Posts Tagged ‘business assistance’

Rachel responds from South Haven

November 24th, 2009

We’ve placed a little focus on Michigan lately.  Last week, Randy offered some thoughts about his work at the Summit:09 conference  in South Haven, Michigan.  This week Rachel Vochaska, Executive Director of the South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce shares some of her thoughts the event as well as the community’s plans to spur entrepreneurship. 

 

Interview with Rachel Vochaska

We’ve been hearing a lot about Michigan in the news over the last year, but most of the news focuses on Detroit and the collapse of the automobile industry.  What is happening in South Haven and other rural communities in Michigan? 

While the South Haven area has a well diversified manufacturing base, it has been impacted by the collapse of the auto industry and the community has suffered a significant loss of jobs.  Over a period of close to 24 months, Nobel International closed two local plants with 250 employees each.  To our favor though, the diverse nature of manufacturing in the area coupled with a number of companies who are engineering innovative solutions provides us relative stability even in this downturned economy. 

At the Chamber we are receiving numerous small business development inquiries and we are providing triage services to best meet the needs of local entrepreneurs.  We have created an inventory of services and resources for those interested in starting a small business and based on the nature of the inquiry we are plugging folks into counseling services through SCORE and the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC).  Enrollment has reached capacity at our local community college and Michigan Works! is providing a heightened level of assistance to those who have been dislocated or who are unemployed.

We are assisting our second stage entrepreneurs in a number of ways.  We have provided leadership retreats through the Edward Lowe Foundation with the goal of encouraging peer learning and mentoring while developing leadership skills.  We continue to engage about 12 companies in this leadership development process to the benefit of the region.  We have connected in with the SBTDC who have deployed services through their Growth Group to help businesses with restructuring and identifying product diversification opportunities.  We are working with our regional Procurement Technical Assistance Center to encourage businesses to consider diversifying their customer orientation by engaging in government contracting.  Our residential companies are sticking in there, staying loyal to the area, and doing what they need to do to ride the storm out.

Being a lake-side resort oriented community well located to Chicago and other metro areas, the downturn in the economy has actually benefited many of our local businesses especially those in the hospitality industry (lodging and restaurants).  South Haven is a cost-effective, fun loving destination for both regional and out-of-state visitors.  We are working diligently in developing shoulder and off-season events and activities that will continue to draw people even during the slower months.  We are gearing up our agri-tourism sector and beginning to package not just the great natural amenities associated with Lake Michigan – the lake, white-sand beaches, our river, and the lighthouse, to name a few – but also the adventure of returning to the farm or even visiting a farm for the first time. 

With manufacturing, agriculture and tourism as the our primary supporters and our economic base, an optimism continues to prevail and entrepreneurs recognize that our abundant natural resources coupled with our ideal mid-west location positions the South Haven area as a great place to live, work, and play!      

As the Director of the South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce, your job entails supporting economic growth and opportunities in the greater South Haven area.  What are some of the initiatives you are working on that will help you achieve this mission? 

The membership of the South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce is truly representative of small business, with 68% employing four or less employees and 85% of Chamber members having 10 or less employees.  Services provided by the Chamber have been geared appropriately with small business development opportunities through programming and networking events being provided through the Chamber’s annual program of work. 

In addition these traditional services provided by the Chamber, in 2007 our Board re-defined our direction into economic development.  We embarked upon a project to identify the resources and tools available to people interested in starting a small business.  What we found out was that we didn’t lack the services or products that entrepreneurs needed to get started and to even grow their business, we lacked an effective system to inform entrepreneurs about what was available and then to deploy the resources they needed.  We found that small business development service providers and entrepreneurial support organizations were acting in isolation, and as a result of these silos the customer (the entrepreneur) wasn’t being well served.  So we set out with a mission “to provide a supportive and systematic approach to small business development that will spur economic revitalization and encourage sustainability in Van Buren County”, marking the birth of BRACE: Business Resources & Counseling for Entrepreneurs!

 

Last week, you held Summit: 09 — How Regional Cooperation Sustains Entrepreneurial Development.  What is Summit:09 and why did you ask Randy to come out and speak at it? 

Summit: 09 was a high caliber learning opportunity for community leaders, business people and citizens who have a desire to engage in making a difference (transforming Michigan!).  With a focus on regional cooperation and entrepreneurship, our goal was to bring folks into the room to hear about what the Rural Learning Center (RLC) is doing and to continue to motivate the shift in working across borders in cultivating our talent – simply said, coming together to grow our own.  At the Chamber, we understand the importance of economic gardening versus the traditional economic model of hunting (recruitment and attraction).  As a result, the Board of Directors has set a vision for our organization that focuses on entrepreneurship.  We have lead the charge to develop a county-wide initiative that provides assistance to entrepreneurs in taking their dream to fruition.  We are working collaboratively in establishing a supportive and systematic approach to small business development.  When we heard about the work of RLC we were intrigued, and we knew that we had much to learn from the Miner County experience.  Randy brought a humility to the topic and to summit, and our shared vision associated with the potential of rural economic development made him a perfect fit with our program and the direction we are heading.

