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Transportation and Event Company Planning to Ride Out Virus Disruption

June 2, 2020
Success Story: Arkansas –

Arkansas Destinations owner Jana Cohen can point to the exact day the coronavirus pandemic disrupted her business.

“On March 12 all bookings for bus tours, events, and incoming travel cancelled or postponed. That was the last day we ran a trip,” said Cohen.

“Overnight, half of our business disappeared, and we had customers asking for money back from deposits they had made.”Eileen Devereux Dailey of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center advised Cohen as she applied for the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, and an Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL. Share on X

In business since 2000, Cohen’s Little Rock-based company offers tours and event planning, primarily for convention groups. She also operates a fleet of mini buses, trolleys, motor coaches, and vans. (more…)

Auto repair business gets federal loan with SBDC assistance

May 19, 2020
Success Story: Georgia. By Emilie Gille –

ATC Auto CenterATC Auto Center in Augusta has been in business since 1972, with a second location in Grovetown added later. Brothers Brian and Chris Weeks own and operate the auto repair business they took over from their father nearly 20 years ago.

They’ve built a good clientele over the years and have 21 employees.

It all was threatened by COVID-19. Business slowed as Georgia residents sheltered in place, and businesses closed. The brothers realized that their savings would only last so long, and they didn’t want to lay off employees. But they knew that’s where they were headed.

“We worked too hard for too long to get the team that we have, and we didn’t want to have anything happen to them,” said Brian Weeks.

As longtime clients of the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center, the Weeks were among the local businesses that UGA public service faculty member Eric Frickey reached out to when the federal government approved the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which included money for small businesses. (more…)

Military Spouse Turns Idea Into Fully Baked Business

May 4, 2020

It starts with an idea – that “Aha!” moment when you realize your business concept has the potential to be great. But it takes work, dedication and commitment to make that idea a reality. Entrepreneurs with military experience – whether service members, veterans or military spouses – are uniquely positioned to succeed as small business owners.

Jilan Hall-Johnson is a military spouse who used her experience and skills to turn her bruncherie idea into a fully baked business. After her husband, DeMarco Johnson, was stationed in Billings, Montana as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, she was on the hunt for new employment opportunities in the area. Assistance for military spouse employment in Billings was limited, so she decided she was ready to explore entrepreneurship as the next step in her career.

Jilan knew she had a great idea, and the passion and drive to be a small business owner. But she wasn’t sure how to start her business. She decided to turn to her local Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC) at Big Sky Economic Development for guidance and support. Jilan and the Big Sky VBOC immediately began working together to put her business idea on paper. The VBOC helped her develop her business plan, establish a marketing strategy, acquire a business location, find access to capital, and accomplish so much more right in her local community. (more…)

Window shopping and small business success!

April 21, 2020
Success Story: Wisconsin –

Equinox Botanical BoutiqueTo be a small business in this time of Covid-19 is unprecedented, not to mention stressful, emotional, scary and anxiety provoking. So what can you do to make lemonade out of lemons? Small business owner Maria Caravati of Equinox Botanical Boutique in downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin is promoting WINDOW SHOPPING!

Community needs now

Maria opened Equinox Botanical Boutique in June of 2019. Before that, her business was also called Equinox but specialized in massage, facials and products. It was a wellness boutique which she operated for 18 years. But over the years she became well versed in plants for food, medicine, wellness and beauty. Maria decided that what her community needed now was basic skills in planting and preparing food from self-sustained back yard gardens. She closed for a month and completely changed her business model.

And then the virus came… and in her own words… she started freaking out! After a phone call to her SBDC consultant, Mary Fischer-Tracy of the UW Parkside SBDC in Kenosha, and a talk about staying calm and utilizing government funding, Maria decided that she had to get back to doing what made her happy and hopeful. She started planting and sharing her plants on social media. Pretty soon, her clients were asking how they could get plants even though she was closed. Maria had an idea! (more…)

Speeding Up the Search for Cures – Jeeva Informatics Solutions

March 12, 2020
Success Story: Virginia –

By any measure, Harsha Rajasimha, PhD, was a successful man. He had published journal articles and chapters in professional textbooks; he had received patents, honors, and awards for his work. But none of these accomplishments equipped him to help his baby, who died from Edwards Syndrome, a rare congenital disease.

Determined to honor his daughter’s memory, Harsha started Jeeva Informatics Solutions, where he could devote his years of post-doctoral training in genomics and precision medicine at NIH to accelerating the process of making novel diagnostics and therapeutics for rare diseases.

Jeeva’s initial focus was on projects such as next-generation sequencing and data-analytics interpretation, and discovering novel approaches (turning raw data into actionable insights). In 2018, the company pivoted to address the problem of recruiting and retaining participants in clinical trials, a mandatory step in getting products to market. Patient recruitment takes time and, if anyone drops out, it takes more time recruit more patients. These issues cause delays and cost the biopharmaceutical industry a loss of billions of dollars, rendering it unsustainable. (more…)