Omega Smart, Inc.

She started Ron on a whole foods diet, an exercise program and vitamin and mineral supplements. Ron followed Ginny’s plan including eating her gourmet nutritional bars. He lost twenty–five pounds and was able to stop oral medication in two months’ time. With a doctor’s supervision, Ginny then coached her 75 year old mother in following a similar plan. In five months time, Ginny’s mother lost forty pounds and was able to stop using high blood pressure and cholesterol lowering medications.

In 2003, Ginny and Ron embarked on a nationwide tour to market Healthy Gourmet’s nutritional bars. They expanded the product line to include a greater variety of flavors and changed the company’s name to Omega Smart. Omega Smart bars have subsequently been recommended in the bestseller Mother-Daughter Wisdom: Creating a Legacy of Physical and Emotional Health by Dr. Christiane Northrup and referenced in UltraMetabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss by Dr. Mark Hyman.

Despite their products’ success, Ginny and Ron’s business consistently lost money from 2000-2005. In an effort to turn this around they sought help from the state’s economic development agency, NH Department of Resources and Economic Development, which referred them to the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center’s Nashua Regional office and business advisor, Hollis McGuire. After three months of working with the NH SBDC, the business began to make a profit which has grown steadily since then.

With the NH SBDC’s help Omega Smart’s sales increased 250% from 2005 to 2007. The NH SBDC first assisted Omega Smart with a packaging change which generated a significant sales increase. They then helped the company with the strategic decision to find a larger, more suitable location. Omega Smart subsequently moved from a 1000 square foot hole in the wall to a 5000+ square foot space in an industrial park. The new location provides room for expansion, which is great because sales continue to grow as the company introduces new products.

Hampshire’s Industrial Research Center for a grant to measure the glycemic content of their nutritional bars. Omega Smart received the grant in the spring of 2007. The findings, which are positive so far, could enable the company to market directly to diabetics and health care professionals.

The NH SBDC helped Ginny and Ron structure a profitable business that now has the management foundation and capacity to grow exponentially. Prior to working with McGuire and the NH SBDC the company received the entrepreneur’s dream order from the US government – an order for approximately three million nutrition bars. The Jawidziks wisely turned the order down because they didn’t have the ability or space to meet the demand. Today, they are positioned to easily meet the ever growing demand for large orders.