Russ Morrison hopes to establish a niche in the region's fitness equipment market with his Alpha Professional Fitness Sales, a company he recently started after moving from Texas to Harpers Ferry.

"It' s a new company, my own," said Morrison. "I had partnered with Diamond Fitness & Medical Industries in Texas, and that has helped a lot as I establish my business in this area. So far, I'm doing well here, but I'm still servicing clients in Texas.

"I have a brother and sister-in-law who live in Harpers Ferry. I'm trying to establish a market here, duplicating what I did in Texas. I'm serving an area that includes West Virginia, Northern Virginia, Tidewater and the Baltimore-Washington market."

Morrison is a dealer for a handful of equipment makers, and sells to hospital wellness centers, rehab centers and multi-family builders. "It's commercial or institutional strength fitness and cardio equipment, dry and steam saunas, rubber flooring for gyms and racquetball courts. I design the facility and install the equipment; it's a comprehensive service.

"We sell to home clients only on a referral basis, but we sell them higher level equipment."

Alpha Professional Fitness Sales competes for business with factory reps that work for companies such as Life Fitness, a division of Brunswick Corporation; Precor USA; and Cybex International. Morrison said the factory reps tend to stay in the heavily populated areas, "looking to pick up the easy acorns," but he focuses on more rural areas that are under-served.

Alpha Professional is a dealer for Matrix Fitness Systems, SCIFIT Systems (cardio equipment), Woodway treadmill systems, Magnum Fitness Systems and Finlandia Sauna. "I'm a dealer for these manufacturers," said Morrison. "I bid against others at the big facilities, but I offer a higher level of service. I started out in the business servicing equipment in hospital wellness centers."

Morrison markets his business through word-of-mouth and door-to-door calls and solicitations. "Eighty percent of my business is through cold calls. I prefer dealing with new facilities. I'll work in any capacity; people don't have to buy from me.

"Fitness is no longer a craze; it's a multi-billion dollar a year business."