Black Rocket Productions, LLC
William Zengel and Richard Ginn
P.O. Box 7494
Freehold, NJ 07728
732-780-5500
Business owners Bill Zengel and Richard Ginn realized that in order to achieve the desired level of success for their business they needed to better understand all financial aspects of their company. They enrolled in training workshops offered through the NJSBDC at Brookdale Community College concerning financials and business recordkeeping. The training, coupled with personalized one-on-one counseling sessions, provided them with the necessary tools to advance their operations and led them to securing the required financial capital to further expand their business.
Black Rocket Productions was founded almost 10 years ago, as a labor of love and collaboration between Bill Zengel and his daughter, Sarah. The company is a leading independent educational service provider delivering summer camp programs and year-round educational opportunities for youth who are six to17 years old. The educational workshops are primarily provided through established community based organizations such as community colleges, public libraries, home-schooled groups, after-school programs and town recreational organizations. Their hands-on initiatives focus on digital arts enrichment and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs. The company has recently added five new products to its current line of educational products.
With NJSBDC’s assistance the company grew from one employee to seven full and part-time employees year round within the last three years. In addition, their seasonal staff has grown from 20 to over 100 during the same time period. The company’s size has doubled and its revenues have tripled. The firm’s owners/operators want to continue its growth in a controlled fashion with the help of the NJSBDC at Brookdale.
The firm is now developing a non-profit Children’s Institute of Technology to benefit elementary schools and is also considering opening a charter school that emphasizes technology, creativity, and leadership.
“Black Rocket and the thousands of children we teach owe a debt of gratitude to the NJSBDC at Brookdale Community College for helping us secure capital at a significant stage of our business,” said owner Richard Ginn.