Balloon business took off for former mechanical contractor

Guests Saturday at Western DuPage Special Recreation's charity dinner and auction, "There's No Place Like WDSRA," will walk into the lobby of Abbington Distinctive Banquets in Glen Ellyn and encounter a floor-to-ceiling tornado made of balloons.

A rainbow of balloons will greet them as they enter the room. On the ceiling, a yellow brick road made of about 2,000 balloons will run around the room and lead up to the Emerald City, otherwise known as the stage.

WDSRA's theme for its annual fundraiser is, of course, a takeoff on "The Wizard of Oz." The man behind the decorations is Bill McCormack, owner of the American Balloon Company of Glen Ellyn and WDSRA's 2010 Hall of Fame inductee.

"He's done some really elaborate balloon decorations for us," said Sherry Manschot, WDSRA's marketing and PR manager. "They're really quite stunning."

McCormack, whose clients include everyone from the Chicago White Sox to numerous charities to family birthday parties, said if anyone had told him 13 years ago he would be where he is today, he would have said they were nuts.

"We just kind of stumbled into it and it's grown," he said.

A native of Hoffman Estates and resident of unincorporated Glen Ellyn, McCormack got his degree in construction management and worked as a mechanical contractor for 17 years. But he and his wife, Adrienne, wanted a business of their own. Franchises, they decided, were just another form of working for someone else.

Then the McCormacks met a guy putting Teddy bears in balloons at a trade show. Intrigued, they bought the necessary equipment and started working shows on weekends.

"Doing it part-time just wasn't working," McCormack said.

So he quit his job in 1997, opened a kiosk at Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles and then bought the assets of a store that sold Beanie Babies. For the first couple years while the balloon business got, well, up in the air, Beanie Babies provided the cash flow.

"It's just been snowballing ever since," McCormack said.

Balloon Buddies, as the business first was called, changed its name after McCormack bought out the American Balloon Company. His store is now at 485 Main St. in downtown Glen Ellyn.

"I've had a lot of fun," he said. "It's rewarding."

Clients big and smallMcCormack currently works with one full-time employee and three part-timers, but he pulls in other help as needed or contracts out to other balloon companies for events he can't handle himself.He has many corporate clients and has festooned trade shows at McCormick Place and the Rosemont Convention Center with balloons. But when a mother calls wanting one large balloon in the shape of the numeral 5 for a birthday party, McCormack runs it out to her when she comes by so she won't have to take her little one out of the car."There's nothing too big, nothing too small," he said.The work entails a lot of running around. His busiest week is between Christmas and New Year's. This past New Year's Eve, he had 17 balloon drops in the Chicago area, from as far north to Skokie to as far west as St. Charles. He rents a 16-foot box truck to make the deliveries when his van (which holds 300 balloons) won't do.Spring brings a busy season for providing balloons for charity walks. McCormack said he normally gives a 25 percent discount to charities, but WDSRA holds a special place in his heart. He donates much of his work to the group and has for 13 years.The annual auction raises funds for the recreation programs WDSRA runs for children and adults with disabilities and provides scholarships for those who otherwise might not be able to participate."They are my favorite charity," McCormack said. "They appreciate what volunteers and the people who help them do, more so than any organization I've been involved with."McCormack said WDSRA always gives him latitude in which to work. One year when its fundraiser had an undersea theme, he created a balloon octopus with eight 15- to 20-foot arms. After the event, a guest asked for the creation and drove it home on top of his car. "They've given me the opportunity to try new things and really stretch my imagination," he said.McCormack's involvement with WDSRA doesn't end with balloons. He and his daughter, Erin, jumped out of a plane for WDSRA's sky-diving fundraiser last year. McCormack and his father also work casino nights that benefit the charity."It's something the whole family gets involved in and it's a lot of fun," he said.Ballon art businessMcCormack, a certified balloon artist, said he learned many of his balloon techniques by taking classes during the years the International Balloon Arts Convention was held at the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont. He entered competitions there a couple times, once building a spaceship and another time the American flag in a 20-by-20-foot space in 27 hours. He didn't win awards, but the flag - built at the first convention after 9/11 - earned recognition in Balloon Images magazine."It's a challenge, and it really tests your ability to do things right then," he said.McCormack doesn't claim to be especially artistic, but he said a mechanical background helps in constructing the structures beneath the balloons when he makes sculptures."Once you learn how to put different size balloons together, or the same size balloons ... in a particular order, you can create most anything," he said.McCormack enjoys the looks on people's faces when they see his creations. He's especially pleased when someone who doesn't know what he's building recognizes what it is right away."Most people still think a balloon is on the end of a string. The things you can do with them is truly amazing," he said.For event decorations, McCormack favors latex balloons made by Qualatex because they are thicker and last longer. But once a balloon bursts, there's little danger of it harming the environment, he said."Latex balloons degrade just as fast as an oak leaf," he said.What McCormack does warn against is young people buying helium balloons to suck the helium so they can talk funny."What it does is deprive the brain of oxygen," he said.If there's a frustration to selling balloons, McCormack said, it's the last minute of his work. For a big event, he'll start blowing up balloons with an air compressor the day before, but he can't do it sooner than that."You get into a real time crunch," he said. "I'm a stickler for being on time. I hate showing up to a job late."McCormack's commitment to his clients, no doubt, accounts for his business taking off. He recalled that a mechanical contractor once told him that his goal was to make and keep customers. If he did that, the money would follow, the contractor said.McCormack decided to adopt that business philosophy as his own. "Most of our business comes from word-of-mouth and repeat business," he said. "If the customer is happy, they'll come back."For more information on McCormack's company, contact americanballooncompany.com or (630) 469-2747.bull; Do you know someone with an unusual job or hobby? Let us know at sdibble@dailyherald.com, (630) 955-3532 or 4300 Commerce Court, Lisle, 60532.If you goWhat: "There's No Place Like WDSRA" charity dinner and auctionWhen: 6 p.m. Saturday, March 6Where: Abbington Distinctive Banquets, 3S002 Route 53, Glen EllynTickets: $85Details: wdsra.com or (630) 681-0962True20001512Bill McCormack works a balloon column for an upcoming high school event.Bev Horne | Staff PhotographerTrue