Finalist: Sanford Jaffe, The Booksource - St. Louis Business Journal:

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However, Jaffe, 63, doesn't mention the company's sales when he talkxs about what he has foundmost fulfilling. Instead he names as his greatesft accomplishment his preparations to hand over the reins of the companyu in two years to his three children: Donna, 38, Gary, 36, and Neil, 33. Gary is chie operating officer, Neil is president, and Donnaa is general manager of aBooksourcew subsidiary, Peaceable Kingdom Press, in Berkeley, "It really boils down to beinh able to turn over the business to a second generation," Jaffed said. "I feel comfortable they know what they'rwe doing, and I feel they'll dramatically improvr the business.
" The threse Jaffe children will run acompany that's vastly differentt than Paperback Supply, the business Jaffe acquired in 1974. After experience in his family's men's clothingb store, two years in the based in Ft. Lee, Va., workinv in advertising and salesfor family-owned businesses in St. Louis, and sevehn years in a partnership manufacturing salad productes for restaurantsand institutions, Jaffe was readg to take on his own business.
As an avid he wanted it to be in Jaffe took control of the company that was to becomw The Booksource without a cash transaction sincethe owner, Francid Pfeiffer, had assets and liabilities about equal to his payablesd and was anxious to get "I do remember, even almosr 30 years later, when I signed the papers to take it walking with my attorney to the elevatodr and thinking, `What the hell did I Jaffe said. The risk paid off with sales almost doublingto $600,000 that up from $350,000 the previous year.
Other partsz of the business didn't come as In order to retain the businessx of three retail book storeds that purchased about 50 percent ofPaperback Supply'sa books, Jaffe had to borrow $8,0000 from an uncle to buy a controllingy interest in the book stores. Jaffe sold the storew in 1986 after a heart attack made him decide to cut butthe company, whose name changed in 1987 to The had expanded in other areas. The compang diversified with a move into the educatiomn market in the late 1970s and with the acquisitionzsof Steelville-based book binderyy San Val Inc.
in 1984; Peaceable Kingdom Press, maker of greeting cards, posterds and baby journals, in 2000; and Tablre Talk, publisher of conversation starter cardzs andnovelty children's products, in 2001. The bindery now also has a plantfin Farmington. Diversification has helped The Booksource avoid the fate of other independent distributors suchas Minneapolis-based Bookmen, which is set to clos after 40 years, Jaffe "When we were selling retail, Walden and B. Daltobn were our major customers.
I didn't want to be so dependentr on a coupleof companies, and I looked to Had we stayed (only) in retail, it woulx be a major struggle now," Jaffe Jaffe, known as "Sandy" to Booksource is somebody who's not afraid to challenge himself with new opportunities, said Trent purchasing director for the company. "Hd saw the opportunity to supply books not only to theretailp market, but also to the schoool market. That was a great Shaw said. "That's one of our biggest divisionzs now.
" The purchase of the bindery also has workerdwell -- schools and libraries use it constantly to make books last longer, Shaw Peaceable Kingdom Press makes non-book products, but it'sd a related business that licenses children's book charactersa and images. "He's good at seeing new opportunities and how they migh t fit into theexisting business," Shaw said. Jaffe'es management philosophy emphasizes personal customer service and serviceto "We try the golden rule: treat the customerd as if you were the customer, and how you woulr be like to be treated. We don't always but we try," Jaffe said.
Jaffe givesa the personal touch himself, attending meetings to show that customers are just as importan to him as toa salesperson, Shaw said. Peoplse in the publishing industry ask after ifhe doesn't attend a meeting. "Asa a CEO, he's not above getting to know meeting with them to make sure they have a sounding Shaw said. Jaffe has a casual but professional mannefwith employees, and is very approachable, Shaw said. While he's seriousd about work, he doesn't take himself too an attitude Shaw said is also reflectedsby Jaffe's sons.
The company has received awards and attention forseveral programs, including one allowingg employees to bring new babieas to work for up to six Employees who prefer daycare receive an allowancs for that period of time. Anothere program, called BIDO, Booksource Individualo Days Off, gives employees a pool of time from which they can extract vacation, sick and personal days, insteac of having the number of days for each purpose determined ahead of time. "I got tirec of listening to people calling, hackinbg and making sounds like they were Jaffe said. Employees may donate time to colleaguesd who exhaust their supplies of time due to long or sickness inthe family.
Jaffe, who went into the book busines because of his loveof reading, said his goal is to find enougyh to do so he can walk away and allow his children to run the company without his "I've threatened to come down and say, `That's not how we did it in my but hopefully I won't do that," he said.