Beth Williams has used her entrepreneurial spirit and social consciousness to fulfill her father’s vision. Archie Williams wanted to provide jobs and economic development in one of Boston’s most neglected neighborhoods. He founded Roxbury Technology, a distributor of remanufactured laser toner cartridges, in 1994. She watched as her father came home from his day job and went off to collect toner cartridges from offices.
For six years the business generated small revenues and marginal profits. However, Archie worked toward his goal of having a remanufacturing facility in the inner city where he could create jobs and build a community. He died suddenly in 2002, before he could see his dream become a reality.
Knowing little about ink cartridges or manufacturing, Beth Williams wanted to see her father’s dream come true. She left her position as Director of Diversity with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to become President and CEO of Roxbury Technology.
When she took over, the company had only three employees. She used her family’s contacts and enlisted Staples as a strategic partner. This increased the company’s sales by nearly 800% in the first year.
Today, Roxbury Technology has 66 employees, and it continues to grow.
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