A pallet for innovation
Former Cayuga chief uses software to improve pallet industry
By ANDREW TUTINO
Journal Staff

LANSING - In the late 1970s, Frank Bonamie ran a struggling construction company.

Bonamie, a member of Cayuga Nation, started the company with the goal of having a successful business that also trained young Native Americans in the skills needed in the construction world: Masonry, carpentry, iron work and other areas.

But the bottom line was that the company wasn't showing any profit.

So the company's board of directors met and decided it would be best to dissolve it.

After that meeting, a director, who was also the comptroller at General Motors Corp., had an idea for Bonamie so the former boss wouldn't go hungry. He wanted Bonamie to try his hand at the pallet business, buying and selling the wooden objects that help transport products around the country.

But Bonamie wasn't interested, at least at first.

“But after being on unemployment for six months, I finally decided I would call him,” Bonamie said. “That's how I got in the pallet business.”

And more than 25 years later, he is sure glad he did. After that conversation with his friend, Bonamie launched Ongweoweh Corp., a business that started with $500,000 in sales. This year, that number will come close to $100 million.

Growing and evolving

It has also grown into one of the 50 largest minority-owned companies in the country, and has been honored by a number of organizations and agencies, including the United States Small Business Administration.

And as the pallet business has evolved, so has Bonamie and his company. No longer does it just broker pallets for its customers - 90 percent of which are Fortune 500 companies. Less than a decade ago, it began tracking, recycling and returning pallets for Eastman Kodak, one of its oldest customers. That led to the creation of a new arm in the business and a million-dollar investment in software that tracks pallets across the country. The software helps get the pallets back to the companies who sent them out, reducing costs and reducing strain on the environment in the process.

‘Innovative' at 78

“He is very innovative and very driven. When we needed software or equipment, he never said ‘no' at any time and told us to just invest in it. It took four years for it to work, but he had the patience to see it through.”

Bonamie can also enjoy the fruit of his labor. While he still shows up at the office every day in the afternoon, he likes to spend his mornings skiing or doing something else he enjoys. He said he has turned over most of the day-to-day operations to his two vice presidents, Brown and Ben Richards, but he likes to stay active in the business.

“I do not want to retire,” Bonamie said. “It is one thing I refuse to do.”

Former Cayuga chief

“I decided I would rather concentrate on my business,” he said.

From the beginning, Bonamie set out to forge contacts with some of the largest companies in the United States and the world. Ongweoweh's clients include Kodak, IBM, General Motors, Corning Glass, E.I. DuPont, Alcoa, Shell Oil, Monsanto and Coca-Cola, according to the company and documents filed with the Tompkins County Industrial Agency.

‘NativeTrax'

The process began when Ongweoweh started doing the tracking for Eastman Kodak, Brown said, as a way to reduce the film giant's costs.

“We decided we couldn't do it very well on an Excel spreadsheet,” Brown said. “So we developed our own software.”

Customers now send encrypted data on shipments to Ongweoweh via the Internet. The software acts somewhat like a checking account, Brown said, by tracking the shipments, the type of product and its value.

“It reduces their costs dramatically and obviously saves a resource,” Brown said.

Ongweoweh's work with other companies has earned it commendations for recycling from the Rain Forest Alliance. The company also funds a scholarship program for Native American students at Cornell University.

Employees key to success

Ongweoweh's payroll is about $2 million per year, according to documents filed with the IDA. It pays for 100 percent of employee health insurance costs, awards yearly bonuses of 15-20 percent depending on company profits, and offers what company officials say is the best 401(K) plan in the county.

While other businesses shave off benefits, Ongweoweh officials said they try to offer more because they know they will be able to keep their employees.

“We rarely have turnover,” Brown said. “Our employees are our product. They represent us out there everyday. We are focused on hiring good people, training them and keeping them. We are fortunate that we have found good people and they have found us.”

PICTURE:  Frank Bonamie, center, founder of Ongweoweh Corp., sits in the company's conference room along with vice presidents Ben Richards, left, and Randy Brown. Bonamie's company is one the 50th largest minority-owned businesses in the country.