Small Business Grant | "Ohio city launches next round of successful small business grant competition"

By:  Lee Chilcote
Source: http://freshwatercleveland.com 
Category: Small Business Grant

Having birthed 25-plus new business within the past few years, Ohio City is on a roll. Leaders here hope to continue that progress this year as they launch the second round of the Small Business Development Grant Competition, an initiative that aided at least five new retail businesses in 2011.

The competition, which is being managed by Ohio City Inc. and funded by Charter One Growing Communities, offers grants of $5,000 to $20,000 to retail businesses that open or expand in the Market District along W. 25th or Lorain. Entrepreneurs can use the funds for rent payments of no more than one year, purchase of equipment for business operations or interior build out.

Community leaders are focusing solely on retail ventures this year, having overseen a boom of new restaurants and small boutique shops in 2011.

"The Charter One Growing Communities initiative has catalyzed tremendous growth in the Market District," said Eric Wobser, Director of Ohio City Inc., in a release. "We are very excited to launch year two of the competition."

Applicants can download the RFP from OCI's website and submit it along with a short essay and business plan. They'd better hurry, though -- according to Wobser, there are only five vacant storefronts remaining in the Market District.

Community leaders are also hoping that the Market District's considerable momentum will spill over onto Lorain Ave. Within the past two years, the down-on-its-heels main street that has begun to flicker with new life. OCI has created a community planning effort, Launch Lorain, to chart its future.

Source: http://freshwatercleveland.com/forgood/ohiocitybusinessgrant040512.aspx

Small Business Grant |"Inside Track: Entrepreneurs raise the bar for women riders to cycle in style"

By: NEAL ST. ANTHONY

Source: http://www.startribune.com 

Category: Small Business Grant

Sometimes starting a new business just takes a good idea and a little "moxie."

Deb Amorde and Brooke Freiborg, ardent bicyclists, decided a few years ago that the industry needed jerseys designed for women.

"I did a hand-sewn prototype in 2009," recalled Freiborg, 29. "Women riders have unique needs and other sports have made significant strides in women's' apparel.''

This year, Freiborg expects Moxie Cycling to sell about 1,000 of its locally made jerseys in 10 styles at $58 apiece through its website, www.moxiecycling.com, and Teamestrogen.com, and at local races and bike shops across 12 states.

Amorde and Freiborg, who has cut back her hours at her day job at Hot Dish Advertising, knew they were on to something when they sold 200 Moxie jerseys in eight hours at the 2011 RAGBRAI, the annual week-long ride across Iowa.

Freiborg and Amorde, 40, who works for TN Marketing in Wayzata, have developed a product that's a hit with women willing to spend a couple of hours or all day in the saddle.

The features include a moisture-transport fabric, ergonomic seams, a U-shaped neckline for style and comfort, removable bra cups and a longer silhouette that prevents upward "jersey creep."

Women appreciate the designs and men compliment the look, Freiborg said about the stylish jerseys that are manufactured locally.

GOING TO BAT FOR FINANCIAL LITERACY

Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman was hanging out last week with TC Bear, the Minnesota Twins mascot, and a bunch of St. Paul kids.

Rothman, kicking off a statewide financial literacy essay contest for school kids, is Gov. Mark Dayton's point man on improving Minnesotan's understanding of the language of consumer finance, how to manage a checkbook, budget, handle credit and how to avoid getting snookered.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/business/146456685.html

Small Business Grant | "Small towns vulnerable to recession, late state payments"

By: NATALIE MORRIS

Source: http://www.sj-r.com

Category: Small Business Grants

The village of Divernon, 15 miles south of Springfield, seemed to be weathering the nation’s economic storm just fine until 18 months ago, when “Closed” signs started popping up around the business district.

Not long after, “For Sale” signs began dotting residential lawns.

“We were pretty fortunate until the last year and a half,” Mayor Randy Rhodes said. “We’ve lost a couple restaurants down on the square. There are three spots for bars, but we’ve only got two. At the entrance to town, both gas stations are closed.

“New things are opening, but they’re not lasting long.”

For small towns with limited tax bases, the loss of a single business or a school can be a nearly fatal blow. Add in a weak economy and the budget problems being experienced by state and county governments, and the struggle for these communities intensifies.

Hamstringing small towns that are poised for growth is a lack of money to make needed infrastructure improvements.

Larry Frang, executive director of the Illinois Municipal League, said roughly half the state’s towns  have populations of 5,000 or fewer. While the current economy requires all communities to do more with less, small towns are hit hard because they often lack a strong business district from which to draw sales tax.

Municipalities’ portion of income tax, motor fuel tax and use tax are projected to be $110.55 per resident annually for the upcoming operating year. That’s down from $116.35 two years ago.

“You have less money to spend for more expensive projects,” Frang said. “All (these small communities) can do is keep trying their best.”

