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TwitThisMaureen Borzacchiello, president of Creative Display Solutions, embodies one of the core virtues of a successful female entrepreneur: She knows how to grow through experience.
Specializing in portable and custom modular displays, Creative Display Solutions is a leader in trade show displays, graphics and event exhibits.
In 2006, Maureen and her family survived huge changes that could have sunk the business in 2006. Yet it emerged as a million-dollar success story. A year earlier, Maureen applied for and won a Make Mine a Million $ Business award package. Maureen and her husband Frank (who joined the company in late 2004), started 2006 feeling optimistic about the resources they had to expand the business. They signed a lease for a warehouse, hired several new employees, and broke ground for their new space.
Then tragedy struck that January. Frank's brother died during a routine surgery. Maureen and Frank, both leaders of the company and the only members of the sales team, were devastated. By June they hit a major financial crisis and had completely run out of cash. Maureen was worried they would go under, but "quitting was not an option for me personally—if I was going down…I was going down with a fight."
Determination then led to success. The company began 2006 at $341,000 in revenue and closed out the year at $1,007,000, making Maureen the first New Yorker in the Count Me In program to hit the million-dollar mark. Last year she grew by another 30%, and promises she'll be the first New Yorker in the Count Me In program to hit the $20 million-dollar revenue mark.
"I would say that a significant aha moment was a trip to Capitol Hill with the Make Mine a Million $ Business program," she said. "I had never really thought at any great length about the economic impact that my small business has on my community, state or this country. I remember listening to Nell Merlino, Susan Sobbott from American Express OPEN and Nydia Velasquez that morning and really thinking 'Wow, my business makes a difference. Every time I hire a new employee, pay more sales tax because my revenue base has gone up, or purchase more from suppliers, my business is making a difference.'"
Maureen started her career in sales for Lancôme in New York City. Over time, she moved to management and then became an account executive. Soon, she moved into the trade show division.
"I became a top producer, and then I was given the opportunity to go into management. For a time I ran their New york City sales office, and ultimately [all of] New York and New Jersey . This position gave me the groundwork to eventually launch my own trades how display company in the New York City metro market. Creative Display Solutions, Inc was formed in early 2001."
"Creative Display Solutions’ passion for green is leading to new opportunities to work with corporations that are looking to make a difference and satisfy some of their own green initiatives," Maureen said. "The company designs with sustainable materials, but more importantly to the most urgent problems facing our environment, we are using components that have a smaller shipping footprint, which reduces the harmful carbon emissions that are rapidly wreaking havoc on our world."
Maureen, 39, of West Hempstead, New York, earned her Associates Degree (AAS) in Fashion Merchandising. She and Frank have been married for 14 years, and they have a six-year old son.
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