A Week In Business

Company Rebranded

BERLIN – Allen Harim Foods, LLC, (Allen Harim), a poultry company based in Seaford, Del. with facilities across the state as well as in Maryland and North Carolina, has announced the launch of a rebranding initiative that includes a new logo and color palette, as well as a vision/mission/values statement that reflects the evolution of the company.

Purchased out of bankruptcy by the Harim Group of South Korea in 2011, Allen Harim has spent the last two years rebuilding. Its focus has been on growing its customer base, expanding its product line and more recently hiring a new CEO, industry veteran Steve Evans.

“Our new logo is a visual representation of the commitment and forward motion of this company,” said Evans. “We look forward to rolling out the new look over the coming weeks and months in every aspect of our marketing, packaging and across our facilities. We want our customers, consumers, employees and the communities in which we operate to know that Allen Harim is here for the long haul.”

According to Dr. Key Lee, director of sales and marketing at Allen Harim, the new logo “celebrates the company’s history as Allen’s Family Foods, its future with Harim, and our complete commitment to the objective of continuous improvement throughout the company.”

To accomplish this, the new logo marries the traditional scripted Allen’s and its iconic rooster with Harim’s clean, crisp typography. The flowing ribbon that encircles the company name represents its focus on service, integrity, quality and safety through its “continuous improvement” programs.

“Our mission includes every aspect of our business, from the customer and consumer to our employees and communities,” said Evans.  “We want to make the lives of everyone we touch a little better and a little happier each time. Our values of service, integrity, quality and safety are what we strive to excel at every day.”

Loans Exceed $500K

SALISBURY — The new Maryland Capital Enterprises (MCE) Women-Owned Business Loan (WOBL) Fund has loaned over $500,000 to businesses owned by women on The Eastern Shore and in the Annapolis-Baltimore area since its founding.

Launched last August by Salisbury-based MCE, the fund makes small business loans $5,000 to $150,000 to businesses owned by women in the target area and provided them technical assistance through the MCE Women’s Business Center (WBC) with offices in Salisbury and Baltimore.

The WOBL Fund and WBC are a part of MCE’s effort to assist the fastest growing segment of business owners – women. The advisory boards are co-chaired by two prominent women entrepreneurs. They are Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, principal of Global Policy Solutions and wife of US Congressman Elijah Cummings (D, MD), and Mitzi Perdue, Perdue family matriarch.

The fund was started with a $500,000 allocation from MCE which has increased to $750,000. With the success of the effort, more funding is being sought.

“We saw a need from the number of women that were approaching MCE,” said MCE President/CEO Joe Morse. “We decided to focus a part of our operation on addressing this need and were able to secure some funding from the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration.”

For more information on the program, call 410-546-1900 or email [email protected].

SU Earns Value Honor

SALISBURY — A Salisbury University education continues to be one of the nation’s best values, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.

The publication recently named SU among its “25 Best College Values Under $30,000 a year.” The honor comes on the heels of Kiplinger’s naming SU among the Top 100 “Best Values in Public Colleges” for the past six years. The “25 Best” ranking is part of the publication’s new online “College Finder” tool for parents and prospective students.

“We are always honored when publications like Kiplinger’s take note of the value and quality provided by SU,” said Dr. Diane Allen, SU provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “We hope this latest ranking will encourage even more students to consider SU not only for its stellar academic reputation, but for its reasonable cost.”

Other institutions on the list include Brigham Young University, Truman State University, the University of North Carolina at Asheville and at Wilmington, Appalachian State University, the University of South Florida, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, the University of Arkansas and SUNY Geneseo.

Chamber Launches Website

SALISBURY — The Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce has launched a new, business-focused news website: www.sbybiz.com. The “Salisbury Business Journal” covers news across the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland and is hosted by the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce has replaced printed paper with the news website, which will provide immediate access to business news.