ALAN I. ELKIN
President - ADVANCE BUSINESS SYSTEMS
AND ADVANCE – THE DOCUMENT SPECIALISTS

Alan I. Elkin was born in Brooklyn, New York and later moved to Ellenville, a small town in upstate New York. He graduated from the State University of New York Community College in 1952 and served two years in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Following his service, Alan returned to college to complete his bachelor’s degree in business at the University of Colorado. It was there that he was invited to join the International Honorary Business Fraternity of Delta Sigma Pi.

Alan graduated in 1956 and began his career in Denver, Colorado with the Burroughs Business Machine Company. He relocated to New York as a sales representative for the 3M Company selling copying machines in New York City and then was relocated to Philadelphia. In 1960, Alan became a branch manager in training for the Victor Comptometer Corporation, and was transferred to Baltimore as a branch manager in January 1961.

While in Baltimore, Alan met his wife, Lois Shanman, who was at that time, manager of the IBM Computer Test Center for the Eastern Region of the United States. They were married in 1962. Alan and Lois Elkin have two children, Karen and Jeffrey, six grandchildren, and a Golden Retriever named Matti.

Alan and Lois formally started Advance Business Systems in July, 1964, as a two-person firm with a very limited budget, living only on their savings for the first two years in business. Marking its 47th year, Advance Business Systems has grown to become Maryland’s largest independent document management company, providing custom solutions for networked digital color and black and white copiers, printers, wide format plotters, electronic document workflow, fax machines and paper shredders.

Alan has been presented with numerous awards and honors. Alan received from the International Honorary Business Fraternity Delta Sigma Pi the Career Achievement Award for the years 2008 and 2009. He also received the 2007 Distinguished Entrepreneur Virtuoso Award from the University of Baltimore, and the 2001 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Alan and Lois were inducted into the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce Business Hall of Fame in 2007.

Headquartered in Cockeysville with offices in Frederick and Annapolis, Advance serves organizations of all sizes including businesses, hospitals and schools, as well as professional and religious organizations. With annual revenue exceeding $37 million, Advance continues to receive national recognition and awards for their commitment to providing outstanding service. Advance is also a manufacturer’s certified service training center. Advance has 170 full-time employees, including over 60 full-time service professionals and managers.

Advance Business Systems won the Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Ethics in Business (1997), and received the President’s Award for being the largest independent Savin dealer in the country in 2005 and 2006. In 2009, Advance was awarded the Savin 2009 National Award of Excellence. Advance provides a full line of Canon, Konica Minolta, KIP Wide Format equipment and services, as well as complete document management solutions for document workflow, archival and retrieval.

Alan is most proud of the people who make-up Advance Business Systems. Many employees have been with Advance for 20, 30 or more years. One employee—whose last name is not Elkin—has been with Advance for more than 40 years. In 2006 and 2009, Advance was recognized by the Baltimore Business Journal as One of Baltimore’s Best Places to Work. In 2011 Advance was recognized by the Baltimore Magazine as One of Baltimore’s Best Places to Work.

While Alan’s best known quote is, “We live and breathe this stuff,” the one that is most stated by him is, “At Advance, caring and serving you, our customer, is not just a job; it is our way of life! This is what we do.” Alan backs up this commitment by giving his home phone number on the back of his business card to practically every customer he meets and personally answers his own telephone calls.