Emkay Inc. will commemorate its 50th anniversary on June 26, 1996, showcasing its commitment to the future.

The event's highlight will be the unveiling of Emkay's new multi-million- dollar, state-of-the-art, 28,000-square-foot addition to its corporate headquarter offices in Itasca, IL.

In addition to the new building, Emkay has added new support teams and an expanded technological capability.

"Two years ago we began planning our building expansion when it became apparent we were rapidly outgrowing the original facility," says Gary Tepas, president of Emkay. "The expanding work force, new services we are providing to clients, and the additional space our new internal support departments needed, created the need."

New Building More Than Just a Pretty Facade

The building expansion was not without careful planning and consideration of Emkay's service levels and future goals.

"From a technological side," says Tepas, "our older building was completely re-cabled with all digital and fiber optic data links to address today's needs for enterprise net-works, teleconferencing communications, and for tomorrow's technologies."

In both old and new building sections the data retrieval capabilities and network capacity was increased by integrating a 100 megabit switching technology with Novell's 4.1 SFT III (System Fault Tolerance) networking server technology.

Emkay maintains two Tricord 4000 Powerframe Integrated Servers in different buildings and both have the capability to run all data requirements for its North American operations.

"We will never be down if our primary system fails," says Tepas, adding that complete Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) and gas-powered generator back-ups are available to ensure continual operation and uninterrupted service.

Internal Support Groups Focus on Future Growth

Because of its growth, Emkay has established internal support groups including a Human Resources and Office Services Group, a Food Service Operation, a General Counsel and Law Library, a Building Engineering and Maintenance Group, and an Outsource Services Group.

"The investment is already paying dividends with better corporate control of internal costs and improved employee and client training," says Tepas.

According to Tepas, Emkay's fastest-growing business areas are its outsourcing service, known as Comprehensive Fleet Service, and the License, Title, and Tax Department.

"We offer drivers a complete, hassle-free way of getting a new plate or registration sticker sent directly by us," says Tepas. "Nearly 70 percent of our clients subscribe to this service, not to mention the numerous inquiries from DMVs and government offices to go on-line with us for this process."

Added Technology Brings Added Client Service

To avoid having clients frustrated by a voice-mail system, especially when answers are needed quickly, Emkay established a 'team' concept for all of its Driver Service Center units.

"More than one person will be familiar with client problems or questions, which helps us accomplish our goal of providing real people, real voices, and thoughtful solutions," says Tepas.

Emkay also established a new maintenance lab for senior maintenance technicians and a computer and communications training lab to assist both employees and clients.

The maintenance lab is a custom-designed station that will provide trained maintenance personnel with easy viewing access to each vehicle's maintenance history, standardized benchmark costs, and vehicle repair manuals.

"An automated visual select capability to request help or monitoring by the maintenance department technical leader is also available," adds Tepas.

The computer and communications lab will be used to train employees on general system and software usage.

"Of significant importance today," stresses Tepas, "will be its use to train new clients and retrain old clients on Emkay's online system, electronic data interface (EDI) capability, as well as communications via citrix, e-mail, fax, and the Internet utilizing Novell products such as Groupwise and Net Connect."

A 50th anniversary celebration is scheduled for June 26, 1996, at Emkay's new facility and will include regularly scheduled guided tours, a vehicle display, and will be capped with a dinner and show. Several hundred guests are expected to share in the event.

"If I could lay out only one future goal or objective," says Tepas, "it would quite simply be that our company be even more successful during the next 50 years in adding clients, providing more services, and in providing more jobs and better career opportunities for our employees."