Economist Norman Walzer of Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies has been studying rural communities for decades. He said the nation’s economic dip sped up a process that has been under way for decades.

“You’ve seen an erosion of the economic basis as regional shopping centers concentrated businesses at a regional level. Smaller communities lost their downtown. Farming has undergone similar consolidation with a focus away from livestock and going to row crops,” Walzer said. “It’s an erosion of the economic base, which led to population loss.

“The recession is just exacerbating it.”

Divernon

Rhodes — a Divernon native who also serves as fire chief for the village’s volunteer department — has worked in Springfield as a Capitol Police investigator for the past six years.

But his heart remains in his hometown. That’s why he makes the daily commute to Springfield, rather than relocate.

Source: http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x586040752/Small-towns-vulnerable-to-recession-late-state-payments

Small business Grant | "The Home Center celebrates 43 years"

By: Lynne Lynch,
Source: http://www.columbiabasinherald.com
Category: Small Business Grant


MOSES LAKE - The Home Center furniture stores celebrated 43 years of business in March.
The Moses Lake store opened 18 years ago and the Ephrata store followed, eight years ago, said Wendy Cox, a general manager who oversees both locations.
She has worked at the business's Grant County locations for 14 years.
The business's original store was in Stanwood and still exists.
"We're just family-oriented and really enjoy the community we're in," Cox said.
Employees try to stay active in the community and take customer service seriously, she commented.
All three stores employee a total of 14 people.
Cox describes the stores as providing a family atmosphere and small environment for employees.
"We're so close and care about each other," she said.
The stores' offerings include couches, beds, dining room sets and recliners.
The Home Center is a full-line mattress company.
The Moses Lake store measures 50,000 square-feet and provides the company the opportunity to buy in great volume, according to The Home Center's website.
Owner Roger McSteen, of Bothell, said he loves Eastern Washington and having two stores here.
He called this area more of a family-oriented community, with more one-on-one relationships built with the company and customers.
His employees have served generations of families, including great-grandchildren in Stanwood.
During the business's early years in Stanwood, the store's former owner, Roger Wilcoxen, was McSteen's employee.
"Part of the agreement was he would stay and work for me," McSteen said. "We went through the hard times of me buying the business. We would sell all day and deliver all night."
There were some rough times in the beginning, but as business started to come back and grow, they brought on five employees in Stanwood.
Growth followed in Eastern Washington.
Years later, he doesn't plan on retiring.
"I don't believe in retiring," McSteen said. "When you retire, you die. I have no intentions of retiring."
He attributes his success to having extremely good people in all of his stores and successful relationships with customers and vendors.
They try to satisfy every customer who walks through the door.
Before he bought the furniture business, he ran a Seattle-based gentlemen's clothing company called The Squire Shop. It had 36 stores throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
The furniture business was an opportunity that arose after he left The Squire Shop.
"I liked it so well, I traded hats with the owner," McSteen said. "It's all retail and it's what I've done all my life."

Source: http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/business/article_b1f54d48-801e-11e1-b012-0019bb2963f4.html

Small Business Grant |"Entrepreneurs' Dreams Become Reality: Brother Small Business Grant Program Announces Winners"

By : Brother International Corporation
Source: http://www.sacbee.com
Category: Small Business Grant
 
Brother International Corporation, a leader in small business technology, today officially announced the five winning applicants for its first small business grant program, launched on January 10, 2012 in collaboration with entrepreneurial online resource, StartupNation. The grant program awarded a total of $25,000 to five small business owners, five $5,000 grants to each winner, who can use the grant money to launch their business or initiate a new project within their established small business.

The winners of the Brother small Grant Program are:

AARF Pet Central, Susan Leisure (Stone Mountain, GA), is a community pet resource center that is progressively designed to assist families and individuals with pet adoptions, aimed to take homeless pets permanently out of the rescue cycle. This grant will allow AARF to complete building renovations, such as ceiling and light installations.

Arcade Brewery, Christopher Tourre (Chicago, IL), is a craft brewery that creates an interactive experience by focusing its online and public efforts around beer education, production transparency and crowdsourcing design for its beers, labels and packaging. This grant will be directed to fund the development and improvement of Arcade Brewery's website and online presence.

Curvy Riders, LLC, Angie Bertrand (Grand Junction, CO), designs and creates custom-fit apparel and accessories to meet the needs of female motorcycle owners and riders. This grant will allow Curvy Riders to have a sales booth for four days at the 2012 International Women & Motorcycling Conference to be held in Carson City, NV July 26-29, 2012.

Misty Mountain Farms and Education, Elle Nova (Hillsboro, Oregon), produces organic goat dairy, organic chicken eggs, and organic local vegetables using sustainable farming practices targeted to market to the local community. It also provides revolving grants to vulnerable populations of women and children in immediate need. This grant would fund the purchase of sanitation and refrigeration equipment for the goat dairy, vegetables and eggs that the farm produces, in addition to purchasing new office equipment to aid the farm's growth.

