Success Story: Colorado

As the Finance Director for Mountain Village in Telluride, Erin Neer saw gaps in the government accounting system that she thought she could fix. “Technology in government systems hasn’t evolved as quickly as it has in the private sector,” she deduced.

Neer believed she could provide these services best from the vantage point of an entrepreneur, so she started her own business, headquartered in Dolores, Colorado. As the previous owner of Anytime Fitness in Durango, Neer knew Joe Keck from the local SBDC. She explains, “I wanted to introduce him to my new product because I knew that he knows people in local government.”

Her product, MUNIRevs, allows businesses to log in to a secure, self-service portal to renew licenses and submit their taxes to the municipality where they conduct business. They can log in, report sales and pay taxes in minutes. Her patent-pending software will save government agencies significant time and money in processing. It also makes it easier and more convenient for small business owners.

“If businesses aren’t doing it on-line, it takes days for the municipality to collect the mail, key-in the data by hand, and know how much tax money was collected. With our system, they can calculate the tax revenue immediately and know if they have made budget for the month or the quarter.”  (more…)

Success Story: North Carolina

Success Story: Virginia

Success Story: California

• Silicon Valley SBDC
• Client: PARTI Program

The Positive Alternative Recreation Teambuilding Impact  (PARTI) program has been in existence since 2001. As a 501c3 organization (tax exempt non-profit), its purpose is to build today’s youth into the leaders of tomorrow through education, leadership development, mentoring, making healthy choices, and volunteerism in the community. The organization’s founder, Winston Ashby, spends a great deal of time working with youth at the high school and middle school levels on San Jose’s eastside. The organization is largely dependent on grants and fundraisers to further its mission, sustain its employees, and continue to increase its revenues.

PARTI operates programs for youth in both Northern and Southern California. Through his dedicated work with young people, Winston has inspired many students to realize their dreams of going to college and building careers for themselves. One of the program’s most famous graduates appeared as a finalist on the TV show “American Idol”.

The on-going challenge for Winston, prior to working with the SBDC, had been securing enough funding to retain his current employees. He struggled to locate new funders in the Bay Area. In addition, Winston knew and understood that he needed more high-profile figures to recognize and support the work of his organization for branding purposes.  (more…)

Success Story: Pennsylvania

Integrated Machine Company was started in July 2001 by Mary Jo Light. The company prides itself in American-made products and the use of American suppliers. The initial purpose of the company was to manufacture quick disconnect fire hydrant storz. This unit has since universalized the fire hydrant connection and allows fire departments to assist one another by using the storz connection instead of a threaded adapter that was unique to each department.

Integrated saw an opportunity to solve a problem in the coupling market. They were approached by two coupling distributors in Erie to create a solution to a major problem with large diameter couplings used in the oil and gas industries, also known as the fracking industry. Many of the couplings purchased by these distributors were failing in the field due to poor quality, thus having negative effects on the environment. Integrated plans to manufacture large quality couplings that will be used with lay-flat hose fluid delivery. These products also have applications in the military, agriculture, and irrigation markets. They plan to offer products of superior quality in order to compete with Chinese imports.

In order to assist in the financing of new machinery to manufacture these couplings, Mary Jo entered the Ben Franklin Big Idea Contest in 2015. She once again came to the Gannon University SBDC for assistance with the business plan and financial projections needed to submit to the Ben Franklin Technology Partners. The SBDC reviewed the plan that she had prepared, as well as her PowerPoint presentation and projected income statements.  (more…)