Christmas decorations have gone up all around the world. Syracuse-based Downtown Decorations had a hand in hundreds of them.
Founder and president Ted Peterson said his company designs and sells commercial holiday decor and banners for downtowns, shopping malls, commercial centers, casinos, military bases, and similar places in North and South America. In North America, Texas has the largest number of clients. In South America, Ecuador has the most. The company has done holiday displays for Disney parks, for movies like the Iron Man series, and for TV’s Hallmark Channel.
Peterson started Downtown Decorations in 2003 in his basement in Manlius. The company remains family owned and operates from headquarters at 309 Wavel St., just north of Eastwood in an industrial area in the town of DeWitt. The company has branch offices in Texas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
Peterson has diversified his company with year-round decorations, banners, and displays for any holiday or celebration. Employment fluctuates a bit with the season, but the company keeps about 15 permanent employees and also contracts with independent designers. Some lighting and ornaments are stored at the headquarters, Some light manufacturing takes place there, too. Mostly, the company does designs, contracts with manufacturers, and has finished products shipped directly to installation sites.
Peterson spent nearly three decades working for corporations where he saw that the best leaders had compassion, knew you as a person, and built a caring relationship.
First, tell me how and why you started the company.
I was an executive in sales and marketing for a couple of big corporations and had to move and travel a lot. I was living here and commuting back and forth to Omaha, Nebraska, where I was in charge of North America sales for Conagra corporation, a company with about $11 billion in annual revenue or something like that. I had an office in Omaha and commuted back and forth every Monday morning and every Friday night.
They wanted me to move to Omaha, and my children were involved in high school so I said, no, we’re not moving again.
We stayed here, but after a while they wanted me to move again. I thought Conagra is a great company, but I knew I could always make it here in Syracuse.
A friend of mine had a company doing holiday décor, and I thought: I can do that and build on it.
So I started it out of my basement in Manlius. It was just myself at that point. I started knocking on doors and it grew and it grew. Among the things I learned from my corporate life is extreme loyalty to your customer and creating great relationships. I’ve always stressed that and it’s what our company is based on – building relationships with customers. It’s worked out extremely well. We’ve shown continuous growth every year, and I see tremendous growth for us in the next five years and beyond.
We built relationships that have lasted years – like in Augusta and Atlanta, Georgia, Lowell, Massachusetts, Middletown, New York, and throughout Texas, especially in the Houston, Austin, and Dallas metro areas.
I don’t know if you can pick out a superlative, but what’s the best display you’ve created or maybe one you’re proudest of?
Let me tell you about some unique ones. One is Georgetown, the neighborhood in Washington, D.C. It was a large project. They wanted us to design for their whole waterfront.
Another unique one would be Augusta, Georgia. It’s become a great customer of ours.
Downtown Atlanta started with one of the Masson pieces. (Masson, a German company that Peterson uses, is known for its large oversize ornaments and decorations.) Then, they expanded around Atlanta. This year, they’ve taken it to the next step and tied in the Atlanta Botanical Garden. It builds excitement or passion for a city or downtown.
Georgetown, Augusta, and Atlanta incorporated different looks, not only for themselves, but for private businesses as well. Some cities have a bigger vision of not just saying this is what we want now. Rather, they say: How do we want it to grow? How do we incorporate private businesses? How do we incorporate the whole community?
You see successful cities do that and do it well. That’s a win-win for everybody.
Let’s pivot to leadership. Were you in leadership roles growing up?
I was not, but I think I learned the value of a work ethic. I grew up in Ilion, a small town in the Mohawk Valley with hard-working people. My father (John Peterson) was a tool and die maker for Remington Arms and always worked two and three jobs. I learned from his work ethic.
He was a typical guy after the war, smoked too much, and died young from a stroke. I still have his old wooden box where he kept his tools and dies.
My mom (Mary Elizabeth Peterson) died when I was 15. She was in her 40s and died from a blood clot after an operation.
I went to Mohawk Valley Community College and then finished up at American University in Washington, D.C. I moved to Washington and worked for the government for a few years.
What kind of government job?
I was at the Secret Service, and then I went to private corporate jobs and moved my way up.
Oh my goodness. A lot of people might think the Secret Service sounds glamorous, traveling with the president and other big shots. Why did you leave?
