Flag Firm Raises Its Banner
 Kerry Thompson-McCoy started Arkansas Flag & Banner Inc. 22 years ago - in that time, she's taken it from a part-time job for herself to a $1.5 million corporation with more than 20 employees. And the company's growth, the president and CEO says, is just starting to pick up momentum. "My goal is to make my employees millionaires," Thompson-McCoy says. "I'm going to make Arkansas Flag & Banner big - and if my employees are millionaires, what will I be?"
To accomplish her goal, she sees the company getting up to about $10 million in sales and then selling stock publicly. The company manufacturers and markets flags and specialty banners nationally, but recently added a division to produce decals, stickers and other specialty items.
Thompson-McCoy got her start in 1975 selling flags door-to-door to businesses. With $400, she bought a city business permit and had some business cards and order forms printed. "I didn't start manufacturing until about 1985," she says. "It was when I started trying to buy custom-made flags from my manufacturers and they would say, "Oh, there's going to be eight-week delivery,' and I was losing sales because of that." To become a business with a regional base, Thompson-McCoy put ads in the Yellow Pages in the six surrounding states. Later, she did some mail-order marketing, and last year made a large investment in selling through the Internet.
"That is going to be my national marketing in 1997," she says. "I've gotten probably $40,000 of business off the Internet since I've started that. This next year, that's where I'm going to spend my money for advertising. That's the cheapest way to go international that I know."
Arkansas Flag & Banner's customer list includes Georgetown Park Mall and the Smithsonian Institute, both in Washington, D.C., and the NASCAR Winston Cup races.
1996 Arkansas Business of the Year Awards/ Feb. 6, 1997 pg.5
Posted on February 7, 1997.
Arkansas Flag and Banner Receives ADDY Award
 The American Advertising ADDY® Awards recognize excellence in advertising and promote the highest creative standards in the advertising industry. Each year, the Arkansas Advertising Federation conducts the ADDY® competition and honors award-winning work by Arkansas agencies and organizations at the annual ADDY® Awards Show. Winners in the Arkansas competition may move on to compete at the district and then the national level.
Arkansas Flag & Banner receives the Bronze Award of Merit for Aristotle Internet Access to Arkansas' FlagandBanner.com.
Posted February 17, 1997.
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