Ms. Ting Xu

Ting Xu Evergreen Enterprises

Company President Ting Xu and her parents started creating flags in their garage and sold them at the Virginia State Fair.Evergreen Enterprises was born.

Ms. Ting Xu President, Evergreen Enterprise

Ting Xu, Evergreen Enterprises

Ting Xu, Evergreen EnterprisesEvergreen Enterprises is a leading home décor and garden accessory company, specializing in the manufacturer, import, and distribution of Chinese and other products for sale in the U.S. market.Evergreen's products are sold all over the country.The company operates a 250,000 square foot warehouse and distribution center in south Richmond and a 500,000 square foot facility in Ningbo, China employing 145 people in the US and 50 people in China.Evergreen is on target to generate over $45 million in revenues in 2004.In addition to running her business, Ting has hosted two trade delegations from China in the past 18 months and was instrumental in organizing the Governor's recent Trade Mission to China.Witt Mares & Company Rising Star Award

Xu says that though the sales of flags have reached a plateau, the firm has not lost market share.

The product line has been expanded and includes a full range of home decor from napkins to plates and candles.Evergreen's art directors select the medium to be designed such as a glass candle holder or dipping plates and oil decanter - and then purchase the designs from around the world.

"We know exactly what we like," said Xu, a vice president with Evergreen.
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The organization and distribution of the growing line of products offered Xu his first challenge.

"We had to make it smarter,"said Xu.
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Until Xu saw the light - or lights, as it were.
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For Xu, speeding up the process became the imperative and the multicolored light version of the old standard was invented, BrightWay.

"Productivity increased 50 percent immediately," said Xu.

His firm, Brighton Systems, began life in 2001 as North American Network Technology.But the name seemed too long and cumbersome, so Xu changed it this past February to Brighton Systems.
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For Xu, the question is "What is the best way to streamline operations at Evergreen?"
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"An industry study found that deliveries are late five percent of the time," said Xu.
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Xu has just returned from a trade show in Chicago, where the latest development from Brighton Systems has become a hit - a smart cart, that addresses the common order picking nightmare of the misplaced and misshipped inventory.

The great thing about the cart, said Xu, is that "its speed that doesn't sacrifice accuracy."

Ting Xu turned a simple mission into a budding national home-decor business.

She helped create Evergreen Enterprises Inc. as a way to find a second career to keep her retired parents occupied.

"I wanted to do something to keep them busy," Xu said.

"Instead, this has kept us very busy," she said about her family's growing South Richmond company that should generate about $40 million in revenue this year.

The impetus for the business began in 1992, when Xu and her mother designed and made decorative flags from Xu's family garage in Henrico County.
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"One thing just led to another," said Xu, Evergreen's president.
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Much of the company's accomplishments has been through trial and error, Xu said.

"I can't tell you how many bottles of wine we have consumed just sitting there chatting about what we did right and what went wrong, and bouncing ideas and going in many, many directions," she said.

Branching out into different directions has been key to Evergreen's rapid growth.