SMALL BUSINESS

Don’t Call Us. . . .: Though many business owners seek publicity, Edward Schwarz shuns it--so much so that his Santa Fe Springs company, St. Clair Plastics Inc., isn’t even listed with the telephone company or in the phone book.

Schwarz started out in 1984 and, like most other businesses, intending to get the biggest space possible in the phone book. But after two years, “we just decided to go underground,” he said.

Why? Because Schwarz was too busy working to pick up the phone, especially when most of the calls, he said, were from “crackpots” trying to sell him something or asking for products he had nothing to do with.

Schwarz has no regrets. Business has grown nicely from the days when he worked out of his garage. Sales were $1.4 million last year, and Schwarz thinks it’s because of word of mouth.

“I guess I’m trying not to be discovered,” he said. “That means I can’t wait around for business to come to me. I have to go out and discover it.”