. please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . october 2016 vector marketing type private industry marketing founded 1981 1 headquarters olean new york us key people unknown 1 website www.vectormarketing.com listen to this article info dl this audio file was created from a revision of the vector marketing article dated 2011 08 16 and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article . audio help more spoken articles vector marketing is the domestic sales arm of cutco corporation an olean new york based cutlery manufacturer . vector marketing corporation is the company s sales division . alcas corporation is the parent company . 2 contents 1 history 2 business model 3 lawsuits 4 business memberships 5 references 6 external links history edit vector marketing corporation and cutco cutlery corporation are wholly owned subsidiaries of cutco corporation . formerly known as alcas corporation the company was created as a joint venture between alcoa and case cutlery . the factory in olean new york was completed in 1947 and the first set of cutco cutlery was shipped to new kensington pennsylvania that same year . in 1974 alcoa purchased case cutlery s share of the company . 1 in 1982 members of alcas management purchased cutco from alcoa in a management buyout and three years later alcas acquired vector marketing . in 2009 alcas changed its name to cutco corporation . the company remains privately held and is a major employer in cattaraugus county new york . 3 4 5 vector began as an independent distributor of cutco cutlery in 1981 . in 1985 the company was purchased by alcas corporation which changed its name to cutco corporation in 2009 . in 1990 vector marketing expanded into canada . 1 as of 2011 vector has more than 200 offices throughout the u.s. and contracts about 60 000 student workers each year to perform entry level sales work . 6 business model edit vector marketing is a multi level marketing company that builds its sales force through advertising via newspapers direct marketing word of mouth posted advertisements letters and various media on the internet . 7 8 9 10 they recruit sales representatives from high schools and college campuses in the united states and canada sometimes through misrepresentation of affiliation with the school . 6 students are employed as independent contractors to sell cutco products mainly kitchen knives to customers typically their friends and family members via one on one demonstrations . 6 11 some of vector marketing s former independent contractors have accused vector marketing of deceptive business practices . 12 13 vector frequently advertises in newspapers and on fliers posted on bulletin boards at college campuses but seldom do those advertisements explain the nature of the job . 14 in addition to vague job descriptions vector marketing s compensation policies are often criticized . vector marketing previously required sales representatives to make a refundable security deposit to procure a set of knives for demonstrations . however the practices have changed and representatives are no longer required to make a security deposit . they are loaned knives as well as given some as prizes for their fast start sales achievements . 12 13 15 16 students who work for vector marketing are considered independent contractors and are not reimbursed by the company for money they spend on transportation expenses and other common business expenses while working or for the time they spend at training sessions . 9 12 lawsuits edit vector marketing has been sued several times . in 2003 a recruit who was successful in a lawsuit against vector for failing to adhere to labor laws in new york co founded a group students against vector exploitation save . 17 in 2008 alicia harris filed a federal class action lawsuit against vector . harris alleged that vector violated california and federal labor law by failing to pay adequate wages and illegally coercing employees into patronizing the company . 18 the case harris v. vector marketing corporation is pending a final settlement approval for us 13 million before judge edward m. chen . 19 20 vector was sued in 1990 by the arizona attorney general . 21 in 1994 wisconsin ordered vector to stop providing dishonest information to recruits . arizona and vector agreed to a settlement that punctuated a series of state actions against vector s tucson manager that spanned seven years . vector agreed not to misrepresent its compensation system as part of the settlement . 22 dubious discuss business memberships edit vector marketing is a member of the direct selling association . 23 references edit a b c d vector marketing our company . vector marketing . retrieved 10 august 2011 . crittenden victoria l. ; crittenden william f. july 2008 . building a capable organization the eight levers of strategy implementation . business horizons . 51 4 301 309 . doi 10.1016 j.bushor .2008.02.003 . cutco corporate profile pdf . cutco corp. retrieved june 27 2015 . cutco cutlery history . cutco corporation . retrieved november 22 2010 . major employers . city of olean community development . retrieved november 22 2010 . a b c robbins rebecca august 2 2011 . the company that cuts both ways . santa barbara independent . retrieved august 2 2011 . moret darrin september 6 2013 . did i participate in a pyramid scheme . popular science . retrieved june 27 2015 . kellman beth robinson april 2 2010 . better business bureau offers advice on multilevel marketing . the oakland press . oakland county michigan . retrieved may 19 2011 . a b deal a. matthew september 26 2006 . high wages for student work but beware . campus news . the carolinian . p. 1 . archived from the original on august 15 2011 . retrieved june 5 2008 . gunn eileen august 5 2008 . summer job nice pay if you can cut it . the wall street journal . p. d4 . retrieved april 21 2011 . episode 10 . street cents january 14 2002 online copy at the internet archive a b c lucchesi nick february 4 2004 . vector marketing targets unaware college students . news . the journal . archived from the original on 28 june 2015 . retrieved june 5 2008 . a b da costa polyana august 21 2004 . firm misled sales recruits to sell knives students say . salem statesman journal . archived from the original on july 4 2008 . holt shirleen february 22 2004 . help wanted pitch may have surprise curve . the seattle times . retrieved july 24 2010 . vector marketing got questions . vector marketing . retrieved 10 august 2011 . anderson matt october 6 2004 . vector policies questionable . mtsu sidelines . p. 1 . retrieved june 5 2008 . gripenstraw kelsey april 20 2011 . beware of campus scams . the bottom line . university of california santa barbara . retrieved may 18 2011 . chen edward m. september 4 2009 . order granting in part and denying in part defendant s motion for summary judgment . harris v. vector marketing corporation . united states district court for the northern district of california court opinion . harris v. vector marketing corporation . justia.com . may 5 2011 . retrieved may 14 2011 . preliminary approval of 13 million settlement granted despite concerns . allbusiness.com . may 31 2011 . retrieved feb 5 2012 . wellman paul . the company that cuts both ways . retrieved 29 august 2013 . mckay peter . for vector marketing the question of the hour ; does the 12.05 pay in its recruitment ads accurately reflect the wages or are respondents being misled the washington post july 1 1996 p.f08 . company cutco vector marketing corporation dsa . direct selling association u.s. . retrieved 4 june 2014 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title vector marketing & oldid 742171514 categories companies based in cattaraugus county new yorkcompanies established in 1981multi level marketing companieshidden categories articles with inconsistent citation formatswikipedia articles in need of updating from october 2016all wikipedia articles in need of updatinguse mdy dates from july 2011spoken articlesarticles with haudio microformatsall accuracy disputesarticles with disputed statements from september 2011 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 2 october 2016 at 03 22 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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