Pill Power

Review Summary
Business. Enzymedica, Port Charlotte
Industry. Natural
products, enzyme supplements
Key. Firm plans to move into a new building later this year that will double the size of its current facility.

A scene not seen in a few years on the Gulf Coast is the overflowing parking lot outside a company's building. It's the one where cars are double parked, left on the grass or lined up tightly on the curb.

Makes sense, since fewer people are employed now than during those boom times. But Enzymedica Inc., a Port Charlotte-based enzyme supplements firm, has itself in just that kind of parking jam.

Enzymedica sells a variety of digestive enzyme products, including Digest and Digest Gold, two of the most popular in its category. The homeopathic products and pills, designed to improve digestion, are sold in independent drug and vitamin stores and national chains. Whole Foods is on the list.

The overcrowded space continues inside Enzymedica's three-building complex. That's where one employee shares an office with an air-conditioning component, and the finance department occupies what was previously the conference room. “We simply ran out of room,” Enzymedica CEO Scott Sensenbrenner says.

The company, with at least $10 million in annual sales, intends to get more room — and more parking spots — by the fall. For that, it plans to move into a 41,000-square-foot space in south Sarasota County, more than double the size of its current space. The project, including the building purchase, extensive renovations and the construction of a 40-seat training center, will cost nearly $2.5 million.

The expansion is also a watershed moment for Enzymedica, founded in 1998, and not only because it will move 15 miles to the north, into a new county. It's a turning point in a fast-growth phase that includes a new research and development lab five times the size of the old one; a new division to sell products only to licensed medical professionals; a line of new consumer products, including chewable supplements for kids; and a renewed emphasis on international sales.

Executives decline to discuss specific annual revenues, though cofounder Tom Bohager, in a July 2009 Business Review story, says the firm projected $12 million in sales that year. In a recent interview, Bohager says sales were up 17% in 2011 over 2010, and he projects at least 20% growth this year. Says Bohager: “We've had an amazing start.”

'Considerable costs'
The move, to the Interstate Business Center on Jacaranda Road, just east of Interstate 75, was clearly a byproduct of growth, both recent and projected. But Enzymedica still obtained a commitment for incentives from both Sarasota County and Enterprise Florida Inc., the state-run economic development agency.

The firm qualified for $432,000 in performance-based incentives — half from the state and half from the county. Now with about 50 employees, Enzymedica needs to add 20 more to its payroll within five years to collect some of the subsides.

Enzymedica expects to move into the new facility by September. It paid $1.38 million, or $33 a square foot for the property, which a unit of BB&T bank owned. The price reflects industrial-office properties currently for sale in that area, given the glut of other nearby bank-owned buildings.

The price of the building is also roughly $1 million less than what it would have cost Enzymedica to have a new facility built, something it considered. And Sensenbrenner, in a statement, says Sarasota County and Enterprise Florida incentives “will help offset the considerable costs in modifying the building to meet our needs.”

Of course, Sarasota County's gain is Charlotte County's loss. Sensenbrenner says the firm tried to find space in Port Charlotte, and Charlotte County officials offered a strong incentive package to keep the company, including land grants and potential tax breaks.

“Obviously we would have loved to keep them here,” says Charlotte County Economic Development Office Director Tom Patton. “They are a great company. It's unfortunate that we didn't have a bank-owned building for them.”

Patton says the blow of the Enzymedica departure is softened by the fact that many of its employees are Charlotte County residents and the firm isn't moving too far. “Regionalism is paramount to us,” Patton says. “I hope they continue to grow.”

Break it down
In addition to more space, the growth cements Enzymedica's role as a leader in the niche world of homeopathic enzymes. The firm sells at least 60,000 bottles of enzyme supplements a month, one of the highest tallies in the industry, according to Sensenbrenner and SPINS, a natural products market data firm. The enzyme supplements business, overall, does about $210 million a year in nationwide sales.

“We're not only growing, but we're driving growth in the whole industry,” Sensenbrenner says. “We make what we believe is the best product in the world to supplement enzymes.”

That product list derives from plants like pineapples and papayas. Enzymedica says it doesn't use fillers, like rice starch or cellulose, in its products. Laboratory manufactured plant-based enzymes, the firm says, are the best at breaking down fat, protein and carbohydrates.

Enzymedica contracts with several vendors and suppliers that provide ingredients in powder form. The firm then assembles, labels and ships in-house. There are more than 25 Enzymedica products, from ones that focus broadly on digestive aid to ones that pinpoint specific needs, such as food intolerance and cardiovascular support.

Sensenbrenner joined Enzymedica in 2009, after 10 years in senior executive roles with nutrition and therapeutic supplement firms in the Midwest. Sensenbrenner, who started his career at a family-run advertising firm in Wisconsin, says he knew of Bohager's work, and long admired Enzymedica.

The pair met in 2006, when Sensenbrenner led an investment group that sought to buy Enzymedica. But Bohager turned down the offers. Sensenbrenner approached Bohager several more times about buying Enzymedica, to the point where the founder eventually turned the process around, and asked Sensenbrenner to interview for the CEO position.

Bohager, meanwhile, began to study enzymes in 1984, when his father was diagnosed with cancer. He later earned a bachelor's degree in holistic nutrition.

A Baltimore native, Bohager took the entrepreneur route when he relocated to Florida in 1992. He ran a carpet-cleaning business and a mortgage firm. Then, in 1997, he bought a company that ultimately became Enzymedica.

“I was very excited about the opportunity of doing enzymes in retail,” Bohager says. “No one was doing it right, as far as a I was concerned.”

Going global
Bohager says the right way is to emphasize enzyme education — with customers, employees, vendors and anyone else connected to the company. Says Bohager: “I don't believe we would have the success we've had without educating first and selling second.”

Enzymedica, in fact, has an entire department of employees who travel the country to give product seminars. Plus, a few years ago the firm produced a series of audio CDs, DVDs and books that stores can give to customers for free.

Another, more company-specific challenge, will be how Enzymedica manages the tentacles of growth. For example, there's the Enzyme Science line, which is only for licensed medical professionals. That requires sophisticated marketing and research that's heavy on data and results.

“It's like a new business for us,” Sensenbrenner says. “It's one customer at a time.”

Selling enzyme supplements outside the United States and Canada is also a relatively new business for Enzymedica. Global sales represented only 1% of total sales in 2010, says Sensenbrenner. Now it's 8%, and Sensenbrenner says it could surpass 25% in three to five years. The firm sells its products in a far-flung list of countries, from Brazil to New Zealand.

Sensenbrenner has brought a sense of efficiency to Enzymedica's challenges. For instance, Sensenbrenner hired a certified Six Sigma Black Belt, a consultant who implemented a series of lean management philosophies. Those principles, from how long it takes to walk a product sample down a hallway to the size of shelf, will be incorporated into the new building.

That kind of efficiency will be a key to success, Enzymedica executives say. Good timing, in expanding ahead of competitors, should also help. “This industry is in its infancy,” says Bohager. “I foresee great growth over the next 10 years, far exceeding anything we've accomplished so far.”