Flexibility and being open to change, combined with solid values make for a successful business, Ernie Cummings of Kizer-Cumming Jewelers told members of Lawrence Central Rotary on December 11.
Cummings, who said he was an army brat who grew up near an army base in Missouri, came to Lawrence in 1974 to start a retail business. He has dealt with differences in his store’s location (now at 833 Massachusetts ), ups and downs in the economy, the dot.com bubble and a downtown that is constantly changing.
Positives include the great labor pool of students in Lawrence who have worked for him before going on to careers of their own, having a good banker and joining the Small Business Administration. He said he has always been involved in community activities and believes in running a hands-on business. “When you’re in business you’re constantly learning,” he said. “You never quit going to school.”
The learning has involved adopting enormous changes in technology. Blaine Allmond, an artist, and designer, who has worked with Cummings for the last 10 years, demonstrated a computer technique using a T-Spline Timelapse Matrix 7 computer which creates three-dimensional models of his jewelry designs. These computers create wax models, although, Allmond said, some of the newer computers use plastic.
“I find these changes positive,” Cummings said. “They make being in business exciting.”
