Deborah Harris found herself at a crossroads when her husband, the founder of Pioneer Machine Technologies in Madison Heights, passed away suddenly in 2019. Determined to continue his legacy, Deborah stepped into the world of precision and custom machining. “I had no experience in this industry,” she admits, “Actually, I had never even stepped foot in this business.”
Miguel Atkinson, an experienced tool and die maker from Flint, knows firsthand that it’s one thing to work for someone else — and it’s another to be your own boss. He had always wanted to own his own shop, so when the shop owners he had worked for for several years decided to retire, Miguel decided to acquire the business. He realized, however, that he needed counsel to secure the capital needed to do so. Miguel reached out to the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance, who referred him to the Michigan SBDC where he met Senior Business Consultant Harry Blecker.
Connor Vanderholm began working in the hotel industry as soon as he finished his business degree at BYUI in 2016. His BYUI mentor helped him discover he wanted to be a revenue manager, but he had to start in operations, learning the business basics first.
His first job was working at the front office for the Marriott conference center in Norman, OK. After a year in Oklahoma, he became a revenue management trainee at Hilton in Dallas, TX. Although it was exhausting work, he was prepared to continue until he got laid off at the start of COVID in March 2020. He and several newly-unemployed colleagues started Topline in May 2020.