PRICHARD -- He's a humble man, not the kind who wants a splashy story on the cover of a newspaper.

But however reluctant, Harry Zimmerman is deserving of recognition, say those who have worked with him. Since his father, Harry Sr., passed Zim's Bagging Co. to him in 1975, Zimmerman has done more than keep his father's dream alive. He's helped a small, homegrown company thrive, providing jobs in the Tri-State and inspiring those around him with not only his good business sense, but simple goodness.

For his leadership, The Herald-Dispatch is honoring him as the 2007 Business Innovator of the Year.

"I believe people go through their life wanting and looking for individuals they can look up to as a role model, in leadership and in friendship," said Tim Burgess, Zim's operations manager and Zimmerman's son in-law. "People want to be surrounded by good people. I am very thankful that we are part of each other's life and team."

Zimmerman's success as a businessman "has opened the doors for my generation of Zim's employees to work for a successful business close to home," said Joe Williamson, a salesman with the company for the past 10 years. "For that opportunity, we will be forever grateful to him."

Colleagues describe 59-year-old Zimmerman as honest, fair, detail-oriented and time-conscious. He makes good decisions and he follows through.

"There is not a more deserving individual, as it relates to business innovation in our part of the world," said Bob Trocin, executive director of the Wayne County Development Authority. "He has done a wonderful job creating jobs and takes care of his employees better than anybody I know. It's a real honor that he deserves."

Zimmerman's father started the company, which at one point was operating from the screened-in back porch of their home, and Harry Jr. wasn't fully involved right from the beginning. A 1966 graduate of Buffalo High School, Zimmerman worked for 10 years at American National Rubber -- starting as a dye-maker and moving up to management -- before taking over Zim's after his father's retirement.

Harry's wife of 40 years, Janice, worked for his father in the early days. Harry taking over the fledgling company was an unsettling prospect, she said.

"With two small children and him transferring to something that very well might not work out, it was a little scary," she said.

That first year was the only year that the company was not profitable, and it's been growing ever since.

It converts more than 5 million pounds of plastic foam and film into 170 million bags and pouches per year. It estimates gross sales of $14 million in the budget year that ends June 30, 2008. And it has two new bag machines, the first of which has been in operation a couple months and the second expected to arrive this month.

Zim's makes plastic packaging for a vast array of items -- washers, pillows, heater hoses for automobile engines, T-shirts and many more.

After moving twice, it has expanded four times in its current location -- from 6,000 to 65,000 square feet. Now Zim's will relocate part of its operations into a second site at A. Michael Perry Industrial Park in Prichard. That's planned for later this year.

Zim's started with three paid employees and now has about 80.

It has lost business to companies that are building plants in China and Mexico, Zimmerman said recently. But it has reacted quickly, with a special focus on service and being prepared to quickly ship last-minute orders, which is difficult for overseas operations. It's also installed new software programs, the newest in sales and purchase orders, inventory control, manufacturing schedules and shop floor data collection. And it has a strong focus on sales.

Fred Woerner, Zim's sales manager who is based in Louisville, began working with Zimmerman more than 30 years ago.

He described Zimmerman as extremely fair-minded, and said above their business relationship is their friendship.

"I consider him one of my best friends, someone that has a high level of integrity," Woerner said.

"He also provides 110 percent in anything he gets involved with. You can count on Harry to give the best effort from any angle. He's extremely detail-oriented and a wonderful decision-maker. He makes good decisions on a consistent basis, both in the business world and in his personal life."

But Zimmerman will credit Providence before he credits himself, Woerner said.

He's there in good times and bad, demonstrating inner strength that's important in surviving the difficult times, Woerner added.

They have had some laughs over the years, Woerner said. A few of them were after business meetings "with Fortune 500 companies when we were able to convince them to have confidence in us to supply their flexible packaging needs, as we thought we knew what we were doing, but in reality we were learning on the fly," Woerner said.

Some of the larger companies Zim's has dealt with over the years are General Electric, IBM, Delta Faucet, Toyota, Proctor & Gamble, Lexmark International, Hewlett Packard, J.C. Penney and more.

Zimmerman is 100 percent committed to this region and Zim's employees, Woerner said.

"He goes out of his way to do everything possible to assist them and to make sure they continue to have employment with his company," Woerner said. "He doesn't let people go just because business was a little slow yesterday or today."

Other leadership qualities include a strong work ethic, discipline, morals and his way of leading by example, Burgess said.

"When you find great leaders, you are more than willing at anytime to follow their lead," Burgess said. "I do and will go to battle for him. I have learned a great amount of business knowledge, leadership and personal growth from him."

He's led by example at work and at home, said Zimmerman's daughter, Tina Burgess, human resources manager at Zim's.

"He always told us to treat others as we'd want them to treat us," she said. As far as business goes, he has good vision, she said.

"He told us it was important to grow every year but to control that growth so that you can keep your arms around it," she said.

As he closes in on age 60, he's thinking about retirement, but Tina Burgess said she's not sure he can do it.

His wife Janice, vice president of the company, said he's worked some late hours over the years, and while he tried to not work too many weekends, it's happened.

"He says owning a business is not a 9-to-5 job," she said. "You have to try to make the best of everybody's problems and work around everybody's problems and get the best out of them. I think he's proud of the fact that he's carried (Zim's) on beyond his father. Our children are involved with it and he hopes to have future generations interested in it as we have been."

The Zimmermans have two daughters and four grandchildren. Tina and Tim Burgess have three children -- Nathan, 10; Sammy, 7; and Dane, 5.

Their daughter Angela Withrow and her husband, Jeff, have a 2-month-old daughter, Emma.

While Zimmerman likes to spend time with the family, "I don't think he will totally leave the business," Janice Zimmerman said. "He has to have something to do. He enjoys coming to work every day. That's part of what makes him him, I guess."

Any recognition for that, however, is "totally against his grain."

"He does so many things that no one ever knows about, and that's the way he likes it," she said.

That was the immediate reaction from Jerry McDonald as well.

"He is a very deserving person for Business Innovator of the Year, but he's not at all going to like the recognition," said McDonald, president of the Huntington Area Development Council. "He's very unassuming and one of the most down-to-earth individuals that you're going to meet."

He's truthful, Tim Burgess added.

"He is a very honest business person that likes to handle business with a handshake," he said. "Unfortunately for me and you, these type of genuine individuals are far and few between in today's world."

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Harry Zimmerman, owner of Zim’s Bagging Co., is this year’s recipient of the Business Innovator of the Year award.

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