CSUDH News

The primary source of news and information about California State University, Dominguez Hills, its students, faculty, and staff.

Entrepreneurship

Five Alumni Forge Friendship at CSUDH, Blossom into Business Partners

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If it is charming when two friends who are so close finish each other’s sentences, then it’s even more so with five friends–and maybe the perfect recipe for a successful business partnership.

Alumni Adrian Arceo, Chris Avalos, Corey Cohen, Bryan Papp, and Jeff Saign were transfer students who met and bonded during their first year at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Today, they co-own Philly Steak & Subs, a predominantly take-out- and delivery-based casual restaurant in the Bixby Knolls neighborhood of Long Beach.

Left to right, Corey Cohen, Bryan Papp, Adrian Arceo, Jeff Saign, and Chris Avalos. Business Journal Photograph by Thomas McConville.
Left to right: Corey Cohen, Bryan Papp, Adrian Arceo, Jeff Saign, and Chris Avalos. Long Beach Business Journal Photograph by Thomas McConville.

“We actually met in classes. I think it was what, summer school?” Cohen said, ending in unison with Saign, who went on to say that four of the men later participated together as seniors in a group project for a statistics class.

The fast friends were nearly inseparable in college, and when the time came to graduate, they even did that in sync–in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing. So it made perfect sense to them to start a business together.

Like any entrepreneur worth their salt, they did some homework first, ultimately deciding to take ownership of an existing restaurant.

Using skills they learned at CSU Dominguez, the former Toros researched their options, conducted a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, and threats) analysis, and created a business plan before they found the perfect fit–Philly Steak & Subs.

“We tried to use what we learned in our class projects, we tried to transfer to those ideas into real life,” Avalos said of the group’s venture, adding that the stakes were higher when it was real. “It’s no longer for a grade. You can’t go to the teacher [for help]. There’s no teacher here. You have to really communicate with each other.”

Although two of the men had fine dining prior restaurant experience–Cohen bartending and Papp in operations–the group conceded that nothing quite prepared them for some of the situations they would encounter as business owners.

Case in point was when they eliminated the restaurant’s standing delivery service not long after taking ownership on Nov. 9, 2011. After a flood of phone calls, the new restaurateurs quickly reinstated the service. Or the time the five guys removed what turned out to be a staple for a number of their regulars. Soup is back on the menu.

Initially, the quintet had plans to expand into multiple locations, but with their respective careers also flourishing–the restaurant is a side business; all of the men have full-time jobs–they tabled that strategy and instead have concentrated on turning the neighborhood haunt into a well-run, profitable one-off restaurant specializing in select burgers and hot and cold sub sandwiches.

“With the previous owner, it was a family-run business, so labor was never a factor for them. For us, we had to factor in labor and the cost of [inventory],” Cohen explained, adding that one of the first changes he and his co-owners made was to consolidate a menu of more than 30 Philly steak sandwiches to about five.

The group stands to continue to produce positive results in large part because each owner brings a unique background and skill set to the business and their democratic decision making process–much the same as they did with their school projects.

“That was really where the initial discussion came from,” Papp recalled of going into business together. In addition to their friendship, he said, “We had all this experience … we each had something we could contribute to the table. We thought, ‘Let’s try it out and see what we can do as a collective.’”

As an example, he noted that Avalos, who was already working as a code enforcement officer for the City of Lawndale, brought with him regulatory experience.

“When we took over the business, [Avalos] was great at helping us make sure we were up to code and good with the health department,” commented Papp, who works full-time in the outdoor advertising industry.

Regardless of what each brings to their joint business, the men contend that they have exponentially and expeditiously learned on the job.

“The amount of stuff I’ve learned in this place will take me so far in my future,” Cohen remarked. “I think that goes for all five of us.”

Already Saign has seen some benefits of running a side business. He was able to draw from the marketing skills he developed while helping to promote Philly Steak & Subs to help him land a job at a marketing agency in Santa Monica. Moreover, he credited his education at CSU Dominguez Hills for laying the groundwork for his success as both an employee and a business owner.

Papp explained further that classes involving business planning, strategy, statistical analysis, market research, accounting, and human resources were particularly helpful in preparing the group for business ownership. And he pointed to the small class sizes and the approachability of the professors, including associate professors of management Melissa St. James and Natasa Christodoulidou, as making the real difference in their education.

Cohen added, “[Christodoulidou] was a driving force for me to get involved with outside thinking and believing I could do whatever I put my mind to.”

Cohen went on to say that Christodoulidou was instrumental in Papp and him becoming involved in a joint CSU Dominguez Hills and AEG internship program to market the Home Depot Center (now StubHub Center).

