nwasianweekly.com
Sept. 30, 2006

Kobi Yamada displays just a few of Compendium’s motivational and inspirational titles.

By Pat Tanumihardja
For the Northwest Asian Weekly

People — that’s Kobi Yamada’s strategy for success.

“I hire and work with outstanding people and provide an environment where they can take risks, make mistakes and find out how good they really are,” says the CEO of Compendium Inc.

Founded in 1985, this marketing, publishing and communications company was founded by Dan Zadra. In 1994, Yamada became one of the owners and CEO of the Lynnwood-based business.

What began as a client-focused business producing one product — its signature pop-open window card with inspirational quotations — for companies like Boeing and training organizations has diversified into a global endeavor encompassing three divisions: corporate programs, consumer products and private labels. It now offers several thousand products.
Over the years, Compendium has created a steady stream of award-winning products and programs comprising effective communication and branding programs and inspirational gifts, including books, greeting cards and journals. They are marketed through more than 10,000 gift shops and bookstores around the world, including in Australia, Canada, the Philippines, South Korea and the U.K. Compendium has also established relationships with some of the region’s finest companies, including Chateau Ste. Michelle and Vulcan Inc.

With a mission to inspire, educate, motivate and celebrate the world we love and live in, Yamada says Compendium relies heavily on its employees. “Our people are the foundation of the company,” he insists. “The best way to take care of our customers and deliver quality products is to take care of our people.”

With creativity and innovation at the heart of the company, everything else falls into place. “Our company is all about inspiration. In that kind of environment, you fuel creativity and increase camaraderie,” Yamada says. “We not only want to create a profitable, sustainable business; we want to create positive change and be a force for good in the world. This produces a different kind of work product and a different kind of work ethic. Work can be inspiring and fun, and you don’t have to sacrifice quality or excellence in the process.”

He continues, “We believe that when you love what you do, the results speak for themselves. In fact, I don’t know how you create amazing results if you don’t love what you are doing and you aren’t having a great time doing it.”

Yamada acknowledges that treating employees well has contributed to employee retention and ultimate success as a business. “As a manager, I not only recognize but embrace that the quantitative measurements of our profit statements and balance sheets determine the success of our business. But just as important is the qualitative measurements of the investments our company makes in its people.”

Beyond salary, all of Compendium’s “incentivizing” is done as a team. “It is important to us that our processes and structures make sure that everyone is rewarded for company success,” explains Yamada. “We win as a team. We lose as a team. There are no individual awards.”

At Compendium, every employee in the company from top to bottom is educated on the financial picture. “The mindset is that we are all owners and stakeholders in our company,” Yamada says.

This translates into full health benefits coverage for employees and their family members, an aggressive profit-sharing scheme, matching 401(k) plans and generous cash bonuses. “Many of our employees are shareholders in the company too,” says Yamada.

Employees enjoy perks such as weekly massages, free lunches every Monday and group activities with families throughout the year. They’re also allowed to bring their dogs to work!

“We are a benchmark for a great company to work for,” states Yamada with pride. Indeed, Compendium has been recognized as such. The company was among Washington CEO magazine’s Best Companies to Work for in Washington State from 2004 to 2006, and was one of Seattle Business Monthly’s Best Places to Work in 2006.

In 2004, the Puget Sound Business Journal recognized Compendium as one of the 50 Largest Minority-Owned Businesses and one of the 50 Fastest Growing Minority-Owned Businesses in the Puget Sound area. Yamada has been nominated for the 2006 Asian American Entrepreneur of the Year Award, a program of the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation.

As the company continues to grow, it faces new challenges. One of the greatest challenges the company faces now is how to honor employees’ personal values and continue to be a vibrant growing company in an ecologically sustainable way. “(We want) to make a bigger difference in the world while leaving a smaller footprint on the planet’s resources,” says Yamada.

With plans to move to the city so that employees can bus or bike to work, Compendium is well on its way.

For more information, visit www.compendiuminc.com.

Pat Tanumihardja can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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