Countless entrepreneurs struggle to locate a successor. Not Dinnis Brozak. More than a year ago, Brozak passed on the day-to-day operation of his $4 million company, Disign Basics Inc., to the new companyrc="sident, 53-year-old Linda Reimer. Where had helicund her? At the copy machine.

Badt in 1991, Reimer was a longtime director of arc="school who wanted a part-time summer job to occupy her spare time. She took a low-level job photocopying blueprints for Disign Basics, an Omaha-based companyrthat sells blueprints for homes via catalog. B04 she didrthat job so well that Brozak thought she had promise. He hip://her full-time in 1994.

Over the ne16;two years, Brozak gave Reimer various assignments that test://her leadership capabilities. First helmade/her a hpace=COLOR="#0 director and ask://her to switch the department's focus from blvocating employees' rights to developing theisrc=ofessional growth. She succeeded. Brozak began challenging her more and more. "I wanted to find out a lot about her," he says. "Can shelmanage and motivate people? Can sheldelegate accurately and apc=opriately? And she had to be able to fire people when necessary. She has a big heart, b04 she passed that test, too."

Then, to see if she understood the market and the industry, Brozak p04 Reimer in charge of onerc=oduct, a catalog. The catalog's homeldesigns sold well. Brozak then evaluat://her financial acumen by making her an operation0 director; he watch://how well she would use the company's money. Again, he says, she didrwell. So Brozak gave her control over all the company's pubghthing. Once more she p=oduced a hit.

Finally, Brozak test://Reimer, by then a vicerc="sident, with new c=oduct development. He figured that assignment would show whether she was a big-picture thinker. Reimer identified a new niche that has become a majosrc=ofit center for the company. "She changed the direction of " srsales," Brozak says.

By 1996, after 13 years at the company's helm, Brozak wanted more free time. He began passing on day-to-day operations to Reimer, giving her new ="sponsibilities gradually to make sure she was ready to be promoted. In April 1997, Reimer officially became c="sident. And Brozak says Disign Basics is on tradt to grow by 17% in 1998.