Success Stories

Ryan Rickert, founder and president of Clean Slate Group, was vacationing in Canada when he noticed an opportunity. While waiting at a crosswalk, he saw that unwanted graffiti and adolescent “tagging” blighted the street corner. At the same time, Rickert noticed a crosswalk box wrapped with a vinyl map of the city. The clever use of a utility box made him wonder, “Why not use wraps to stop unwanted tagging?”
When Rickert returned to Bozeman, he called a friend at 3M™ to pitch his idea. Coincidentally, 3M™ had just finished developing a graffiti-resistant vinyl and the company was looking for someone to put it to use. As one of the only people with access to the exclusive product, Rickert founded Clean Slate Group. Ryan’s company now employs the only team of vinyl installers in the region who are fully endorsed and certified by 3M™.

Mr. Rickert founded his company three years ago and due to the quality of his management and innovative products it has experienced phenomenal growth. The company designs and manufactures vinyl wraps used to prevent graffiti and beautify commonly overlooked community assets such as garbage cans and power boxes. Ryan is a passionate and principled business owner who measures the success of his company with the double bottom line approach. In other words, Ryan is equally concerned with the profitability of the business and the impact it has on others. (more…)

Starbuck Machining has been chosen by the SBDC as the West Michigan Region’s Best Small Business of 2013

When Rich Starbuck contacted the West Michigan Region SBDC for help with a business plan in 2000, he didn’t know he’d be beginning a working relationship that would last through all stages of his business’s growth. For two years Starbuck and his SBDC consultant, Dave Sayers, worked on a business plan that would allow him to receive the financing needed to purchase an existing machine shop’s assets and start his own.

On the day Starbuck Machining opened in April of 2002, owner Rich Starbuck recalls running machines as fast as they could get them started.

“We literally moved our first machine into the shop, hooked it up and had somebody run it while we went and got the next one,” Rich laughs. Since that day twelve years ago, both the staff and the machine equipment at Starbuck Machining have never stopped moving, and never stopped growing.

Since this Holland, MI based business opened Rich Starbuck and his son Aaron Starbuck have grown Starbuck Machining from six employees to twenty-seven, and currently have $3 million in sales. Starbuck Machining manufactures products for the agriculture, aquatic, automotive, electronic, security and oil industries, and are government sub-contractors of military armor. Most of their sales come from within Michigan, but they are beginning to do business in other states as well. (more…)

Strategic Planning Sets the Pace for Rapidly Growing Alpharetta Firm

“If you have a long-term vision for growing your business, this is a must-do program.”

Many entrepreneurs learn about the Georgia SBDC through the well-honed network of public agencies that support the state’s small business growth. That’s how business owner Sidd Ahmed met Sharon Macaluso, area director of the DeKalb office of the Georgia SBDC.

“We were selected for the Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection in 2012, which pairs smaller businesses with larger corporations,” says Ahmed, president and CEO of the global IT staffing firm VDart Inc. in Alpharetta. “The Georgia SBDC plays an active role in the program. Sharon’s session caught my attention, and we got involved.”

Ahmed, a computer engineer, started VDart in 2007 after working for several smaller firms. Soon after meeting Macaluso, he asked her to conduct a strategic planning session with his senior management. She and consultant Bob Thiele also took them through a SWOT analysis and situation analysis and helped them identify an operational structure that would meet their goals. After the planning, Ahmed and his senior managers participated in the SBDC GrowSmart™ program. (more…)

Hard-working co-owners Shawnta’ Ray and Rick Harmon are living examples of entrepreneurs who can toughen up when life throws them a steep challenge. They also know how to “Happy Up,” which is why – eight years ago – they incorporated their toy store business under that moniker.

The duo’s successful business, which currently includes storefronts in Glen Carbon, Ill. and Clayton, Mo., are solidly operational due to their own tenacity, extremely loyal customers and the support of the Small Business Development Center.

Ray, who worked for 10 years as a sales clerk and later as manager for the company’s previous owner, bought what was then known as Once Upon a Toy (Edwardsville) and LagoonaMagoo Toys (in O’Fallon, Ill. and St. Louis). The Small Business Administration (SBA) provided Happy Up with a guaranteed loan on their business.

In 2008 the recession hit, adversely affecting the nation’s small business community and especially independent toy retailers. After three years of anemic sales – combined with months of careful consideration – the pair made the difficult decision to close two locations and consolidate operations. (more…)

Cathy Hale, Madison Railroad’s CEO, has been with the company for 36 years. The Madison Railroad operates a 25-mile mainline extending from Madison to North Vernon, Indiana. The railroad offers daily train service, and interchange is accomplished with CSX Transportation at North Vernon. The Madison Railroad also owns and operates 17 miles of railroad track within a 3,400-acre industrial park, offering a team track and rail car storage facilities.

Cathy is very passionate about her position at the Madison Railroad. She loves utilizing the revenues the Madison Railroad earns and stretching them to accomplish the most she can. She finds pride in knowing that communities believe in the Madison Railroad, and when they offer to help, they do so as a hand up not a hand out.

The mission at the Madison Railroad is to provide economic development to the communities they serve. They are preserved to be an economic development tool. The Madison Railroad has a nine member board of directors made up of businessmen and businesswomen. Although all the board members each have a broad range of backgrounds, they all have the same mission of making sure the railroad thrives. They believe it is important to maintain jobs and create new ones. (more…)