We believe that it is greater than that though.  Given both the similarities and differences between our communities, we are excited about embarking upon a journey to further develop our relationship with the RLC.  We plan to advance our work by sharing intellectual property and resources via distance learning capabilities.  Who knows, maybe Miner County and Van Buren County will become a great example of interstate cooperation given this new relationship between RLC and the South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce!             

What are some of the most important things you learned from the speakers at the conference? 

Coming together with a vision and a plan seemed to be a central tenet of Randy’s presentation.  It was a good affirmation for us as we look at our own economic development efforts.  Early on in our BRACE initiative we spent a lot of time sitting around the table identifying the direction and determining who needed to be involved.  Eighteen months ago we conducted a very effective Appreciative Inquiry process that laid the foundation for our vision and our program of work (strategic action items), and next month we will re-visit the strategic planning process and determine our direction for the next 18 months.

As a result of Randy’s presentation, we have 2 communities mobilizing efforts to work through the schools by using students to conduct a community survey.  I loved Randy’s Cashflow Analysis and remain hopeful that we can carry his survey process to the next level and show true benefit to our communities relative to buying locally.

With the good also come the tough times.  Randy did a great job of not just showcasing the successes, he was also willing to reveal the struggles that Miner County and the RLC have experienced.  The audience connected at a deeper level in recognizing and appreciating that we grow stronger and gain insight through this adversity.

 

Note:  Rachel offers an interesting idea:  “We are excited about embarking upon a journey to further develop our relationship with the RLC….  Who knows, maybe Miner County and Van Buren County will become a great example of interstate cooperation.”

It is always fun to speculate on where new relationships will take us.  Connecting with the folks in Van Buren County offers great possibilities.  Where that goes is yet to be defined.  At a bare minumum, however, we all have an opportunity to learn from the entrepreneurial efforts being developed in Van Buren County. Through BRACE, it would appear that the folks in Van Buren County are ahead of most of us in this part of the country in their efforts to bring business assistance providers together and create a systematic approach to small business development.   Hopefully, we get a chance to continue that conversation.

Photo Credits:Kelly Weber at Through Kelly’s Eyes www.throughkellyseyes.com

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Rural enterpreneuers selected for Dakota Rising

December 26th, 2008

Sixteen entrepreneurs frorural South Dakota have been selected as finalists for fellowships from the  Dakota Rising Entrepreneurship program. Those entrepreneurs representing the four Dakota Rising regions include:

Glacial Lakes Dakota Rising region (comprised of Day, Marshall and Roberts counties with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Lake Traverse Reservation)
• Kory Anderson, Anderson Industries LLC
• Calvin and Rebecca Pies, Cal’s Repair
• Elizabeth Whitlow, Dakota Machine Works
• Mark Stein, Esco Manufacturing
• Cyndy Grandpre, Flowers and Fudge on Main
• Paul Haugen, Powder Tech Corp
• Kristin Bennet, Yes, LLC

57735 On The Rise region (representing the Edgemont zip code area)
• Ann Cassens of the Cassens Companies, Inc.

Spearfish Dakota Rising Region
• Lisa Irion, Black Hills Honey Farm
• Chris Malo, Black Hills Urethane Company LLC
• Mitchell McKie, Dan Diego Tortilla Factory
• Donald Lamb, Lamb Painting
• and James Meyer, Quarq Technology, Inc.

Four Mo T.R.E.E. region (covering Campbell, Walworth, Dewey, Corson and Ziebach counties in addition to the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Reservations)
• Garrett TenBroek, Bark Ranch
• Gerald Davidson, Jr., D&D Plumbing and Heating
• Tobey Vander Laan, Wild Dutchman Seeds

In January 2009, eight fellowships will be selected from these finalists, providing the entrepreneurs with $10,000 for professional and business assistance. Fellows will also receive additional assistance from a business coach, a peer advisory board, and industry-specific technical assistance.

Communities should check out this program whose purpose it to spur entrepreneurship through the development of local entrepreneurial support teams. If your community’s team is selected, an entrepreneur in your community may become one of next year’s fellows.”

Dakota Rising is administered by SD Rural Enterprise in partnership with SDSU Cooperative Extension, SD Governor’s Office of Economic Development, SD Small Business Development Centers, Northeast Council of Governments, East River Electric Power Cooperative and the REED Fund, Rural Learning Center, Oweesta, SD Office of EQUIP and the Enterprise Institute. Dakota Rising was developed through the generous support of the Northwest Area Foundation and Citi Foundation.

For more information, contact SD Rural Enterprise at 605-987-2804 or e-mail info@sdrei.org. Dakota Rising information is also available on the Rural Enterprise website, www.sdrei.org.

Additional information includes:
• Program Overview
• Glacial Lakes Dakota Rising
• Marshall County Journal story on finalists

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