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Shap Talk

"Shapiro Daughter Takes  The Reins At Local  Customs Broker"
by Joan Wisner - Carlson

Reprinted from the Port of Baltimore Magazine - December, 2001
 
Since returning in 1991 to the Customs Brokerage / International Freight Forwarding company that bears her grandfather's name, Margie Shapiro admits that she has gone through more titles than most: Branch Manager, Regional Manager, Vice President of Compliance, Executive Vice President, and now President and Chief Operating Officer.

But if her ascent to the top of Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc. has seemed rapid, she says her preparations to become the third generation in her family to run the business started early. At 12, she remembers helping her father, Sigmund, sequence checks at the dining room table. Not long after that, she began working weekends and summer vacations alongside her older brother and sister at the company's office on Gay Street.

"It was just expected that my siblings and I would go to school, go to college and then go into business with Dad," says Margie of her birthright. "Of course, we have all tried to rebel."

For the youngest Shapiro child, that meant a 5 year foray into the advertising business after graduating with a degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.  But when her father offered her the opportunity to open a Philadelphia office for the firm a decade ago, she accepted. "I had learned everything that I could in the advertising business and was getting jaded. It was time for a change."

Now, at 37, Margie Shapiro oversees the day-to-day operations of Samuel Shapiro & Company's 10 offices from the Corn Exchange
Building in Philadelphia, right across the street from the U.S. Customs building.  Two days a week she commutes to Baltimore, where she works with her father at the company headquarters on the fifth floor of the World Trade Center.  Sigmund Shapiro, who says he is not ready to retire at 74, still holds the title of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Both father and daughter are committed to improving customer service, a Shapiro trademark they say suffered in recent years as a result of some bad management hires. They hope this will provide an edge at a time when a slower economy means less cargo to transport - be it apparel, antiques, heavy machinery or medical equipment.  "Our job is to help our clients get over the hurdles of international trade and get their cargo to its destination on time, while complying with a myriad of regulations," says Sigmund Shapiro.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, that job has become even more challenging.  "The Federal Aviation Administration regulations on air export cargo are changing every day.  It's our job to keep up with those changes," Margie Shapiro says, noting that about 40 percent of the cargo the company arranges transport for goes by air while the other 60 percent is shipped by sea.

More regulations coupled with a slower economy have hurt business, both father and daughter agree.  "People aren't importing because people aren't buying," Margie Shapiro states simply.

But they appear confident the company will survive the current market downturn by keeping a close eye on expenses and revenues and strengthening their sales force.  The Shapiros plan to hire three new salespeople by the end of the year.  The company currently has about 100 employees, down from 150 a year ago.

In addition to its offices in Baltimore and Philadelphia, the company also has offices in New York, Charleston, Savannah, Atlanta, Norfolk, Dulles International Airport and BWI Airport.

And it's not the first time the 85 year old family business has weathered a rough economic period.

When Margie Shapiro received her Customs Broker's license in 1995, it was exactly 80 years after her grandfather Samuel Shapiro receive his (license number 80).  He opened for business in a one-room office with a $5 roll-top desk, according to family memoirs. With three years experience working for a Customs Broker, he made a profit of about $50 in 1915.

Samuel Shapiro & Company experienced ups and downs over the following years. After World War I, the government appointed Shapiro forwarder for grain shipments to Europe.  Business bottomed out during the depression of the '30s. But the company's big break was to come in 1935 in part because of new taxes put on imports by the Tariff Act of 1930. In 1935, Samuel Shapiro made $35,000 helping an attorney represent a company that was disputing tariffs imposed on rags it was importing from the Far East. Shapiro used some of that money to travel to Europe and expand his business internationally. His son Sigmund began working full time at age 20, becoming head of the company at age 40. Still, Samuel remained chairman and active in the business until his death in 1987 at 92.  Today, Margie Shapiro is the only sibling working full-time for the family business. Her older brother, Robert, who left the business in 1993 for Cornell Law School, is a Customs and International Trade Attorney.  He serves as the company's corporate counsel, in his private practice with Barnes, Richardson and Colburn in Washington, D.C. Sister Rosellen Bloomberg lives in Baltimore and is a stay - at - home mom.

Margie Shapiro says she manages the stress of her job with a rigorous exercise regimen.  In fact, it is not unusual for her to work out up to two hours, running, lifting weights and mastering the stairs in the makeshift gym of her Society Hill home before she starts her work day.

"I'm proud to be continuing the Shapiro legacy," she says.

While men dominated the industry when she started a decade ago, Margie Shapiro says a lot has changed in recent years and that she is no longer a minority.  "When I first began attending the Philadelphia Custom Brokers Association, I was the only woman, but now it's at least half women," she say, noting that 70 percent of Shapiro's employees are women.  And her customers applaud her recent promotion.

"The Shapiros represent a very high standard in the industry.  It's great to see a woman like Margie move to the top," says Sandra Durr, purchasing supervisor for Philadelphia-based Unique Industries Inc. The party supply manufacturer has used Shapiro for their Custom brokering of party supply imports and exports since 1992, shortly after the office opened there.

Though Dad has tried to woo Margie back to Baltimore, both seem satisfied with the arrangement - for now. "Margie is exactly how I was at that age - strong willed and ornery," say Sigmund Shapiro. "We understand each other, and I don't want to interfere."

"The Port of Baltimore is my home and will remain the headquarters for our company," he adds.  "Besides containers, Baltimore is becoming a very important center for breakbulk cargo.  We obviously want to see it not only survive the world's changes, but thrive."