Although they all agreed that there’s nothing like actually opening a business to truly understand entrepreneurial concepts, Papp interjected that while true it’s possible to start a business without a college education, it isn’t necessarily the smartest way.

“[Education builds] a foundation for your career. You have to have the basic knowledge just to move forward,” he asserted.

Cohen finished Papp’s line of thought by saying, “The biggest thing about going to [CSU Dominguez Hills] was it gave us ideas. It gave us a drive that we really could do whatever we put our mind to. Ultimately, we may all go on different paths. This might not be [a business] that we stay with, but I think the fact that we did it together is invaluable. … The best thing for us was we met each other.”

William Huston (1927-2011): Urged Sale of Family’s Land for South Bay College

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William “Bill” Huston, who served at the helm of the Watson Land Company for more than 40 years, died on March 9 at the age of 83. Widely recognized throughout California as a leader in economic and industrial development, Huston was responsible for convincing the Dominguez Estate Company to sell its land to the state of California for a new public college in the South Bay region of Los Angeles. The site became the campus of California State College, Dominguez Hills and finally, California State University, Dominguez Hills.

As chairman of Watson Land Company, William Huston raised the first flag on the campus of California State College, Dominguez Hills with CSC Chancellor Glenn Dumke, first CSC Dominguez Hills president Leo Cain, and Lt. Governor Robert Finch. Courtesy of Tom Philo, University Archives
As chairman of Watson Land Company, William Huston raised the first flag on the campus of California State College, Dominguez Hills with CSC Chancellor Glenn Dumke, first CSC Dominguez Hills president Leo Cain, and Lt. Governor Robert Finch. Courtesy of Tom Philo, University Archives

“CSU Dominguez Hills would not exist were it not for Bill Huston,” says Judson Grenier, emeritus professor of history and author of  “California Legacy: The Watson Family.” “He convinced the Dominguez Estate Company to sell its land to the state for the site of [the college]. Many of the stockholders were opposed, but he pushed it through, and then, further convinced Gov. Pat Brown and his financial adviser, Hale Champion, to present to the California State College Board of Trustees the option of purchasing the land.”

Huston worked with Grenier and other members of the Watson and Carson families, heirs of the original landowners, to bring the majority of the collection of the Dominguez family papers to the University Library, where they have resided since 1971.

“[The Dominguez papers remain] the first and one of the most important special collections in our library,” says Grenier. “Later in that decade, he asked me to undertake the history of the Watson-Dominguez family, with an important segment on the creation and history of the Watson Land Company. After each chapter was completed, he read through it, and we met in his … office for hours to correct errors of fact or interpretation. He joined me in working with the artists and book designers to put out the final product, and for a time, and for a time, he gave me a desk in his office to read proof and make editorial changes.”

Alison Bruesehoff, executive director of the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum, oversees the original site of the adobe home that Californio rancher and statesman Manuel Dominguez built on the Rancho San Pedro, the first Spanish land grant in California. She says that the legacy of Manuel Dominguez continues with the use of his family’s land for the urban university of the South Bay that bears his family’s name.

William Huston (at far right) celebrated the dedication of the Watson Industrial Center on March 24, 1966 with (L-R) Burton Chace, Los Angeles County Supervisor; Eduardo Toda, Consul General of Spain; and Mrs. Virginia Benziger, granddaughter of Dolores Watson.

“As Dominguez family descendants, the Watson/Huston family embraced the same ideals as Manuel Dominguez to keep the land and use it to further the local economy,” she says. “Bill Huston’s support of using Dominguez land to build a college for the South Bay that would educate its workforce continues that tradition.”

Huston was born July 8, 1927, to Ralph and Helen Huston in Omaha, Neb. The family would later move to Akron, Ohio, where Huston went on to attend the University of Akron; he also attended John Carroll University in Cleveland. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Huston earned a law degree from the University of Notre Dame School of Law and subsequently moved to San Francisco where he worked for the FBI. After joining the law firm of Riley and Hall in Los Angeles, he completed post-graduate work in tax law at the University of Southern California.

Huston served the Los Angeles community as president of the California Chamber of Commerce and director of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks, as well as the California Statewide Economic and Job Development Committee.

Huston married Susana Dolores Watson, a descendant of Dolores Dominguez and James Watson, in 1954. He is survived by Mrs. Huston and their eight children and their spouses: Catherine Huston and Jerry Hurtubise, Ann Huston and Ron Hallagan, Helen and Bob Zieman, Thomas and Kathy Huston, Mary and A.J. Coulter, Robert and Beth Huston, Jean and Todd Walker, and Elizabeth Huston. He is also survived by 18 grandchildren.

For more information on the history of the Dominguez family at CSU Dominguez Hills, click here.