Calabro’s earliest corporate histories chronicled an insurance company and a major utility company, but she soon came to consider the traditional format of business histories somewhat ponderous. In 2004 she established a publishing firm, CorporateHistory.net, which produces printed and multimedia histories based on documentary research and oral history interviews. Calabro believes this sort of research and writing performs an important historical function:
Often, the American dream is told through the stories of these businesses. Every company has crises, and naturally no company wants to trumpet its mistakes, but a good corporate history owns up to the crises and represents them as turning points and lessons learned.”
Given this approach, Calabro’s books often offer business and managerial information that is widely applicable. Her book on the Melwood Horticultural Training Center not only relates the 40-year history of a private agency serving adults with developmental disabilities, but includes reflections on running a nonprofit organization by her co-author, Melwood’s President Emeritus Earl Copus.
Flying High Again outlines the key issues faced by the Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation (PARC) during the remarkably rapid and successful redevelopment of the Plattsburgh Air Force Base. Gilbert Duken, chairman of the Board of Directors, noted that he and other members of PARC “agreed that other communities facing similar circumstances might benefit from a written account of PARC’s experiences.”
Both the Melwood and PARC books won Apex Awards of Excellence for custom publishing.
For a book celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, IL, the focus was on the individuals and groups who form the backbone of the hospital. "People are really at the heart of any organization," says Calabro. "We like to be able to tell their stories with lots of visuals that link the past to the present." Among the sources for this chronicle were newspaper clippings, board minutes, letters, historic artifacts, and architectural drawings.
After writing a book for Pep Boys, Calabro appeared on The History Channel’s Modern Marvels series in “The Auto Store” (aired 10/5/2005), which included the story of Pep Boys and other auto-parts companies. Among the clients of CorporateHistory.net are Advance Auto Parts, A. W. Hastings & Co., Clinton County ARC, Dominion Resources, and M.C. Dean, Inc. Calabro is currently involved in developing books for The Clorox Company, Sandvik, and others. “Your history literally shows why your organization is built to last,” she notes. “No million-dollar consultant can give you what your own history gives - a competitive difference in a crowded field, authentic pride, a soul.”
Calabro is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she was in the first class of women admitted to Rutgers College and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society. A native of Kearny, New Jersey, she currently lives and works in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. She has been quoted on business subjects by
USA Today, the
Washington Post, and other media.