Santa Maria Foods Corporation           

is the largest manufacturer and distributor of Italian specialty foods in Canada.  Its success over the last two decades positioned the company for a transition to a new level of excellence.  During Santa Maria Foods’ tenfold growth over the last decade, it transitioned from a local firm to a nationwide company and now to an international corporation.

Because this growth strained its capacity, Santa Maria Foods and Strategy Associates developed a $15 million Capital Expansion Plan.  The centerpiece of the Plan was building a new state-of-the-art production facility for Prosciutto.  Funding for the Capital Expansion Plan included a private equity placement.  Strategy Associates prepared the supporting placement memorandum for the successful $3 million equity offering.

To support its emerging role as an international corporation Santa Maria Foods required new planning paradigms.  Strategy Associates introduced a “New Way to Plan” which involved and empowered all levels of the organization in the new processes.  The resulting annual budgets have proved more accurate and the new management reporting structure has provided new insights into performance and into the deviations from expectations.

United States Industry Coalition             

formed to support the commercialization of technology in the weapon-of-mass-destruction laboratories and enterprises of the former Soviet Union.  As part of the Department of Energy’s Initiatives for Prevention of Proliferation, USIC members who are United States corporations participate in private-public partnership projects.

Initially, the University of New Mexico incubated USIC as part of its programs with the Department of Energy.  As USIC matured to an association of over 80 companies with more than 200 projects, it became necessary for USIC to disengage from the University of New Mexico and become an independent organization.  Members' progress in commercialization also placed new demands upon USIC.  Finally USIC wished to relocate to Washington DC.

USIC and Strategy Associates prepared a detailed management plan to meet these multiple transition challenges.  This plan, when presented to the Department of Energy, became the basis for a five-year Financial Assistance Award to USIC with $1.7 million funding for the first year. 

Compass Plastics and Technology Inc                 

is a major West Coast specialty plastic components manufacturer.  During the last few years, Compass Plastics experienced several significant events creating an organization in transition.  It became a publicly traded corporation.  Following its major customers, it began to shift production to Mexico by building and opening a new manufacturing facility in Tijuana, Mexico. Finally it made a horizontal expansion with the acquisition of a northern California specialty plastics company.

Entering 1999, Compass Plastics faced many challenges because of this expansion and growth.  To support its annual budgeting cycle, Strategy Associates performed a Top-Line Review of the forecasted sales with a sensitive analysis to determine high-likely-low revenue estimates.  This sensitive analysis provided risk measures of the 1999 revenues.

Our second engagement involved a “Quick Look” at operations planning.  Compass Plastic planned to transition its southern California operations to the new start-up facility in Mexico during 1999.  Strategy Associates’  “Quick Look” reviewed these plans as well as a potential acquisition of another production facility in Mexico.

For More Information Contact:

Strategy Associates Inc
Glenn A. Buckles, President
8503 Buckhannon Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20854
301 983-2809, 301 983-2160 (fax)
 Strategy.Associates@att.net 

Send mail to Buckles.GP@att.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: January 06, 2003