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The History of American - Established 1981
 |  | It’s always been about the American Dream for Larry Zavadil, founder and CEO of American Solutions for Business of Glenwood, Minnesota. His passion to create opportunities, take chances, make choices and, most importantly, help others, drove him to begin his forms distribution company (American Business Forms) in the basement of his home, offering his customers guaranteed quality products, on-time delivery, competitive pricing and extraordinary service.
From this humble beginning and with his vision intact, Larry has seen his company grow from a small distributorship to an industry leading distributor of printing, promotions, office supplies, corporate apparel, e-commerce solutions and enterprise-wide document management. |
In 2000, the company became employee-owned. The move empowered employee-owners to make decisions that benefit the company. Keeping the company in the small community of Glenwood, Minnesota, his boyhood home, has remained a priority to Larry. Through the formation of the ESOP, he was able to do just that while providing a variety of opportunities for employment and individual growth.
Today, American employs nearly 800 sales associates and support staff throughout the United States, doing business in 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. American's business concept is simple; we empower and support qualified sales professionals who, in turn, provide customers with the highest degree of service and satisfaction. True sales professionals desire independence, are capable of making sound business decisions and accept responsibility for their actions. In our way of thinking, salespeople of this caliber deserve the lion's share of the financial rewards! American provides the essential operational and financial resources, and sales professionals contribute the expertise and account management skills that are integral to the company’s continued success.
American’s e-commerce system (ACES) offers sales associates the ability to create electronic storefronts for their customers through which many products and services can be managed. From customer-specific products to office and janitorial supplies, these storefronts give customers easy access to one-stop shopping for many of their business needs. Today, customers can also purchase their business cards, stationery and envelopes with the click of a mouse. Promotional products and apparel can also be sourced and ordered on line. ACES was created by American’s own Technology Team and is supported by many of the same individuals who built it.
Although technology is an important part of our long-term strategy, we believe that value comes from relationships. People buy from people, and American is committed to the balanced blend of technology, products and people.
Expectations are that the remainder of the decade will present unforeseen business challenges and countless opportunities. American plans to be there with a wealth of resources and innovations to assure customers, vendor partners and employees a share of the American Dream. |
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