Shapiro Teams up with Temple University for Career Opportunities - YAHOO!

Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc., a 96-year old Customhouse broker and freight forwarder, teams up with the Fox School of Business at Temple University for career opportunities.

Baltimore, Maryland (PRWEB) April 18, 2012

Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc., a 96-year old Customhouse broker and freight forwarder, has recently been featured in the Fox School of Business’ newsletter highlighting its successful collaboration with the university in bringing fresh talent to support its growth.

Temple University was founded in 1884 and boasts a total student body of 39,000. Its vibrant main campus is located in Philadelphia and includes its Health Sciences Center, with satellite campuses in Center City, Ambler, Fort Washington, and Harrisburg. Its Fox School of Business was established in 1918 and is the largest, most comprehensive business school in the greater Philadelphia region, and among the largest in the world with nearly 6,500 students, 175 full-time faculty and more than 59,000 alumni. Fox’s Undergraduate Business Program is ranked in the top 55 in the U.S. while its International Business Undergraduate Programs are within the top 10 of the nation, according to US News & World Report. Shapiro’s Philadelphia office began tapping into this rich recruiting resource approximately 14 years ago to fill internship opportunities for current students and full-time positions for new graduates.

Marina Tasiopoulos, who is now the Regional Manager for the company’s New York and Philadelphia offices, was one of the first Temple students to join Shapiro, back in 1997. On average, Shapiro hosts two or three Temple student interns a semester, several of whom have stayed on after graduation to become full-time employees. The company currently has three other Temple graduates in import and management positions within its Philadelphia branch, in addition to three student interns.

This partnership has steadily developed over the years due to close collaboration between Richard Lucas, Shapiro’s Recruiting Manager, and Gloria Angel, Fox’s Assistant Director of International Programs (CIBER), plus Megan Panaccio, Director - Corporate Relations Center for Student Professional Development (CSPD). Recently, Lucas presented at an International Business Association meeting to give students a clear picture of what employers are looking for and a realistic perspective on day-to-day operations. “Fox students know the real world,” Lucas says. “They’ve worked. They’ve held internships. They already understand customer service. They’ve already adapted to working under the pressure of real-world transactions.”

Not everyone is built for the logistics industry, however. Shapiro consistently looks to build the bench, its future generation, by finding people that can handle the challenges of this ever-changing, dynamic industry and thrive. “Our employees master some of the most complex transactions in the world: United States imports and exports,” Lucas said. “If you are fascinated by international business – how companies are run, how regulations influence trade, how commodities are actually moved – if you’re excited by global trade, international supply chain logistics, ocean cargo, airlines and trucks, you’ll fit in at Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc.” And, so far, Fox students have been fitting quite well.

Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc. has been serving the international trade community since 1915. It was founded in Baltimore, MD (headquarters) and has branch offices in Charleston, SC; Dulles, VA; Philadelphia, PA; Atlanta, GA; and Rosedale, NY. Its mission is to achieve, manage and deliver the highest quality of personalized customer service in global transportation and regulatory compliance. For more information, visit http://www.shapiro.com.

Brunella Reid
Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc.
843-813-4499
Email Information

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Opportunity Resources teams up with builder of unique greenhouses - Missoulian

Ed Purdy’s crew at Opportunity Resources Inc. are fast becoming experts at bending, cutting and drilling metal pipes. And those are just a few of the duties now being performed by Opportunity in a new business partnership the nonprofit has formed with a local entrepreneur.

Opportunity, which provides support and job experience for people with disabilities, is working with Jeff Howard to manufacture a line of unique greenhouses.

Howard founded Convertible Greenhouse Co. after inventing a hinge and pulley system that allows portions of a greenhouse’s paneling to easily open and close. It’s the Opportunity crew’s job to get all the parts and pieces of each greenhouse into kits for shipment to customers.

An entire section of Opportunity’s warehouse on Russell Street has been converted into a greenhouse manufacturing area, where production manager Purdy oversees the work. He stands close by as Joe Isaacs slices piece after piece of pipe on a wet saw. Next, Adam Plekkenk places a pipe into a two-headed drill and works to put perfectly placed holes into each piece.

For her part, Andrea Heist fits pipes into a machine to bend the pipe to fit into each structure’s framework. She has enjoyed the new work so far.

“It’s a really new experience for me. My boss and my parents want me to try new stuff,” Heist said.

Howard grew up helping his grandparents garden and spent his professional career in construction. He worked for years on the Convertible designs. Howard has two patents on the designs, and the company offers several models and sizes of greenhouses. Two styles of Convertible vinyl mini-garages are also available.

“Convertible is the whole thing,” Howard said. “With a typical greenhouse, so much space is wasted and they can overheat.”

The outside access provided in the Convertible pulley and hinge design not only opens up the space, it adds a climate-control function that can extend almost any growing season. People on the rainy West Coast can protect plants from too much moisture, while people in Missoula can protect finicky tomato plants from cold nights, Howard said. The different models can be placed in gardens, against structures or on raised garden beds.

“It gives local growers a little more time and a lot more control,” said Tim Furey, Opportunity Resources director of development. “I look at it as a garden within my garden.”

Convertible greenhouses are also very easy to assemble and transport, Furey said.

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As he worked to establish the business, Howard reached out to Opportunity, which works with dozens of businesses around the area, because he knew it was in need of work options for clients.

“The loss of Smurfit-Stone (Container Corp.’s mill) was a huge hit for us. (Howard) saw us as a work force,” said Jack Chambers, Opportunity’s chief executive officer.

Convertible’s partnership with Opportunity was a good fit because the greenhouse manufacturing work provides a wide variety of jobs at different levels, Chambers said.

The partnership is set up so Opportunity owns the manufacturing equipment and sells the kits to Howard, who is a partner with Opportunity in the marketing portion of the business. Four subcontracting companies also help in the manufacturing process, doing jobs like welding.

If the company takes off, the work could employ up to 50 clients in different capacities, Chambers said.

Howard designed all the equipment used to prepare the metal pipes that make up the greenhouse framework. Purdy’s crew also cuts the greenhouse film used to cover the structures. They are building inventory now and marketing Convertible’s greenhouses across the country.

Reporter Jenna Cederberg can be reached at 523-5241 or at jenna.cederberg@missoulian.com.

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Boeing teams with Brazilian companies

Published: Dec. 22, 2011 at 8:09 AM

SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Two Brazilian companies have joined with Boeing of the United States to explore business opportunities in logistics, machined parts and engineering support.

The two companies are MSM Powertrain Ltda. and Pan Metal Industria Metalurgica Ltda.

"These companies are recognized for their experience in the aerospace industry," said Susan Colegrove, regional director of International Strategic Partnerships for Boeing Defense, Space and Security.

"Boeing looks forward to developing opportunities that will bring best-value solutions to our customers and support regional economic development objectives for expanded opportunities in the aerospace industry and other sectors."

Business areas to be explored under the Memorandums of Understanding include logistics services, ground support equipment, engineering support, assembly, subsystem installation and machined parts.

Boeing is bidding on a Brazilian contract to replace 32 air force fighters. Its identification of potential local suppliers "enhances Boeing's industrial participation offer on the F-X2 fighter program, with a focus on identifying near-term opportunities," the company said.

In addition to MSM Powertrain Ltda., and Pan Metal Industria Metalurgica Ltda., Boeing has identified more than 25 Brazilian companies as potential suppliers.

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