![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ADMIN-COLLABORATION.jpg\")
Ragusa makes his hiring criteria clear. \u201cI\u2019m talking about right here,\u201d he exclaims, patting his chest to indicate heart. \u201cIf you have the same values I have\u2014hard work, integrity, honesty and commitment\u2014then it doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re black, white, tall, short, male, female, old or young. That all works out on its own when you\u2019re looking for good people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While ABC isn\u2019t the Island of Misfit Toys, Ragusa admits it\u2019s a \u201cvery strange place,\u201d but in a good way. He cited several nontraditional success stories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Rena was a single mother of two when she arrived at ABC 20 years ago as a receptionist. She\u2019d never used a 10-key calculator and wasn\u2019t familiar with the Microsoft Office suite\u2014in fact, her background was in the retail environment. But she was willing to work hard and learn. Today, Rena is a senior sales rep.<\/li>
- Pat joined ABC six years ago despite having no industry experience and, at age 69, not fitting the profile of a high-potential prospect. Now at 75, she\u2019s \u201csetting the world on fire\u201d as a sales rep serving the government sector, and customers love how she brightens every room she enters.<\/li>
- After years in middle management for a high-profile company in the oil and gas world, Barry retired. Despite being financially secure, he wanted his second act to be a little more robust. Barry answered an ABC want ad for a technician in early 2017. After several years with the dealer, he decided to retire again, but Ragusa felt he was too valuable to lose. He told Barry he could work as often, or as little, as he felt comfortable doing. Now, in his mid-70s, Barry works 2\u20133 days a week, 5\u20136 hours per day, making a considerable impact every time he walks through the door.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Thus, when Ragusa says it\u2019s the people who make ABC a great company, he shows the math. \u201cWithout having the right people, ABC is nothing,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re not a checkbox kind of company when it comes to hiring. When I meet with people, I can usually tell if they\u2019re good to the core and can work in our culture. We can teach them the tasks. But integrity, hard work, commitment\u2014you can\u2019t teach that; they need to bring it with them. If they have all those things, we can normally figure out the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ownership Journey<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
That Ragusa has been able to insert round pegs into square holes only scratches the surface of ABC\u2019s value proposition. A Sharp-powered dealership, ABC debuted in 1996 behind Ragusa, his father Ben and Ed Doyle. The elder Ragusa had been a Lanier sales rep since the late 1960s, and by the 1980s he was the number-three exec in the company, a VP in charge of global sales. Upon leaving, Ben and Jeff teamed up in 1988 to start a Toshiba dealership in Atlanta called Omni Business Products. The Ragusas sold Omni to the manufacturer in 1994 and stuck around for a transitional period. In 1996, they moved back to their hometown of Baton Rouge and enlisted Doyle (also now retired) in starting ABC. Jeff has been joined by his twin daughters Elizabeth Ragusa Doiron and Madeline Ragusa Shea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/INCENTIVE-ANNOUCEMENT.jpg\")
ABC unveiled the winners of its 2025 Caribbean incentive trip and the destination reveal for the upcoming 2026 incentive trip to Sedona, Arizona. Seated are the eligible winners for 2025 (from left): Rena Harrel, Pat Hughes, Constance Sims, Patrick Ferrara and Gilbert Bennet. Standing are Jayson Salter, Barrett Teller, Scott Bonck, Jeff Ragusa, Kerry Pelham and Frank Fernandez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Sadly, Ben passed away Dec. 19 of last year, six months after Patti, his wife of 59 years, had passed. While Ben had not been engaged in the day-to-day at ABC for a few years, his guidance and advice were always welcome and valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ragusa describes ABC as a business family as opposed to a family business; he resisted the urge to populate the company with cousins, nieces and nephews. \u201cI love having my daughters in the business\u2014it\u2019s a tremendous legacy,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re learning and growing. But we\u2019ve made an effort not to have ABC saturated with family members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TRIP-WINNERS.jpg\")
Team members and spouses take time out from enoying their 2025 Caribbean cruise<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Success at ABC has centered on organic growth and M&A opportunities. Ragusa made two acquisitions in the past two years. One was a small, one-person lifestyle business called All-American Business Products. Then last June, CopyNet of New Iberia\u2014a three-person tech operation\u2014was obtained. The latter deal enabled ABC to boost its Lafayette operations, add a general manager and set the stage for the branch to move into a new facility in 2026. ABC also has an office in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With revenue in the $5 million to $10 million range, ABC serves southern Louisiana from the east Texas border to western Mississippi, and north into the Opelousas\/Alexandria region\u2014essentially the central part of the state. Religion and education are two of the primary verticals the dealer serves, which originated because of its Duplo digital duplicator products (unseating a local RISO dealer in the process) in the early days of ABC. State and local government contracts have fueled growth in the SLED realm, helping to scale ABC\u2019s education portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BEN-YOUND-WITH-EQUIPMENT-1.jpg\")