The Secret Service was a very demanding job, with difficult hours that were not family friendly. Having just started a family, I re-evaluated my priorities and chose my family over the job.
You mentioned your dad and work ethic. Were there others who had an impact on your career or ideas about leadership?
Fortunately for me, I’ve seen some great bosses and I’ve seen a few bad bosses. The great bosses had compassion. They knew you as a person. They cared about you.
I was with The Dial Corporation where I mainly focused on consumer products. I had an especially great boss there, a great mentor. His name was Steve Witzky.
Part of what I admired was his compassion.
He was an all-around person, and balanced well with his family. He balanced his whole life. He was a great salesperson. He was a great manager. But he was a great father, too, and I saw how he treated his family and his kids. I think any good leader or manager needs to be a balanced person. They can’t be all one sided.
Steve did a good job of that. He was able to walk away from work to be with his family, and he still was able to achieve what he wanted for the company and also achieve what he wanted for his employees, to treat them fairly and well.
He set the foundation, I think, for my viewpoint of how a leader should be.
What’s your advice for effective leadership, especially for someone who aspires to that responsibility?
First and foremost, for anybody entering leadership, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Never.
So if you’re coming in new, the first thing you do is lay down this is who I am. This is my work ethic. This is how hard I’m going to work. People will remember the first time and when you goof up a little bit along the way they’re going to remember that favorable first impression.
Second is pay attention to detail. My father was always hung up on dirty shoes. It’s an old thing. If they don’t pay attention to their shoes – the little detail – how are they going to pay attention to the details of work? I used to be in charge of recruiting at a couple of companies. I’d interview people, and managers would say: Oh, this is the greatest guy in the world.
I would say: No, we’re not hiring him.
They said: Why?
I said: He had dirty shoes.
It’s a little hang up, maybe, that I got from my father, but I’ve always paid attention to it, and it’s worked for me. Shoes are a symbol. When people pay attention to the little things, the big things will fall in place. If you’re hiring people to watch your dollars or do sales or fill in detail on orders or anything else, you want to know they can handle all the little details.
For the leader of a company, the details flow down to how you treat employees and build relationships. Do you know the details about your employees? How many kids do they have? How old are they? Things like that. Little details help you create a relationship, and you need to create a relationship with your employees. You don’t have to be personal about it, but know a little about them to be able to praise them and say thank you. The little things create a relationship.
Remember that you are getting work done through people. I’ve seen bosses who’ve tried to boss through fear and intimidation. That might work short-term, but long-term it does not. No dictator stands for long.
Somebody once said: Be smart enough to hire smart people, but be smart enough to get the hell out of the way.
Even Steve Jobs said he wasn’t the smartest guy. He didn’t want to tell everybody what to do. If he did that, he said he wouldn’t need the employee. He said: It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. Hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.
It’s like the head of General Motors. She can’t build a car by herself. She needs to be smart enough to hire the people who are able to do that.
Ask for employees’ input. They know their job better than you most likely do. So let them get involved, and let them feel empowered. They can provide the answers you need.
I’m kind of repeating myself, but show your employees you care about them. It can be as simple as bringing in ice cream for everybody on an afternoon. Little things like that are important.
Be honest and humble. Check your ego at the door. Your employees know you’re the owner. You don’t have to prove anything to them. The only thing you have to prove is that you’re there to help them. If you involve them, they’re going to be loyal, and they’re going to be as loyal to you as you are to them.
Some of this, I think, is basic: How do you treat people? Treat people with respect.
Finally, I’m a five Ps guy: Proper preplanning prevents poor performance.
What attributes do you see in poor leaders?
Poor leaders have a lack of vision. They’re not looking at reality. Ego – they’re people who are all about themselves. Poor leaders are not looking out employees, and it’s employees who are gonna make you successful or not.
With turnover, a big expense is training new employees. If you lose an employee, how long does it take to get a replacement back up and running and get them trained again? Am I better off treating my employees better, paying a little bit more? Or am I better as a bad leader, not treating them well, not paying them well, and having constant turnover?
Treating employees well is good not only for yourself and your company, but also for the relationship with your customers. Customers know real quickly how you treat your employees.
The weekly “Conversation on Leadership” features Q&A interviews about leadership, success, and innovation. The conversations are condensed and edited. Last week featured Mary Beth Frey, executive director of the Samaritan Center. She says leaders need to see the kindness and generosity in others.
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