Author Archives: Natalie DeCario

Just another Friday at ABG

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Who’s ready for the weekend? Everyone at ABG Capital! But first lets look back at some of the week’s highlights; birthdays and construction!

Jeff Linkowski and Nick Jenkner both celebrated their birthdays this week. Jeff turned 50 and Nick turned 30. Happy birthday to you guys! Here are some pictures from the mini parties we had for them in the office.

ABG Capital Jeff

Jeff reading his card!

 

 

 

 

 

Nick ABG Capital

Nick smiling by his hockey themed cake!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week we also saw a lot of progress with our build-out project that has been going on for the past couple of months. At the beginning of week there was an empty floor and now there are some walls and framework in an area for new offices and storage space. Check out this vine that shows you some of the construction.

Our Managers are in Training Today with Brad Withers

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Today we had the pleasure of welcoming Brad Withers into our office for day filled with training. All of our managers participated in this training so they can grow their leadership skills. Brad has extensive knowledge on facilitation and training in leadership, team building, systems thinking, communication and much more. He has worked with leaders in profit, non-profit and government settings, as well as thousands of small to large U.S. and international firms.

Here are some pictures of our managers during the training session:

Manager Training 1 Manager Training 2 Manager training 3

 

Just another Friday at ABG

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For today’s just another Friday at ABG Capita blog post, we’d like to talk about the build-out project we’re doing right now. As you might remember, we started this project in early March and now that it’s September, we’ve seen a great deal of progress.

The new kitchen, multi-purpose room, Network Operations Center (NOC) and call center are all about 99% of the way done. Only a few small maintenance tasks are left. We’ve already moved everyone into their new climate controlled spaces and it’s seems to be going great! We’ve even had a chance to use the new multi-purpose room for a Social Media Boot Camp.

ABG Capital Construction

The old kitchen.

The construction is still going strong as we still have some areas of existing space that need to be redone. The old kitchen and copier space is being transformed into new storage and copier space, along with two new offices. On top of that, there’s still touching up that needs to be done on the walls to cover up holes and chipped paint.

We’re estimating that the entire build-out project will be done by the end of the month. “This expansion sets the foundation for the future growth of our companies,” said ABG Capital CEO, Jeff Tapolci. “The new space allows us to fit upwards of 100 employees comfortably in our office.”

That’s all the news we have for you today, thanks for reading and try not to make any Friday the 13th bad luck for yourself by breaking a mirror!

ABG Capital Employees Spend the Weekend at Seven Springs!

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Last weekend a few people from ABG Capital got together for a weekend of relaxation and bonding. Jeff Tapolci, Ron Eggert and Pete Littlejohn joined Jim Hoffman at Seven Springs Mountain Resort and they had a blast!

The first night they were there, they were up until 3 am playing cards, drinking wine, smoking cigars and enjoying each others company. They played Hearts and Spades and Pete even taught them how to play Eucher!

Seven Springs view for ABG Capital guys.

Look at that view!

Staying up until 3 am didn’t keep these guys off the golf course though, they were ready to play at 9 am. Pete and Jeff teamed up to play against Ron and Jim. Pete and Jeff were the winners of the game and you can check out their score cards on our Facebook page! Pete and Jeff were also victorious in sporting clays. Those score cards are also on our Facebook page.

ABG Capital weekend away

Jim Hoffman and Pete Littlejohn on the golf course!

The weekend was an overall great time for these guys. Weekends like these are about the camaraderie of a group of colleagues and friends. It can be hard to feel like a close knit team when you don’t get to work with everyone on a daily basis, but when you have times like these it brings back that team feeling!

Just another Friday at ABG

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Welcome back to the ABG Capital blog where you’ll find all of the important information from around our office! Things are starting to pick up again, now that summer is winding down and school is starting back up. It’s about that time when the push is on to get all of the projects completed before the end of the year.

ABG Capital Volunteers

The ABG Capital gang volunteering at the Food Bank last year!

