Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Chicago has been very good to an entrepreneur from New York. Or maybe you could say a guy from New York has been very good to Chicago. Vince Aversano was born and raised in New York but credits Chicago with giving him the good life he has now both as an entrepreneur and as a philanthropist.
Aversano started to enjoy the Midwest by attending Marquette University. After obtaining a journalism degree, he started his professional publishing career in Chicago.
“I worked with Inside Sports magazine,” recalls Aversano. “I just applied as an entry level position in the editorial department, switched over to the management and business sides and eventually became the editor and chief.”
Aversano left Inside Sports in 1992 and joined the Quarton Group, a custom publishing company in Michigan.
“At Quarton we had contracts with companies that didn’t have their own publishing wing,” describes Aversano. “Much of what the Quarton Group did was sports related and my background helped.”
One of Quarton’s clients was the PGA of America. With 30,000 members, Aversano helped produce a monthly membership publication. He also worked with the NBA by publishing Inside Stuff, a well-known teenage magazine. His success at Quarton paid off by becoming an equity partner.
After eight years in Michigan, Aversano sold his share and came back to Chicago.
“I spent most of my adult life in Chicago and this place was very good to me,” adds Aversano. “I took about a year off to decide what I wanted to do and then a great opportunity presented itself.”
In 2001, Aversano took a job with Rotary Club International as head of communications.
“Rotary was a change,” recalls Aversano. “Rotary does a lot of good in the world and something different was motivating me during that time in my career.”
According to Aversano, Rotary is a hundred year old organization with 33,000 local clubs around the world. A third of its members are in the United States. Rotary International is the governing body for local business men and women who want to get involved in their community.
“Working for Rotary gave me the chance to meet a lot of business leaders who work tirelessly to make their community better,” adds Aversano. “It was a very rewarding time.”
While Aversano was enjoying his time with Rotary, his wife Laura was beginning to expand her dental career.
“My wife was an associate at a dental practice in Downers Grove and wanted to move up to be a part owner of the practice,” describes Aversano. “We didn’t feel like that was going to happen at the place where she was at and we looked around for a year or so. We found a dentist in Manhattan who was going to be an orthodontist, so he sold the practice to us and we’ve been growing Manhattan Dental Care ever since with advanced technology.”
Aversano, now a volunteer member with Rotary, runs the business side of the dental practice. “We really love our community and I try to give back. I’m the president of the chamber of commerce and we are very much involved.”
With a comfortable life in the southwest suburbs, Aversano got the bug to start a second business. “I wanted something that would connect with the community, so I started to look at franchises,” says Aversano.
Aversano decided on starting a Martinizing dry cleaning franchise in Mokena. “I thought Martinizing was the best match for me. Martinzing has a very upscale brand to it. They very much put an emphasis on customer service. I was impressed with the family that owns the business. When you talk about family, that’s something that comes through clearly with the Martizing brand.”
Aversano bought the south and southwest suburban territory and plans to open the first store in November at the Mokena Town Square. All dry cleaning will be done on premises and Martinizing is a process that uses environmentally friendly solvents.
“I certainly know how to run a business and do the marketing,” describes the successful entrepreneur. “We will preach customer service. That’s how our dental practice has become very successful–how we treat our patients. We will transfer that same attitude over to dry cleaning as well.”