Founder Ben Ragusa showcases Lanier business equipment from an earlier era<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Myriad Opportunities<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent years, correctional facilities have proven to be a fertile market, and the dealer counts the state\u2019s flagship prison among its clients. This led to strong customer referrals. The industrial sector, powered by the petrochemical influence (chemical plants, refineries) along the Mississippi River, represents some of ABC\u2019s larger commercial clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to Sharp MFPs, AQUOUS Boards and professional displays and the aforementioned duplicators, ABC offers Kyocera printers, Epson wide-format devices and KIP multifunction plotters. Ragusa would like to see more emphasis on Sharp display products and feels the Lafayette market has a particularly high upside. While he\u2019s given thought to certain diversifications, Ragusa wants to ensure he has a firm footing following the CopyNet acquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a banner 2025 for ABC. The CopyNet acquisition and the addition of their personnel bolstered the company\u2019s foundation in the western Louisiana market. Madeline returned to the company after spending a year in Texas, and she\u2019s been a key addition. The greatest growth has stemmed from managed print services (MPS) and the government sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The challenges have been mostly good ones. Jayson Salter, director of operations, has been a burst of positive energy after joining ABC two years ago, providing the bandwidth needed to address the expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re feeling some growing pains right now, and we\u2019re doing significant building renovations at our headquarters to accommodate it,\u201d Ragusa noted. \u201cIn addition to developing a lot of new people, we\u2019re realigning responsibilities with some of our existing people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The MPS performance was a product of some internal changes made by ABC to ensure the offering was getting the attention it deserved from clients. \u201cWe\u2019d done a good job with the clients we had, but we weren\u2019t attracting enough new MPS business,\u201d he pointed out. \u201cWe took a different approach, adjusting our incentive plans and compensation programs to make MPS more important to our sales force. Getting a better focus on it, being more deliberate about it and then making sure the salespeople are more vested in it has really been the big difference. Our markets are a little less sophisticated than a Chicago, New York or L.A., so a little innovation goes a lot longer in our marketplace than it would in a bigger market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mastering Marketing<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another meaningful change at ABC was the creation of a stand-alone marketing team led by Elizabeth. Previously, it fell upon the account representatives to align their sales and marketing efforts, and Ragusa wanted them to focus on client research and outreach. Not only does her department tend to marketing, but it\u2019s also charged with sales administration, which previously fell under accounting. In addition, Elizabeth coordinates logistics and billing with the goal of creating more synergy between the sales department and order fulfillment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CRAWFISH-BOIL.jpg\")
Nothing says Louisiana quite like having a crawfish boil. Shown from left are Jeff Ragusa, Scott Bonck and Frank Fernandez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n In the near future, Ragusa has plans to add another pair of hands to the marketing department. He also emerged from last fall\u2019s Sharp dealer meeting with a few of the OEM\u2019s initiatives that he feels will advance ABC\u2019s program further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe plan to flesh out the true marketing aspect more than we have been,\u201d he said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t taken it into the direction we really wanted to initially because of the way we\u2019ve handled the administrative side of it. The addition of personnel will give us the bandwidth to focus on true marketing impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MANAGEMENT.jpg\")
