From Trump to Ace

The upbeat young entrepreneur christened on TV as Donald Trump’s first apprentice made a stop in Spokane Valley Thursday, turning his name recognition and small business advice over to an intensive marketing campaign for Ace Hardware stores.

“I get to meet a lot of neat people and talk to a lot of future entrepreneurs,” said Bill Rancic after signing autographs and shaking hands at the Ace store on Sullivan Road. “It’s a great way to see the country, too, but it’s a lot of hard work.”

Ace opened 188 stores in 2006 and is aiming for about that many this year, too.

The 4,600-store chain hopes to drive its growth in part with the Dream Ace contest Rancic was in town to promote. Aspiring entrepreneurs can sign on to www.dreamacehardware.com site to submit an essay and take a test in the hopes of winning a free Ace store to run. Judges will select 50 entrants to go through Apprentice-style interviews and challenges until Ace store owners choose one of them at their store owners’ conference in March.

Rancic knows a few things about business as sport. In 2004 he was the one contestant of 16 who wasn’t dismissed from Donald Trump’s series of prime-time business challenges with an iconic “you’re fired.”

His prize was the opportunity to work as the “owner’s representative” to a mixed-use high-rise project in his hometown of Chicago. In reality, his job takes a few more words to describe.

“Now I’m more working on a consulting basis on the project in Chicago with the sales and marketing,” he said.

Much of his first two years, he said, were spent working with higher-ups in Trump’s companies and learning the ins and outs of construction.

It was widely published that Rancic was going to leave the Trump Organization when his contract was up to go into business on his own, which he’s done before as the founder of a successful online cigar shop.

Drawn by the appeal that is The Donald, though, he decided to stay on.

“It was great. I was learning a lot and certainly I felt that it was the opportunity of a lifetime. To learn from Donald Trump is invaluable. You can’t put a price on that,” said Rancic.

He’s also leveraged his celebrity into a valuable commodity.

He authored a best-selling book soon after the show and another book a year later. Web sites that schedule high-profile speakers list his booking fees for events between $15,000 and $30,000.

Ace is using the affable 35-year-old and his entrepreneurial image to expand its business following its best year in sales since 1998.

There are six Ace store in the Spokane area, which Rancic described as “big city in a small town” where he enjoyed the independently owned restaurants he visited following a speaking engagement last summer.

“I was impressed … I didn’t know what to expect, and when I came here I was pleasantly surprised,” he said.

Rancic’s final word of advice for the small business owner on Sprague Avenue looking to make it big:

“I think anyone can do it,” he said. “I think you have to set realistic goals for yourself … when you first start a business you’ve got to be willing to put the time in and make the sacrifices that no one else is willing to do. And it takes, as you know, it takes many years until you start to reap the rewards of your hard work.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.