News Taffy

In the July 2010 Northeast Arkansas Busniess Today NEA Total Fitness was included as one of the new start up busniesses in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Below is a trascript of the article.

Successful startups like The Scrub Shack are inspring others to make the investment in new ventures. Frank Kasper was a real estate appraiser in Florida for over 20 years. When the economy started declining he started to view other avenues for employment.

Frank started Pilates in 2003, in 2005 he became certified as an insturctor. Originally from Caruthersville, MO, Frank has family in Jonesboro and Wynne and they encouraged him to look at Northeast Arkansas to locate a new business. He did months of research using the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce as a source to study the local demographics.

Robert Bahn at the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center was very helpful in developing a business plan that helped Frank obtain a small business loan through the East Arkansas Planning & Development District.

One key to success is filling a niche that no one else does, and Kasper believes he'd doing that, as NEA Total Fitness will be the only Pilates Studio located in Jonesboro.

"Pilates is a series of movements that can be done on a mat or specialized equipment," Kasper said. "It lengthens and strengthens muscles through resistance training, and also helps build bone density and relieves stress. The exercises benefit a person's balance, coordination, strength and flexibility."

Kasper is certified in the instruction of Polestar Pilates, Power Pilates, TRX Training (which is also known as suspension training) and also has a certification in Pilates for Golf.