The executive management team at Applied Business Concepts (shown from left): Madeline Shea (administrative manager), Frank Fernandez (vice president of technology), Jeff Ragusa (president), Joshua Pellerin (service manager-Lafayette), Jayson Salter (director of operations), Ed Doyle (general manager-New Orleans), Scott Bonck (vice president of sales), Elizabeth Doiron (director of marketing) and Kerry Pelham (general manager-Lafayette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m excited to participate in some of Sharp\u2019s marketing initiatives, especially relative to social media, where there\u2019s going to be a great deal of both automation and resource-sharing. I love the possibilities, and I\u2019m looking forward to seeing how that develops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not all marketing ideas take root. One third-party resource, a multi-channel lead generation program Ragusa learned about via a webinar, didn\u2019t work out for the dealer\u2014a fact that became apparent during the implementation phase. However, using BlitzMasters\u2019 sales-enablement call campaigns has been a rousing success. Ragusa credits Scott Bonk, ABC\u2019s vice president of sales, with leveraging the program to its fullest during the pandemic. It pairs advanced metrics with a recasting of the original sales blitz method of generating net-new accounts and augmenting existing ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/EASTER-HUNT.jpg\")
The Easter Bunny (middle, aka Jeff Ragusa) is flanked by Barry Bercegeay (left) and Constance Sims<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \u201cUsing the old skills we\u2019ve all developed\u2014objection-handling and having a good script and plan\u2014we\u2019ve seen a terrific impact with our salespeople,\u201d Ragusa said. \u201cWe\u2019re getting in front of more decision makers, which yields more business. Our outbound marketing has been much more successful than the other program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While not a micromanager, Ragusa is certainly a hands-on owner who\u2019s engaged with all 30 members of the team. This helps him speak fluently with customers on any matters concerning their engagement with ABC. Ragusa doesn\u2019t keep banker\u2019s hours or spend afternoons on the golf course; he\u2019s plugged in from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. He leaves the granular management of the departments to Bonk and Frank Fernandez, the company\u2019s vice president of technology. The commitment level of the execs adds to the success formula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raising the Bar<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moving forward, Ragusa would like to see ABC engage AI in more aspects of the business. From a product perspective, he thinks water could be an easy add-on in the future. Another takeaway from the Sharp conference was a presentation by Culture Index. Although Ragusa\u2019s instincts have been spot-on in evaluating atypical personnel fits, this tool can help evaluate not only job candidates but existing personnel as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TECHNICIANS.jpg\")
ABC techs perform minor surgery on a unit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n And while Ragusa\u2019s not looking to expand his coverage footprint via M&A, he\u2019s always willing to entertain overtures from dealers seeking to exit the business. Any deals he completes over the next 24 months will likely focus on bolstering ABC\u2019s current branches. There are prospective opportunities he\u2019s mulling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to be careful. ABC is a very stable company,\u201d Ragusa noted, pointing out he\u2019s never had to resort to layoffs, even during the worst of Hurricane Katrina and the pandemic. \u201cWe\u2019re aggressive, but we\u2019re also conservative. Financial stability is a key component. I don\u2019t want to overextend and get myself in trouble, which is why I put adding new products on the backburner. You don\u2019t want to have too many balls in the air and mess up a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new year has plenty of exciting possibilities, from the Baton Rouge HQ rehab to the new office in Lafayette led by GM Kerry Pelham and the plan to add account reps. Bringing more of ABC\u2019s products and services to the acquired companies\u2019 customer list will continue. On a personal note, both Elizabeth and Madeline are due to have their first children in the spring, making Ragusa a first-time grandfather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just seeing lots of success everywhere we turn,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m so excited about what the future holds for us.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the world of human resources and hiring, some things just never quite translate on resumes and cover letters. Those materials will reveal education, experience and skills, among other facets of a prospect\u2019s career. And now, thanks to the magic of artificial intelligence (AI), job candidates can ensure their case for employment is being delivered in the strongest of terms. That\u2019s a good thing, especially in a highly competitive job environment. There are certain realities. Not every candidate will boast an MBA, advanced degree, certification or Forbes 500-caliber experience. Many have a high school diploma or GED and are fresh off a three-year stint with an Amazon fulfillment center. In the end, none of that really matters to Jeff Ragusa. The president of Applied Business Concepts (ABC) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is looking for a quality all people have from a physical standpoint but don\u2019t always use in the symbolic sense. Ragusa makes his hiring criteria clear. \u201cI\u2019m talking about right here,\u201d he exclaims, patting his chest to indicate heart. \u201cIf you have the same values I have\u2014hard work, integrity, honesty and commitment\u2014then it doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re black, white, tall, short, male, female, old or young. That all works out on its own when you\u2019re looking for good people.