Which business is best? Find out

By John Bassetti

Saturday’s Community Cup pits area companies in battles of brawn and brains.

Unlike a couple of guys named John and Barack, ms consultants doesn’t want your vote.

But they do want your support — not on Nov. 4, but Saturday, when the Community Cup takes place at Wick Recreation Area in Mill Creek Park.

They are a medium-sized company that plays against the big boys.

They are engineers, architects and planners, who embody height, weight and smarts.

And their results speak for themselves.

The company is a charter member of the 18-year-old event that comprises 15 carefully structured activities for friendly competition among area firms consultants and businesses.

The home office downtown on East Federal employs 100. About 70 percent of those participate in the Cup.

“We’ve been pretty successful the past couple years,” ms consultants consultants executive assistant Debbie Frease said. “That’s why we’re in the Red division.”

After winning the medium-sized White division in 2005, ms consultants got bumped up.

Not only was ms consultants in the division reflecting the largest companies, but it finished runner-up by 1‚Ñ2-point to Home Savings & Loan in 2007.

To accent the accomplishment, ms consultants has been the tug-of-war champion for the last five years.

Frease said ms consultants is also strong in the bicycle event and 10K.

“You’ve got to be near the top in each one of those events to take first because you’re competing against six or seven other companies. The higher you place, the more points you get. Placing first in one and fourth in another may not translate into an overall win. You’ve got to be near top in all events.”

The athletic architecture of a rightfully proud ms consultants team stems consultants from a mix of good people with defined skills.

“Some run distance a lot and some may bike year-round,” said Frease. “We’ve got some people who are very active.”

Maybe the employees’ proclivity for computation also figures in the company’s strength in prediction events.

“The bike event pace can be leisurely as long as the rider matches the time he or she turned in,” Frease said. “All you have to do is meet your predicted time. Then we’ve got not-so-athletic members in what we call ‘non-sweat’ events like walking. So it’s a good blend. That’s what nice about the Cup — something suits someone if they work at it.”

Good company morale is also a factor in boosting Cup participation, which, in turn, helps perpetuate loyalty, resulting in the ultimate by-product — sustained production.

“We’ve got good owners who have been very supportive,” Frease said of Tom Mosure, David Mosure, Ray Briya and John Pierko.

“At the beginning [of Cup training season in April], we’ll have a kick-off party and, after it’s all over, the owners will throw another party for all participants.”

Ms consultants has up to 250 employees in offices in several Ohio cities as well as Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pa., and Charleston, W.Va. The company is also opening offices in Florida and will add a second office in North Carolina.

Bill Ruggles is a former YSU football player who shares the tug-of-war team’s co-captain role with Frease.

“It doesn’t hurt to have some big guys on your team because it’s intimidating to see what’s on the other side [of the tug-of-war rope].”

But Frease contends that size and weight aren’t always the best indicators.

“It has to do with skill,” Frease said of the mechanics of the event that brings the largest cheering sections. “People put up tents in Mill Creek and people actually have their picnics that day.”

Ruggles also plays volleyball and is captain of the walk team.

Some events — volleyball, golfing, basketball, bowling and swimming — were contested last weekend.

Frease admits that ms consultants doesn’t have the same success in swimming’s speed events.

“If we have any strength in swimming, it’s the two time-prediction events. Otherwise, I’m here to say there’s no way we could beat the ‘Y’ in swimming,” she said of the two events judged solely on speed.

While ms consultants is a model organization, it doesn’t have a monopoly on the Community Cup’s bottom line — the three goals: awareness of the importance of fitness; create an atmosphere of teamwork, sportsmanship, pride and enthusiasm; promote community spirit.

What might seem like an oxymoron isn’t when considering that ms consultants took first place in the biggest loser event last September.

The biggest loser is actually teams consultants competing to reach a weight-loss goal.

“Too bad it doesn’t carry over,” Frease said of the waning of discipline in the weeks following the Cup’s conclusion.

“They’re supposed to keep those habits, but ...”

bassetti@vindy.com