http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull RSS Feed for Inq Col Diane Mastrull en-us Mon, 21 May 2012 16:37:54 GMT 2012-05-21T16:37:54Z en-us http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120521_Disabled_vet_Sherman_Barton_battles_for_military_contracts_for_business.html They were 12 hairy years in Sherman Barton’s life. The Burlington County resident worked in military intelligence for the U.S. Army in Germany and Italy from 1972 to 1984, getting shot three separate times while hunting terrorists, he said. The personal toll was vast, including the loss of two ribs, a portion of his lower intestines and some hearing, along with three broken neck vertebrae, ankle stiffness and instability, muscle weakness and depression. Mon, 21 May 2012 16:37:54 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120521_Disabled_vet_Sherman_Barton_battles_for_military_contracts_for_business.html 2012-05-21T16:37:54Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120514_Small_Business_.html With all his talk about sugar cane, corn, casaba, and fungi, Jeff White sounded like someone with a food obsession. But the ingredients he enumerated during an interview last week had to do with manufacturing, not a meal. His is an unconventional view of the world, where vegetables and other crops are the base materials for such durable goods as cellphone covers, DVD trays, and shipping containers. But the success of Ecospan L.L.C., the bioplastics company he now leads that aims to replace petroleum-based plastics with those made from natural resources, depends on White’s perspective becoming widely held by consumers. Mon, 14 May 2012 23:24:39 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120514_Small_Business_.html 2012-05-14T23:24:39Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120507_Diane_Mastrull__Stroll_sprints_to_keep_its_marketing_machine_growing.html Dan Roitman’s company is called Stroll, a most ill-fitting name. From a growth perspective at least, Stroll’s evolution has been anything but a leisurely pace. Born 12 years ago in a Maryland dorm room, the Center City company is an impressive display of the potential of any small business, though perhaps in the extreme. Mon, 07 May 2012 15:29:55 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120507_Diane_Mastrull__Stroll_sprints_to_keep_its_marketing_machine_growing.html 2012-05-07T15:29:55Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120430_Diane_Mastrull__A_baby-products_company_evolves__through_good_times_and_bad.html To local sports enthusiasts, Leslie Gudel is likely best known for her Phillies reporting and anchoring on Comcast SportsNet. To another category of fan, Gudel might not be known at all. But her portable baby recliners sure are. Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:54:37 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120430_Diane_Mastrull__A_baby-products_company_evolves__through_good_times_and_bad.html 2012-04-30T16:54:37Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120423_Veteran_N_J__saleswomans_pitch__Womens_business_group_can_help.html When Phyllis Micahnik entered the business world, it was 1965, and life on the road in sales for Niagara Cyclo massage products was not a welcoming place for a woman. Restaurant hosts would be so uncomfortable with her solo status that they would hurry her to a back table. When she would check into a hotel, “boy, did I get the fish-eye,” the 77-year-old grandmother recalled last week at her Cherry Hill home. Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:14:06 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120423_Veteran_N_J__saleswomans_pitch__Womens_business_group_can_help.html 2012-04-23T20:14:06Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120416_Small_Business__Hunks__of_all_kinds__hauling_junk.html One glimpse of Matt McLaughlin’s blue eyes and bulging biceps, and it’s obvious why the 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior tight end at West Chester University considered himself a perfect fit for the job posted by College Hunks Hauling Junk. Owner Michael Ort thought so, too, making McLaughlin one of his first hires. Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:12:28 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120416_Small_Business__Hunks__of_all_kinds__hauling_junk.html 2012-04-16T18:12:28Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120415_A_small_businesswoman_strikes_a_deal_with_a_retail_titan.html Ask those who have worked with Emily Gottschalk to describe the Cherry Hill entrepreneur, and the compliments gush forth. Market savvy. Upbeat. Focused for success. Trustworthy. But last week, the identifier that seemed to thrill Gottschalk the most was 011891. Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:45:55 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120415_A_small_businesswoman_strikes_a_deal_with_a_retail_titan.html 2012-04-15T13:45:55Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120409_Diane_Mastrull__Gas-free_motorcycles_are_new_hope_for_a_new_Eckenhoff_business.html There was a time when Ted and Glenn Eckenhoff would have cared about Tuesday's announcement by General Motors Co. that its U.S. sales of cars and small crossovers with good gas mileage had increased 12 percent in March. Not anymore. During a 90-minute interview that day, the father-son business team that spent decades selling GM cars in Cherry Hill didn't once mention the auto giant's promising month. Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:20:31 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120409_Diane_Mastrull__Gas-free_motorcycles_are_new_hope_for_a_new_Eckenhoff_business.html 2012-04-09T17:20:31Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120408_Medical-ID_bracelets__from_a_company_with_some_personal_experience.html Shelly Fisher's world is dominated by the unfashionable. Not people, but the illnesses and other medical conditions that plague them. Diabetes, heart disease, peanut allergies. There's nothing stylish about any of it. Except, perhaps, for the contributions the Villanova mother of three has made over the last nine years on her way to building an internationally known company. Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:04:28 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120408_Medical-ID_bracelets__from_a_company_with_some_personal_experience.html 2012-04-08T14:04:28Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120402_A_funny_guy_turns_into_an_architect_of_ideas.html By way of introduction to his offices in Villanova, Edmond Dougherty stops at a desk cluttered with gadgets: various shapes of plastic, a model quadcopter, a linear induction motor, and squares of foam sandwiched by metal film. Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:35:02 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/diane-mastrull/20120402_A_funny_guy_turns_into_an_architect_of_ideas.html 2012-04-02T20:35:02Z