"The Week in Imaging’s Elite Dealer Awards: The award honors the best and the brightest in the dealer community. The dealers being honored each week starting today and throughout the month of October aren’t necessarily the biggest dealers in the business although some are and many are doing well from a financial perspective. However, may are still enjoying growth, offer innovative marketing and sales programs, are deeply involved within their community, have a strong work culture, treat their employees well and have shown a willingness to do what it takes to remain relevant in an ever-changing market by adapting new technologies, services, and solutions. Indeed, it’s not any one thing that makes an Elite Dealer, it’s a combination. And now let’s meet the Elite Dealer Class of 2012.

(JUMP to Atlantic:)

Atlantic, Tomorrows Office

www.tomorrowsoffice.com

New York, N.Y.

Year Founded: 1959

Number of Employees: 285

Approximate Yearly Revenues: $80 Million

This Year’s Most Significant Accomplishment: Returning the IT department to profitability after three years of losses.

Primary Hardware Vendors & Solutions and Services Offerings: Ricoh, Toshiba, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Managed IT, Document Management, MPS and Records Retention

Larry Weiss, President of Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office

If we’re still in a recession, somebody forget to tell Atlantic, Tomorrows Office. Their copier business is up 25 percent over the last three years and their IT business has grown 50 percent during the same time period. President Larry Weiss and company must be doing something right.

Besides the great service that Atlantic provides, clients say they’re “easy to do business with” and that their staff is always upbeat and helpful. Add to that Atlantic’s Seal of Satisfaction, which gives customers some serious piece of mind about doing business with Atlantic.

One of the neat marketing programs that never fails to impress us is Atlantic’s Year End Blitz – “Everyone’s a Winner.” It’s a sales promotion that finds hardware flying out the door. How well does it work? “Last year sales revenue was $4.4 million with over 350 units sold in two weeks,” responds Weiss.

Despite being one of the top office technology dealerships in the New York market, Atlantic still has its share of challenges. The biggest challenge Atlantic had to overcome was providing a culture where copier reps and IT reps would go on joint calls together and not be threatened by each other. “Although this is not where I would like to be, it is improving and more joint calls are taking place each month,” says Weiss.

Asked for more details about the dealership’s biggest accomplishment of the past year, Weiss mentions the hiring of a new CTO two years ago. “To watch the IT department, under his leadership, come together and return to profitability after three years of losses was great,” he beams. “The business sector grew 50 percent in 2012 and we look at a 30 percent growth in 2013.”

The big sale of the year was a major school district in New Jersey valued at $1.2 million. Not bad.

Atlantic does a nice job of supporting the community, giving back $300,000 a year in donations. Additionally, sales reps are encouraged to volunteer with a non-profit. Plus this year they provided 250 underprivileged children the chance to meet and greet the Mets, play on the field, and then watch a game. Impressive, especially since Weiss is a diehard Yankees fan. Not that he’s changed his pinstripes, we know he still bleeds Yankee blue.

With an eye to the future, Atlantic’s managers are involved in educational programs, Vistage Key Leadership groups, and attend seminars by business leaders. Similarly, the executive management team is working on SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis to ensure the company remains on the path to future success. “Education is an ongoing theme at Atlantic!” exclaims Weiss.

So is being an Elite Dealer!