To put her pair of oversized scissors to use, South West Regional Chamber of Commerce executive director Mandi Pryor didn’t have to go far.
In fact, an April 19 ceremonial ribbon cutting for a company’s relocated headquarters took place just outside the chamber office, where Contact One Communications is a new tenant.
“We’re very excited to have you in the building,” Pryor told Kelli Robbins, Contact One president, while also joking: “I’m going to be the worst landlord that they ever had.”
Neither Robbins nor her brother, chief executive officer Lou Morgavo, believe a word of that, and in fact, they reciprocate Pryor’s enthusiasm.
“I hope this is our last Pittsburgh location,” Robbins said, “because I just love it here.”
Operating under the premise that “a missed call is a missed opportunity,” Contact One strives to ensure that telephone users actually connect with the people they’re trying to reach.
“So much money leaks through phones by going to voicemail,” Robbins explained. “Voicemail kills businesses. Nobody leaves messages.”
The same often is the case for answering services. And so rather than taking calls by identifying themselves as such, Contact One staffers have a more personal approach, providing their first names.
“We make it our business to be part of the team the other 16 hours of the day, weekends, holidays,” Robbins said about her company’s operating 24/7. “We do anything to get the message to you, so you’re first to get the business.”
Natives of Washington Township, Westmoreland County, who both now live in Dormont, Robbins and Morgavo came up with the Contact One concept 39 years ago.
“We started with one little office in Monroeville,” she said. “We expanded to Downtown Pittsburgh and Naples, Fla.”
Over the years, headquarters moved to the Strip District and South Side before landing at the chamber building on Washington Pike, just across Chartiers Creek from Bridgeville.
Another business welcomed recently by South West Regional Chamber of Commerce is Nautical Bowls in Collier Town Square.
The restaurant serves bowls full of a wide variety of food, from açaí berries and bananas to granola, almonds and hemp seeds. The menu selections are “gluten-free, dairy-free, plant-based, soy-free and are made with organic, all-natural ingredients,” according to franchisee Meena Aggarwal. “They are packed with essential vitamins and nutrients to fuel your life.”
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