Success Story: Colorado

Lynn Brittner started planning the Southern-Ute Cultural Center and Museum more than 10 years ago. The Center’s opening this past May was her reward for years of holding the vision.

Brittner’s relationship with the Southwest Colorado Small Business Development Center started way back at the beginning. She needed help and only had three staff. A grant from the Administration for Native Americans provided funds for her to take Board members to visit other successful and non-successful museums around the country, with an emphasis on tribal museums. They had a lot to learn about creating a world class structure inside and out in Ignacio.

The Southwest Colorado SBDC Director had students from a business class at Fort Lewis help with the research Brittner would need to write the business plan. “The SBDC has been a consistent support and on-going resource. They have introduced me to people who could help with various aspects of the project and found us grant money to update the strategic plan,” says Brittner.

Brittner was surprised at how many details have to be considered in creating a museum and exhibits. “We had to consider the exterior design, the interior design, signage, height of the educational plaques, size of the displays, as well as their user friendliness and degree of engagement.”  (more…)

Success Story: Idaho

The Idaho SBDC’s Business Accelerator in Nampa, Idaho recently celebrated the graduation of one of it’s residents: Idaho Recognition, a locally owned and operated business that markets recognition products and provides graduation and spirit needs and school rings throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The company has grown from two accounts to almost 50, with two full-time and five part-time employees. The growth in sales, along with the sale of its photography business, has allowed the company the opportunity to build its own office building.

Jake Lee, Idaho Recognition’s founder, started with the Idaho SBDC Business Accelerator in June of 2013. He had a vision to grow his business and needed a location to train employees as he was adding product lines and finding new markets.

Being housed at the accelerator, Jake received those resources as well as valuable advice and mentoring from in-house SBDC coaches that had real-life business experience. He also found a community in the other residents; calling on their expertise when needed.  (more…)

Success Story: Missouri

Josh Holstein, founder and CEO of CellARide in Springfield, Missouri, created CellARide based on a great idea, a degree in computer science and a diverse background that includes five years with the Springfield Police Department and in sales.

CellARide began six years ago when Holstein came across a vehicle with the age-old, all-too familiar for sale sign in a window. “Someone had written a novel on this car for sale, and I thought, ‘There has to be a better, more efficient way to get that information out there!’ ” he says.

Why not use text messaging? he thought. Texting has been almost universally embraced and everyone knows how to use it. Texting is also far more comfortable and convenient than dealing with unpredictable, perhaps unavailable used car owners. And — taking this concept one step further — texting the volumes of information inherent in every car purchase directly to the shopper allows them to skip a sometimes uncomfortable dealer experience. (more…)

Success Story: Texas
By Joycelyne Fadojutimi

Debbie Head has somehow managed to accomplish what many consider impossible–she is both a warm and loving mother to her family, and a highly successful business woman. She owns and operates The Landing at Joshua Farms out on Highway 322, with signs guiding customers to a delightful venue.

Head named the farm in honor of her son Joshua. Guests and customers enter to a delightful scene of a fountain-fed fish pond and majestic, gentle Longhorn cattle the family keeps as pets. Head bore and raised her children on this 126-acre spread, and spent her first years as a wife and mother working part-time in Henderson for a florist/caterer. She found little fulfillment, though. She wanted to stay home with her family, and do it in a profitable fashion.

She approached many banks and they all turned her down. None was willing to take a chance on her project till Kilgore College Small Business Development Corporation Business Advisor Virgil Conner came to her aid.

“Virgil Conner is the man,” she says. “He helped me more than anyone in this business. Virgil helped me with all my paperwork. He did everything for me.”

Without a college education, Head had to work harder than most in getting her business up and running, but this did not bother her in the slightest. Work is her middle name.  (more…)

VtSBDC Assistance Helps Rapid, Seamless Restaurant Transition

Replacing a longtime Burlington dining mecca with one of the state’s only full service restaurants specializing in modern French cuisine is a challenge any chef would recognize as a serious undertaking. But that didn’t stop chef Herve Mahe from opening Bistro de Margot at 126 College Street in September, 2015, just 10 days after purchasing the business.

Formerly the site of the popular Italian eatery L’Amante, which ran out of the location for 12 years prior, Bistro de Margot now serves up seasonally inspired French fare inspired by the memory of Mahe’s grandmother Marguerite.

“Before it was fashionable, she was a foodie and localvore, harvesting fruits and vegetables from her own garden for her kitchen and table. I still remember the aromas and flavors of her recipes that she concocted on the fly, inspired only by her intuition and especially by her desire to please her family,” Mahe said. “I have shared her passion since I was a boy.”

Mahe brings 30-plus years of experience in the culinary arts to Bistro de Margot. Born and raised in France, he trained at the prestigious Ferrandi School of the French Culinary Arts in Paris and at some of the finest restaurants in Europe, Canada and the United States. While he had a wealth of experience in the culinary world, he did need some assistance with the details of purchasing and buying the longtime eatery. That’s when he contacted Vermont Small Business Development Center Area Advisor Steve Densham.  (more…)