It’s also that time of the year when all of our events are in full bloom! We are planning to have an open house to show off our brand new office, we’ll be heading to the Greater Pittsburgh Area Food Bank Repack Center in Duquesne to do some volunteer work and lastly we’ve begun planning the ABG Capital Holiday Party! Who wouldn’t be excited for all of these great events!

We’re also promoting some employee suggested events such as the Covered Bridge Festival, Radical Days and a Sporting Clay Shoot Fundraiser benefiting the Michael J. Novosel Foundation.

We mentioned that we’re planning an open house to show off our new office. That means we have to have something to show off, right? We’ll we’ve put together an Office Decorating Committee who will be in charge of making our office look awesome. We want to highlight our employees, our mission, our C.O.R.E. Values and basically anything that represents us and the ABG Way. There have been tons of HUGE ideas floating around, so we know the new office is going to look fantastic!

Newest ABG Capital employeeThe last bit of news we have to mention is the newest member of the ABG Capital team. His name is Cameron Nutter and he will be working with VoIP Innovations. Welcome aboard Cameron!

Just another Friday at ABG

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We were unable to get our Just another Friday at ABG Capital post out last week, but today we have some great updates for you. I first want to report on our office build-out that is moving along nicely. Our “fish bowl” like conference room is almost complete and has already been in use. Our Communications Specialist, Natalie DeCario, was signed up for a 3-day Social Media Boot Camp sponsored by ASPE-ROI. Since they were unable to host the course at their facility, due to a low enrollment, we held it in the new conference room so it wouldn’t get canceled. Our visitors enjoyed the new space!

Speaking of social media, we want to give a shout out to Natalie on her first podcast. It revolved around “Social Media Tips and Faux Pas.” She was interviewed by Suzanne Bowen who is blogger for TMCNet on their Monetizing IP Communications channel.

100 Fastest Growing Companies

From left to right: Barry Yancosek, Tim Linn, Randy Stegner, Jason Tapolci, Jeff Tapolci

We have to give a huge congratulations to our portfolio company, VoIP Innovations, for their recent achievements. They were named 13th overall in the Pittsburgh Business Times 100 Fastest Growing Companies. In their technology category, they ranked number 1! What a great accomplishment everyone, it’s well deserved! Follow these links to see photos from the event along with a video of Jason Tapolci, President of VoIP Innovations, who talks about the company’s success.

Not only did they receive that accolade, but they were also notified last week that they ranked 1207 in the Inc. 500/5000 Fastest Growing Company list. This is the second year in a row that VoIP Innovations has ranked in both of these lists. Again, we congratulate everyone at VoIP Innovations for their hard work!

Paul Frye - Employee of the Month

Paul Frye – Employee of the Month

Lastly, we want to give you some updates from our month end company meeting that was held today. Paul Frye was nominated as the ABG Capital Employees of the Month for July. We also want to recognize Dustin Campbell and Jake Crisman who were our Honorable mentions for July. Keep up the great work, you guys rock!

As we wrap up this week’s Just another Friday post, we want to tell everyone to have a fantastic weekend celebrating Labor Day!

Just another Friday at ABG

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Happy Friday! Has summer gone way too fast for you? It has for us! Anyway, we have just a few things to share before you can head out of the office and enjoy your weekend.

We first want to apologize for not posting this blog series last week. We were having some technical difficulties and were unable to get into the blog. We’re happy to say that we have since then solved the issue and are back up and running!

Moving right along, our office build-out project is moving right along and things look like they’re really starting to come together. Take a look at these pictures and check out some of the new space that’s starting to fill up with employees!

New ABG Capital office space

New office space!

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Our new Call Center!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you know, once a quarter we like to treat our employees to a friendly sporting event. The first quarter was bowling, the second quarter was kickball and the third quarter is softball. Around 1pm today the annual ABG Capital softball game will kick-off. The two teams will battle for victory while having fun away from the office. While some are out at the game, our dedicated support staff will still be in the office ready to support our customers. We’ll be taking pictures, so check out our social media sites on Monday!

