Success Stories

Fox Valley Entrepreneur Believes in SBDC “Magic”

When unexpected and costly building renovations threatened to delay or possibly end Ray Reinders’ dream of launching his own IT business, he turned to the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UW Oshkosh. SBDC director, Colleen Merrill, was instrumental in connecting Link Computing with financial resources that supported the start of the business in October 2013.

“A friend of mine said, ‘go to Colleen Merrill. She makes magic happen,’” Reindeers says. “Colleen understood what I was trying to accomplish. She worked up numbers and business concepts, and told us what we should expect. She cut every piece of red tape imaginable. Within a month I had a $90,000 loan to complete the project. I can’t imagine doing all that on my own.”

Once financing was secure, Reinders was able to put his focus on business development. Merrill help him implement processes and procedures that were scalable, efficient, and transferable.  By developing these tools, the company was in a position to grow at a pace they determined, hire additional employees, and feel comfortable knowing a plan was laid out.  (more…)

Linda and Barry Mitchell are the owners of Trinity Dry Cleaners (website) (Facebook page) located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Trinity Dry Cleaners is an eco-friendly dry cleaning business, and they are constantly looking for ways to help customers reduce their carbon footprint.  Linda and Barry feel it’s their mission to play a part in converting an industry that has been historically toxic to humans and hazardous to the planet to an environmentally responsible and sustainable alternative.

Before becoming entrepreneurs, the owners both held executive level jobs in a multi- national distribution company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Linda and Barry considered opening their own business for several years prior to launching Trinity Dry Cleaners. They examined a number of different business opportunities but felt they could make the biggest impact in the dry cleaning industry, as most plants still use Perchloroethylene, which is a toxic and environmentally hazardous solvent.  They knew they wanted to take dry cleaning in a new direction, and chose to use GreenEarth solvent, which is non-toxic and non-hazardous.  Trinity Dry Cleaners is proud to be the only GreenEarth affiliate in Southeastern Indiana, and also services markets in Northern Kentucky and Southwestern Ohio.  (more…)

Dina Stroud Faith owns The Best of Floyd County Hometown Value Magazine, an advertising magazine coming out in August 2014 that focuses on local businesses and activities in Floyd County, Indiana. The local publication will be sent to higher income Floyd County residents only.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Dina started her direct mail career 25 years ago,spending the first 10 years selling advertising for Val-Pak.  Dina has also sold advertising for a couple of local direct mail coupon magazines and has spent eight years selling database-driven and targeted solo direct mail products to businesses on a national level.

When asked why she chose this business to get involved in, Dina answered, “I’ve enjoyed all of the products I’ve sold, but there was always “something I would fix” about each program, so I decided I would take the best that each product had to offer, include some added value aspects, and create what I think is the best possible product for local businesses to reach the consumers in the local area.”

Dina’s mission for her business is to provide a high quality, affordable direct mail magazine for local businesses to market their brand, products and services to residents of the local community while apportioning proceeds back to a community development, educational or charitable organization.  (more…)

“Although I’ve been a small business owner for 20 years, since I began working with the SBDC my confidence and knowledge as an informed owner has increased” – Cover Ups owner, Teresa Roy.

Roy began Cover Ups out of her home twenty years ago as a custom drapery fabricator. Her business grew and in 2000 she opened a retail location in Palmer and expanded her offerings to include unique refurbished furniture.

In 2012, Cover Ups was awarded “Small Business of the Year” by the Alaska Chamber of Commerce. Last year, Roy was accepted by Costco as a window coverings vendor which has caused business to increase exponentially. (more…)

Alaska Premier Services, owned by Mike Anderson, is an Anchorage based business that focuses on providing high quality services that make homeowner’s lives easier. Services offered include landscaping, lawn maintenance, snow plowing and housekeeping by an experienced and detail-oriented crew.

Alaska Premier Services has over ten years of experience delivering high quality services to the Anchorage area and was even voted the 2013 Best Lawn Care Company in Anchorage! Anderson first approached the Alaska Small Business Development Center in September of 2012. Along with meeting with our Business Advisers, Anderson found the workshops extremely helpful especially in creating a marketing strategy for his company. (more…)