Partner Spotlight: Best Ed Business

Each month we celebrate a local business or organization that supports 88Nine Radio Milwaukee. This month, we chat with Best Ed Business, one of our partners for No Empty Backpacks.

Hi, what is your name and title at Best Ed Business?

June Perry-Stevens and Beth Sampson Bauer, co-owners of Best Ed Business.

What is one song you can't stop listening to and why?

"I will Rise Up" by Andra Day... it exemplifies what we are feeling about moving beyond these current times... we will overcome and get better as a result of lessons learned.

What are you passionate about in regards to our community and what is Best Ed?

We are passionate about reaching out to include as many minority and women-owned businesses in our service and delivery to our customers, such as Beyond Vision, Goodwill and Actual Ink Designs. We are also committed to helping our community schools and businesses get high quality products and services at reasonable costs. It is important that schools and businesses recognize that minority and women-owned businesses CAN provide what they need if they take the time to engage with new businesses and not always use traditional providers.

Donating products as often as we can and supporting non-profits is a part of our business approach as well.

*Best Ed receiving the MLK Community Service Award from St. Mark AME Church*

How did Best Ed get started and how can the community support your business?

Beth and June met through Professional Dimensions Charitable Fund Board in 2002 and realized that they both had entrepreneurial backgrounds and similar philosophies related to serving the community. Beth had experience selling educational supplies as owner of Teacher's Pet stores and June had many connections in the community as a result of her work in the non-profit arena as co-founder and CEO of New Concept Self Development Center. Their strengths and interests evolved into the establishment of Best Ed in 2004 as a HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) supplier for MPS of educational supplies to Title I tutoring agencies. The business has grown to offer office supplies, school and office furniture and construction equipment and PPE supplies. We are proud to have been selected by Sojourner Truth Family Peace Center and Bader Philanthropies to provide the office furniture for their locations in our community... beautiful places right in our community that are examples of the high quality furnishings that Best Ed can provide. We are also partnering with Airgas, an international company, to provide Safety supplies to Milwaukee County and Foxconn project contractors.

We want Best Ed to become the supplier of choice for small AND large companies. We can offer as much or more than our larger competitors... our motto is "Drop Ship supplies with Concierge Service". We go above and beyond to make sure our customers have what they need, when they need it.

*Beth and June on the site of the Northwestern Mutual Tower. Best Ed provided safety supplies and PPE equipment to Gilbane Building Company, Project Manager, and safety supplies to Northwestern Mutual.*

Why do you choose to support 88Nine and the No Empty Backpacks campaign?

We are proud to have been selected by the Business Journal and 88Nine to provide the educational supplies for the No Empty Backpacks Drive... this is exactly what we want to see happen in our community. Support for families and children, especially during these times, is so important. Best Ed can help make sure that children and families get the best supplies possible so that they can continue to be productive and engaged while working virtually and when they return to the classroom.

*Visually impaired workers at Beyond Vision assembling some of Best Ed's backpack items*

Interested in joining the 88Nine Radio Milwaukee family of underwriters? Email underwriting@radiomilwaukee.org