Thanks Billions!
SILBER page 31
(ActuallyMore, But We
Lost Count Decades Ago)
Michigan's Largest Independently
Owned Mortgage Banker, Period.
• Stability — Serving homeowners for nearly 50 years.
• Service — A commitment to 7-10 day approval time.
• Low rates — Always.
17B!
MEMBER
FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.
EOUN I IOUSING
°PPM I UNITY
Sewing Homeowners Since 1946
24445 Northwestern Highway, Suite 100, Southfield
TH E DETRO IT JEWIS H N E WS
313-827-2436
34
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Dennis Silber in front of polar bears at the zoo.
around Detroit peddling
things that people need-
ed," said Fred Silber, 85,
president and chairman of
the firm. "I remember the
tires on the truck had
inner tubes and because I
had no money they con-
stantly had to be patched.
"My parents always
knew when I . was coming
home. I got so tired at the
end of the day that I just
rode on the rims and they
could hear the screeching
three blocks away. As time
went on and things got
better, I bought bigger and
bigger trucks."
In the first 25 years of
the company, the elder Mr.
Silber concentrated on
supplying retail goods to
mom-and-pop stores in
metro Detroit while build-
ing relationships with
traveling carnivals and
fairs.
In 1953, when Dennis
was 14, his father, in an
effort to expand the com-
pany's reach, loaded up his
Cadillac with stuffed toys
and sent his son to
Cincinnati on a marketing
mission. The car returned
with just one passenger.
"For any entrepreneur
to be successful, you have
to devote your whole life to
whatever business you're
in," said Dennis, who
works 14-hour days, seven
days a week. "And I would
tell anyone starting a busi-
ness today that the key to
success is personal service.
"My father started out
with nothing, but now we
supply goods to 41 state
fairs, 400 county fairs and
thousands of schoolchild-
ren through our fund-rais-
ing division. The reason
for our success is that we
bring everything to the
table so the client doesn't
have to shop around and
Hard work has
become good
fortune for the
Silbers.
waste time."
The company supplies
over 20,000 schools across
the United States with
items such as candy which
students sell-door-to-door
in their local neighbor-
hoods. Gifts such as
Frisbee are awarded when
a student sells a set num-
ber of goods.
The schools buy the
candy at discount prices
and use any profits to
equip sports teams, bands
or science laboratories.
The Silber division is also
the official fund-raiser for
the Special Olympics,
4