\u201d While ABC isn\u2019t the Island of Misfit Toys, Ragusa admits it\u2019s a \u201cvery strange place,\u201d but in a good way. He cited several nontraditional success stories: Rena was a single mother of two when she arrived at ABC 20 years ago as a receptionist. She\u2019d never used a 10-key calculator and wasn\u2019t familiar with the Microsoft Office suite\u2014in fact, her background was in the retail environment. But she was willing to work hard and learn. Today, Rena is a senior sales rep. Pat joined ABC six years ago despite having no industry experience and, at age 69, not fitting the profile of a high-potential prospect. Now at 75, she\u2019s \u201csetting the world on fire\u201d as a sales rep serving the government sector, and customers love how she brightens every room she enters. After years in middle management for a high-profile company in the oil and gas world, Barry retired. Despite being financially secure, he wanted his second act to be a little more robust. Barry answered an ABC want ad for a technician in early 2017. After several years with the dealer, he decided to retire again, but Ragusa felt he was too valuable to lose. He told Barry he could work as often, or as little, as he felt comfortable doing. Now, in his mid-70s, Barry works 2\u20133 days a week, 5\u20136 hours per day, making a considerable impact every time he walks through the door. Thus, when Ragusa says it\u2019s the people who make ABC a great company, he shows the math. \u201cWithout having the right people, ABC is nothing,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re not a checkbox kind of company when it comes to hiring. When I meet with people, I can usually tell if they\u2019re good to the core and can work in our culture. We can teach them the tasks. But integrity, hard work, commitment\u2014you can\u2019t teach that; they need to bring it with them. If they have all those things, we can normally figure out the rest.\u201d Ownership Journey That Ragusa has been able to insert round pegs into square holes only scratches the surface of ABC\u2019s value proposition. A Sharp-powered dealership, ABC debuted in 1996 behind Ragusa, his father Ben and Ed Doyle. The elder Ragusa had been a Lanier sales rep since the late 1960s, and by the 1980s he was the number-three exec in the company, a VP in charge of global sales. Upon leaving, Ben and Jeff teamed up in 1988 to start a Toshiba dealership in Atlanta called Omni Business Products. The Ragusas sold Omni to the manufacturer in 1994 and stuck around for a transitional period. In 1996, they moved back to their hometown of Baton Rouge and enlisted Doyle (also now retired) in starting ABC. Jeff has been joined by his twin daughters Elizabeth Ragusa Doiron and Madeline Ragusa Shea. Sadly, Ben passed away Dec. 19 of last year, six months after Patti, his wife of 59 years, had passed. While Ben had not been engaged in the day-to-day at ABC for a few years, his guidance and advice were always welcome and valuable. Ragusa describes ABC as a business family as opposed to a family business; he resisted the urge to populate the company with cousins, nieces and nephews. \u201cI love having my daughters in the business\u2014it\u2019s a tremendous legacy,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re learning and growing. But we\u2019ve made an effort not to have ABC saturated with family members.\u201d Success at ABC has centered on organic growth and M&A opportunities. Ragusa made two acquisitions in the past two years. One was a small, one-person lifestyle business called All-American Business Products. Then last June, CopyNet of New Iberia\u2014a three-person tech operation\u2014was obtained. The latter deal enabled ABC to boost its Lafayette operations, add a general manager and set the stage for the branch to move into a new facility in 2026. ABC also has an office in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner. With revenue in the $5 million to $10 million range, ABC serves southern Louisiana from the east Texas border to western Mississippi, and north into the Opelousas\/Alexandria region\u2014essentially the central part of the state. Religion and education are two of the primary verticals the dealer serves, which originated because of its Duplo digital duplicator products (unseating a local RISO dealer in the process) in the early days of ABC. State and local government contracts have fueled growth in the SLED realm, helping to scale ABC\u2019s education portfolio. Myriad Opportunities In recent years, correctional facilities have proven to be a fertile market, and the dealer counts the state\u2019s flagship prison among its clients. This led to strong customer referrals. The industrial sector, powered by the petrochemical influence (chemical plants, refineries) along the Mississippi River, represents some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1643],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68217"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68217"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68253,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68217\/revisions\/68253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}