Mr. Shower Door, a Naples company specializing in the fabrication and installation of high-quality glass shower enclosures, has won the ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD at the Collier County Excellence in Industry award ceremony. The award was presented by the Economic Development Council of Collier County on Thursday September 23, 2004 a t the Naples Philharmonic Center for theArts.

Entrepreneurs and businesses throughout Collier County were eligible for selection for this prestigious award in the “ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR”category.

MR. SHOWER DOOR, which opened its doors on September 1, 2003 at its’ Wiggins Pass showroom on U.S. 41, has been nominated for the award for its contributions to both the community and local education, a substantial increase in business, and its active support of many business related associations, including both the Naples Chamber of Commerce and the Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce as well as the Collier Building IndustryAssociation.

“Being a family business has given us a great perspective as to the wants and needs of the community” said Keith Daubmann, the company president and older brother of Douglas Daubmann… co-owners of the local Mr. ShowerDoor franchise.

Father Bill Daubmann had previously owned and operated two Mr. ShowerDoor locations (Springfield, MAand Hartford, CT) before selling them offwith plans to retire in Florida. Now, Bill and Donna oversee the general operations and finances of the business while Douglas and Keith take care of the day-to-day duties of sales, service and installations of their patented “LUXUS”frameless shower doors.

(L to R) Bill Daubmann, Douglass Daubmann, and Keith Daubmann receiving the Entrepreneur of the Year Award

“In order to effectively market our product, we needed to find a uniqueway to get our name out to the public and, ideally, help someone in the process,” said Bill Daubmann, who has taken the marketing on as his personal project. Working with Michael Kennedy & Associates, a Naples marketing firm, Bill presented his “Apprentice Project” to the Collier County School system.

Based on theNBCTV /Donald Trump reality show “The Apprentice”, the task presented to the students was to film, produce and edit a 30-second television commercial featuring Mr. ShowerDoor and its products and services. The students has to do a market analysis, interview the owners and research the Mr. ShowerDoor website to gain valuable information about the company and its products.

It was so well received that five Collier County High schools and St. John Newmann High School entered the competition. The eventual winner was Kyle Leonard of Lely High School. Kyle not only won the $1,000.00 cash first prize but also had his commercial air on NBC 2 during the final episode of “The Apprentice” on April 15th, 2003. Kyle’s desire is to now go on to college to pursue a film career.

That particular promotion was also named NBC 2’s “Promo of the Year” and was sent in to the National Association of Broadcasters for a national award. As of this writing, the Mr. ShowerDoor promo has also been selected in the top twenty-five promos in the country. The national award will be announced in mid-October.

Bill Daubmann also offers his time to Gulf Coast High School in Naples and Kevin Schell’s Marketing Academy. He has been the guest “Donald Trump” and has evaluated various business tasks that were performed by Kevin’s students and has had to “FIRE” someone in order for the game to go on.