That’s all we have for you this week! Thanks for reading and have a great weekend 🙂

Just another Friday at ABG

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Welcome back to our Just another Friday at ABG Capital blog post. We have just a few things to mention and then it’s time for the weekend! I first want to mention that our build-out is moving right along. Earlier this week they started installing the demountable walls and today it looks like everything is coming together. Furniture for this new space is being delivered on Monday and it’s exciting to see all steps of this build-out happen before our eyes! (Click on any picture to enlarge it.)

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Today we had our End Of Month Meeting as well. ABG Capital and its portfolio companies are all thriving in their respective markets and are on track with where they need to be for the third and fourth quarters. During this meeting we had some awards and recognition to give out: Jason Tapolci, President of VoIP Innovations, received his 15 Years of Service award today, Geno Zuccaro was named Employee of the Month and Denise Breide, Jake Crisman and Terri Sams all received Honorable Mentions for the outstanding work they’ve been doing. Congratulations to all for you for these fantastic achievements!

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Sharon Kolesar (HR Manager) and Jason Tapolci

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Geno Zuccaro

 

 

 

That’s all we have to you today, have a great weekend!

Just another Friday at ABG

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Welcome back to the Just another Friday at ABG Capital blog post! Today I have some great things to share with you. Since it’s almost the end of July, it’s time to mention our August birthdays and anniversaries. Our August birthdays include Geno Zucarro on August 5, Matt Bartko on August 10, Tyler Weimerskirch on August 12, Kathy Scheidlemeier on August 20, Ian Hambelton on August 26 and Sharon Kolesar also on August 26. Happy Birthday to all of you, we hope you have some great celebrations!

Next we have to announce a few August anniversaries. Barry Yancosek has been with us for three years as of August 2 and Denise Breide has been with us for two years as of August 23. Congratulations on making it to these fantastic milestones in your ABG Capital careers!

It is the end of the month and this is usually when we announce the topics we’ve discussed in our Month End Meeting, but that meeting has been postponed. We’ve moved the meeting to next Friday, August 2. That means that next week’s Just another Friday post will have all of the great July information.

ABG Capital BuildoutIn other ABG Capital news, our build-out is happen so quickly; old walls are coming down just as fast a new ones are going up! While those new walls are going up, they’re prepping the floors for carpet and then the furniture will be arriving August 5. The office is noisy and full of dust but it’s all part of making the final product happen that we can’t wait to see.

That’s all we have for you today folks. Have a great weekend!

Just another Friday at ABG

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Welcome back to your Just another Friday at ABG Capital! You can really tell that it’s summer around the office because we don’t have that much going right now. Things are moving along nice and smooth, people are taking vacations and most important of all, our build-out is moving along.

Earlier this week Jeff Tapolci, CEO of ABG Capital, and Ron Eggert, President of ABG Capital, spent the day in Cleveland, Ohio at McNeil Industries. They met Jim Hoffman, their strategic coach, and Justin McNeil of McNeil Industries. They got to tour their facility while getting some great coaching tips from Jim. These guys are a close knit group of professionals who always manage to have an enjoyable time with each other while gaining new insight into the way they run their businesses. The last time they all got together was in May; click here to read all about the fun they had!

McNiel Industries Cleveland

 Now I’d talk a little bit about the office build-out project we started in April. We need to expand our office due to the rapid growth of VoIP Innovations and Inspira. We’re constructing a new (bigger) kitchen, a new (bigger) training room and new (bigger) call centers. Unfortunately due to the landlord not getting electric and plumbing permits until late last week, the project has been slightly pushed back.

Phase one should have been completed by now, but because of the later permits, the builder decided to skip Phases three and four. Phase three has been completely finished, but Phase 4 has been only partially completed. Despite the minor set backs, we’re anticipating that we’ll be fully operational by the end of August!

Well, that’s all we have for today. Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend!