Success Stories

Success Story: Missouri (A-Plus Contractors LLC)

It’s well after 5 p.m., but Will Sanders, owner and co-founder of A-Plus Contractors in Saint Charles, Missouri, a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) specializing in dump truck work and heavy equipment hauling, excavation and power washing throughout the St. Louis area, is excited. But also a little tired.

“I am just a hard-working, ordinary guy,” he says of himself. “I am boots on the ground, boots in the office all day.”

Those boots are getting a lot of wear at Lambert Airport tearing out old concrete, hauling dirt and old concrete, laying new concrete and even planting trees as a subcontractor. And they’ll get even more on projects soon underway around Maline Creek, a small tributary of the Mississippi River on the northern edge of the City of St. Louis that’s suffered from severe erosion, and on the seven decades old, deteriorated Route 47 Missouri River Bridge, among other projects.

Sanders has almost a quarter century of industry experience, and he established the business in 2009. But the business didn’t really take off until 2014, when Sanders purchased his first dump truck.

That number has swelled to seven in just a year. He jokes he spends his lunch hour shopping for trucks. Sanders expects company revenues to be about $500,000 this year, significantly up from 2014.  (more…)

Success Story: Vermont
Bookkeeping Assistance Key to Business Health

Over the course of its twenty-year existence, the growers at Red Wagon Plants in Hinesburg have become experts at producing high quality organic plants and vegetables. But as their business evolved, owners knew they needed to focus on more than just agriculture to ensure they could also experience healthy business growth.

“Our business is special because it has grown organically over twenty years,” said Red Wagon Plants owner Julie Rubaud. “We believe in what we do and are known for our high quality standards,” she said, adding that she started the plant business “as a way to augment the income of the vegetable farm in 1996. Since then, the plants eclipsed the vegetables.”

As the plant portion of the business became more integral to the farm’s success, Rubaud came to realize that monitoring budgets, expenses and other overall bookkeeping tasks were proving increasingly important, as well as challenging. The farm, which grows and sells plants at both retail and production locations in Hinesburg, also works with wholesale partners throughout the state.

Rubaud knew she needed help determining which aspects of the business were most successful and why, so she sought the assistance of Vermont Small Business Development Area Advisor and Agricultural Specialist Steve Paddock. The two quickly went to work making sense of the sometimes complicated budgeting and bookkeeping at the farm.  (more…)

Success Story: Idaho

See how the Idaho SBDC helped a group of engineers start a robotics business to help bring manufacturing back to America and give back to the community by creating jobs and sharing knowledge.

Success Story: Florida

SBDC: Florida SBDC at the University of South Florida
SBDC Consultant: Karen Krymski; SBDC Director: Eileen Rodriguez
Client: Sheri Dougherty, CEO, DAI Solutions of Sarasota County, Longboat Key, Florida
Client since November, 2015 in Florida; and 20 years ago with the SBDC in Alexandria, Virginia
Achievement: Business Expansion

Sheri Dougherty had worked as a federal contractor in the DC metro area for several years. After working for multiple companies, the thought of opening her own firm crossed her mind.

“Being the person who actually found the deals, wrote the proposals, and won the deal, it was difficult to sit back and watch the deal crumble in the hands of colleagues,” Dougherty said. “So I said, ‘If I am doing this for someone else, I might as well do this for myself.’”

Dougherty started her federal contracting business 20 years ago in the DC metro area, and a year ago she expanded to the Sarasota, Tampa, and Orlando areas. DAI Solutions offers businesses the ability to take their product or service to the federal government. They provide an array of services, from marketing to General Service Administration (GSA) schedule proposal development to simply staying up on federal laws.  (more…)

Glass Blowing Operation Utilizes
Vermont SBDC Advisor Support

Combining art, utility and passion into a viable business can be a serious challenge. Few know that better than Rich Arentzen and Tove Ohlander, owners of AO Glass LLC, a production glass studio in the heart of Burlington’s Pine Street arts district. Still, they decided to tackle that challenge “in order to take a passion and turn it into a sustainable business,” Arentzen said.

But they didn’t have to do it alone. Arentzen and Ohlander looked to Vermont Small Business Development Center Area Advisor Steve Densham “in order to blow glass while making a living,” Arentzen said. The company needed better planning skills and better focus on core business matters and “existential goals,” Arentzen said. They also sought a better understanding of accessing capital, business growth and business life cycle, he said. (more…)