Name: Gregory Slossar.
Title: Owner, Saymore Trophy.
How long have you owned the business?
For six years, but Saymore Trophy has been in business for 52 years. It started in Laconia, and was on Manchester Street for 25 years until we moved into our new location on Old Suncook Road on June 1.
How many trophies do you make in a year?
Thousands. But that's actually the smallest part of the business. The vast majority of the things we do are corporate awards, plaques, nametags, signs, banners and gifts. We do all sorts of personalized engraved items.
What's the most impressive trophy you've ever made?
We do a lot of custom things where we say “I wish we had another one of those to put on display.” We also did a plaque for Julia Child one time.
What's the most difficult material to engrave?
Stainless steel is very difficult because it's such a hard metal, and leather is a little tricky.
What's the coolest trophy in the world?
R.S. Owens manufactures all the high-end awards in Hollywood, and we get to use some of their products. Things like that are fun, to make themed custom trophies.
What's the weirdest/funniest thing you've ever made a trophy for?
It's not uncommon for people to have a trophy to represent how bad they are. We actually have a trophy piece that is the backside of a horse, which is sometimes given to the last-place team in a golf tournament or something like that. And there are times people come in and say what they want engraved and it can be pretty bad and descriptive. Vulgarity is not rare.
If you have a bad day, do you ever make a trophy for yourself?
I don't own any trophies. As they say, the cobbler's children own no shoes. We push for other companies to have an employee recognition program, but we don't have one here. None of my employees have trophies.
Have you ever made any humorous spelling mistakes?
We do have some spelling errors. It's not common, but it happens. The worst thing is when we misspell something, and the customer brings it back and we make a mistake again. But that doesn't happen too often.
What's the smallest accomplishment you've ever made a trophy for?
We get a lot of that. It's not uncommon for us to be out back engraving something and say, “You've got to be kidding me.” It's usually just for participation in something, that “everyone gets a trophy” thing. But we like that – it keeps us in business.
Hidden talent?
I cook, I do magic, and my wife and I used to be paratroopers in the Army.
Guilty pleasure?
Traveling.
