous customers. says Pinaire.

The team decided to rename Duraflow Industries to Trust Right Filters which required a new logo and marketing material. Barcelona Concepts, an architectural elements company, volunteered their in-house artist Dallas Mueller to the project. “Dallas was fantastic. He created the perfect logo and branding strategy for the company. We chose Barcelona Concepts to help us because of their proven track record of creative designs,” says Pinaire. They also solicited help from Restor-To-Nu, a commercial refurbishing company, who was responsible for the physical transformation. Restor-To-Nu provided new furniture, upholstery services, fabrication, painting and space design. “The physical transformation of the Duraflow offices was spectacular,” says Pinaire. To get the word out, the team turned to Sparking Memories, a customer management company, who created a custom card to notify customers of the makeover and open-house.

In total, Pinaire’s team has a lot to be proud of. The team filed a new federal trademark for Trust Right Filters, created a web site and an online shopping cart. They also created a new sales catalog, brochure and business cards. They also provided sales training to the Trust Right staff, provided business coaching to the owner Pat Kuizin, updated the current offices with new furniture and paint, provided new signage, created a marketing and business plan, provided computer training, provided manufacturing training and updates that cut manufacturing cost by 50%, updated business software, provided customer service training, managed a large mailing to all of the Trust Right customers and finally sponsored an open house at the Trust Right Offices.

Other companies that joined Kim's team included Gila Signs, ITT technical Institute -- Tucson, Sharpen Your Memory, Attorney Karla Shippey, Intuit, Shaw's Machine and Fabrication, Action International, Sandler Training Institute, and Alaska Gift Baskets.

The state-wide Extreme Makeover competition ended with a lunch and expo at the PCC yesterday. Businesses from all over the state were able to see the makeover team’s accomplishments and meet the team members. Kim also presented Governor Janet Napolitano a gift basket filled with symbolic tokens representing each of the small businesses that participated on the winning team. The governor was a guest speaker at the lunch. Pinaire thanked the governor for her support of small business in the state. “Small business plays a significant role in the states economy,” says Pinaire. “We appreciate the governor recognizing our contributions and participating in this exciting day.” Pinaire shared her team’s excitement about the turnout of yesterday’s event.

Kim Pinaire is the President Engraft.Net web hosting & design which specializes in business services for companies with 100 employees or less. Kim is on the Technology Advisory Board for Pima Community College, A Member of the National Association of Woman Business Owners, The Arizona Small Business Association, Member of the Tucson Better Business Bureau, and participates in many technical, business and political organizations. Kim is a guest instructor at ITT Technical Institute. Engraft is a Microsoft Solution Provider and has affiliate and partnership relationships with Bank of America Business Services Tucson, GotVMail, Intelligent Office -- Tucson, Intuit, ScanAlert, Lawwords, Microsoft and PRWeb. Engraft has offices Cheyenne, Dallas, Fresno, Honolulu, Klamath Falls, Reno, Seattle, Spokane, and Tucson.

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