Marcia Sampson, president Eldon James Corp.

When Eldon James Corp. decided it wanted to reach out to smaller customers, company president Marcia Sampson hit the road with a 30-foot trailer. She took along her children, parked in campgrounds along the way and lived out of it as she made sales calls.

Eldon James Corp. manufactures plastic fittings used to connect hoses and tubing.

Sampson formed the company, named for her two brothers, with her sister, Dee Sampson. The two purchased a division of Value Plastics Inc. in 1992 from their parents, Kent and Gloria Sampson.

The approach reflects Eldon James Corp's effort to cultivate more smaller customers, rather just one or two large customers.