Cutting a sweet deal

Pie company wins award, chance to grow

BY JASON ALEXANDER
TIMES HERALD

Fifteen years ago, Wendy and David Achatz baked pies from a hot oven in their very own kitchen and sold them at the Armada Flea Market.

Now, Achatz Pie Co. in Chesterfield Township has six locations, makes an average of 2,000 pies a day, and is poised to take another step up the business ladder.

The company, started by relatives of Grant and Sally Achatz who own Achatz Riverview Restaurant in St. Clair, has been awarded $50,000 worth of services for having been selected a winner of the Walsh College Business Leadership Institute Extreme Small Business Makeover program.

It is the second year of the makeover program in which chosen businesses get services such as professional coaching, financial help and software.

"What a great thing to help small and mid-sized Michigan businesses," pie company owner Wendy Achatz, 44, of Armada, said. "A lot of companies fail. We are one of the few who kept our heads above water and are in black. We don't have extra money to be creative, but now we can sample these services."

The Achatz's are looking forward to receiving human resource training, marketing help and Microsoft donations, including a server, small business software and as many as 10 work stations.

A panel selected Achatz Pie Co. because of its potential, Walsh College spokeswoman Jan Hubbard said. She said the panel, made up of program sponsors, was impressed with how the business went from the kitchen to a manufacturing company in a short amount of time.

"They know how to make pies," Hubbard said. "They have a good business sense, but they didn't know who to call to get help from. They will get the legal and financial help to get to the take-off level."

The Achatz family went through an extensive interview process last spring and found out about the award about a month ago.

The makeover already has started. Wendy and David Achatz have met with an executive coach and received many tips they hope will help their business continue to grow.

"We have no formal business education, just hands-on and life experience," Wendy said. "One of their questions was 'what's your biggest mistake?' We hired a marketing consultant and by the time we realized it wasn't doing anything, it was about $20,000 too late."

This time around, the Wendy and David Achatz won't have to pay those hefty fees. They can stick to what they do best -- making pies.