05/15/08
Industry News
RomBowling: The secret to keeping employees satisfied By Diana Zagrean
Republished courtesy of Ziarul Financiar - Bucharest, Romania (May 15, 2008)
How does the pursuit of profit influence the start of a business? What benefits can a business trip abroad have on growth? What kind of relationship should entrepreneurs have with employees and how to motivate them? Becoming your own boss also means transferring all responsibilities to yourself. Although this seems simple, success depends on the field of activity and the type of business. It also depends on how much you want to gain. There are successful businesses that started in a garage, or living room, and saw fantastic growth over just several years. I don't believe the owners of businesses like Google or e-Bay wanted to own several Boeing 737s to begin with, but they certainly wanted to create something unique. The money came afterwards," states Catalin Armanu, manager of Brasov-based RomBowling.
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Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm of the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA), has announced the continued growth of the sport in 2007. For the second year in a row, participation increased with more than 67.2 million people having bowled across 5400 centers, enabling bowling to maintain its status as the nation's number one participatory sport. Strike Ten Entertainment also announced that bowling is generating more revenue than ever before, making a $10 billion impact on the U.S. economy. 
Mike Brinson of 'The Strike Zone' bowling center from Brunswick, Georgia has won a brand new Kegel Kustodian Walker lane machine! The drawing for the free Kustodian Walker was held April 28, 2008 at 4 p.m. as a part of the 2008 Walk This Way Seminar Tour by Kegel. Brinson is a Classic Products customer and drove all the way down to Lake Wales, Florida (approx. 460 miles) to attend the seminar held at Kegel Headquarters. 
Storm Products Inc., the Brigham City, Utah based manufacturer of high performance bowling balls is proud to welcome Rhino Page to its Staff of Champions. Page, of Topeka, Kansas, had the greatest rookie season in the history of the Professional Bowlers Tour in 2007-08, which included a title at the Go RVing Classic in March. "We're excited about Rhino," said Storm President Dave Symes. "He exudes the passion and desire for success on the lanes that we have throughout our company."
Webber International University (WIU) has partnered with the Kegel Training Center to offer collegiate bowling beginning in the 2008-09 academic year. The 4-year private business university plans to field a team to compete in United States Bowling Congress collegiate tournaments to qualify for the Intercollegiate Bowling Championship Sectionals and Nationals. The team will train at the Kegel Training Center and be coached by the coaches at the Training Center in Lake Wales, Florida.
On March 27, the Hammer Women's Team bowled a 1,331 game, an average of 266.20, in the 5-woman team league at Riviera Lanes in Milwaukee, breaking the record for the highest 5-woman team game in national recorded history previously set by Contour Power Grips I (1,328) in 1998. All five bowlers used Hammer balls. "Having the entire team throwing Hammer equipment has helped all of us tremendously in reading the lanes and being able to make adjustments off our teammates' shot," said Laura Mattila. 
Joe Slowinski has joined Kegel to work as a member of the Training Center team. In addition to working as a coach and pro shop technician, Slowinski will be responsible for developing new programs and training materials with the emphasis on supporting high schools, colleges, international teams and their coaches. "I am extremely excited to join the world leader in Bowling Education and look forward with great enthusiasm to working as a colleague with the world-class team at Kegel," said Slowinski.
Ebonite International has announced that the company has restructured the Powerhouse® brand in order to put additional resources behind bowling coaching and bowler development programs. Veteran coach and pro shop operator, Brian Chilcutt (pictured), has accepted this new position with the Powerhouse™ brand. In that capacity, he will oversee the company's bowling and bowler development initiatives as well as the Powerhouse™ Pro Shop Equipment and Pro Shop Training Clinic businesses. 
Ebonite International Inc. has announced plans to present "Bowling with the Stars," a charity event with its players on May 18 benefiting Speedway Children's Charities, a non-profit organization that supports numerous children's programs and initiatives nationwide. Scheduled for May 18, 5 p.m., at George Pappas' Victory Lanes, 125 Morlake Drive, Mooresville, NC, "Bowling with the Stars" presented by Ebonite International, Inc. will provide a fun-filled evening of bowling, food, trick shots, meet and greet sessions with your favorite Ebonite International bowlers and more surprises. 
Columbia 300 has once again committed to sponsor the Mini-Eliminator, one of the world's most famous tournaments, and the 2008 Summer Classic. Scheduled for June 30 – July 6, the Summer Classic will offer $42,500 in guaranteed prize money, including a $20,000 top prize and $5,000 for the winner of the Columbia 300 Shootout.
The first edition of B.E.R. (Bowling Event Rimini) ended on March 16 at Rimini Fiera. The international trade show dedicated to bowling was organized by Rimini Fiera SpA and Facto Edizioni, with the support of the FISB (Italian Bowling Federation) and the EBPA (European Bowling Proprietors' Association). B.E.R. was held simultaneously with the 20th edition of ENADA Spring, one of Europe's leading expos in the coin-op sector, and the two trade shows were attended by a total of 25,168 visitors. 
Lake Wales, Fla. based Kegel company has created the 'Kegel Navigation Patterns' to educate and increase awareness about different types of oil patterns as well as help the bowling center proprietors, mechanics and tournament organizers provide their customers with some other quality pattern options. "Creating oil patterns that are very easy is not too difficult. Creating oil patterns that are very tough is also not too difficult. Creating oil patterns that are challenging but not cruel to the bowlers however is very difficult," said Kegel's Ted Thompson. 
Effective today, Jeff Ussery will serve as the brand manager for Hammer and Robby's. Ussery has spent the last year as the company's Powerhouse™ brand manager and the last two years as a master instructor of Powerhouse™ Training Clinics. Ussery is a 2000 graduate of the University of Kansas, where he bowled on the men's team, and a former pro shop owner and operator. He has also bowled several amateur tournaments including the True Amateur Tournament and the Mini Eliminator.