Sugared Beauty, LLC, Sarah Zahn (Elizabethtown, PA), promotes a line of beauty and skincare products formulated from organic and food-grade ingredients targeted to women seeking healthy and organic products for their skin. This grant will help provide an upgrade to the company's product labeling through new office equipment, while creating a fully integrated e-commerce experience for its website including its own cart, auto-shipment program, blog and user-friendly customer service page.

"We are thrilled to witness such a high-level of participation and enthusiasm from the small business community," said John Wandishin, Vice President of Marketing, Brother International Corporation. "This grant program demonstrates our commitment and support to help entrepreneurs gain access to capital, while also helping Brother better understand the current challenges and concerns for America's small business owners."

To determine the size of the grant packages, Brother International Corporation and StartupNation conducted an online poll on StartupNation that revealed the majority of small business owners (61 percent) started with less than $5,000 in capital to launch their company.

"We are both impressed and delighted with the level of dedication and effort that went into these grant applications," said Rich Sloan, co-founder of StartupNation. "The breadth and depth of these entries signifies the importance of small businesses for the U.S. economy, and we're pleased to have partnered with Brother to help these entrepreneurs pursue their passion and achieve success."

Source:http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/27/4369534/entrepreneurs-dreams-become-reality.html

Small Business Grant | "Land grant could bring ocean center"

By: Jennette Barnes
Source: http://www.boston.com
Category: Small Business Grant

The Ocean Campus Center, an environmental trade school originally planned for Scituate but rebuffed by the town, has found open arms in Marshfield, where a possible land grant could seal the deal.

Verrochi Realty Trust, which owns the Enterprise Park business park in Marshfield, is considering donating land to the school. That carrot has made Marshfield the focus of the school’s search for a new location, according to Jeffrey Rosen, chairman of the nonprofit Marine and Environmental Education Alliance formed to establish the school. The campus would need about 3 acres, he said.

Massasoit Community College would oversee the academics, granting associate’s degrees and certificates in things like alternative energy technology, marine electronics, and water treatment and monitoring, Rosen said.

The concept has support from the Marshfield Planning Board, which voted unanimously to endorse it on Monday after Rosen presented the details.

“I think it’s fabulous,’’ said Karen Horne, chairwoman of the Planning Board, shortly before the vote. The vote expressed the board’s sentiments but did not address a site plan, which has not yet been submitted.

State Representative James M. Cantwell, a Marshfield Democrat, gave a statement of support at the meeting. An affirmative vote from the Planning Board would put the project “on the fast track,’’ he said.

The Ocean Campus Center began looking for a new location after falling out of favor in Scituate. Although Scituate had been deeply involved in the idea for some time, the town rejected a bid proposal for the school in February, saying the organization did not meet some requirements in the request for proposals. Among those were a detailed development schedule and demonstrated experience with other projects.

A group of Scituate residents had publicly opposed the school since January, but the Scituate town administrator denied that their objections affected the town’s response to the bid.

Rosen’s group went looking for a new host, and spoke with people from Hull, Marshfield, Quincy, Weymouth, and towns on the North Shore. But he said in an e-mail that the group is now focusing on Marshfield due to the possible land grant and “the advanced nature of the options,’’ which include two locations in the business park.

According to William Last Jr., director of government affairs for Verrochi Realty Trust, the company is considering donating one of two pieces of land - one near the Boys and Girls Club and another, more private spot near a cul de sac.

How Marshfield residents and other town officials will respond to the project remains to be seen, but the commercial location could preclude concerns about the school affecting a park or residential neighborhood.

John Hall, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the project is a great idea and a nice fit for Marshfield culturally, considering the town’s fishing fleet and maritime orientation. He said he does not anticipate any problems with the site because much of the business park is already cleared and developed, with drainage installed.

But Hall said the school would not help Marshfield economically, because it would not pay real estate taxes or generate much traffic for surrounding businesses.

In Rosen’s pitch to the Planning Board, however, he said the school would fill a gap in career training at the certificate and associate’s levels and take advantage of an emerging market in environmental technology. South Shore communities send many of their high school graduates to four-year colleges, he said, but the remaining students could train for careers in laboratories, boat building, environmental cleanup, “green’’ construction, and more.

Rosen, a scientist with Tetra Tech who spends much of his time working on water quality, said his clients have trouble finding technicians at a time when increased government requirements for water-quality testing are raising demand for their work. A constellation of jobs in the industry includes maintaining scientific instruments and installing new electronics on boats, he said.

Rosen said graduates of the Ocean Campus Center would be qualified for jobs that pay between $40,000 and $60,000. Potential employers would include Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the environmental cleanup company Clean Harbors, he said.

In addition to training workers, the school would be a place to hold small conferences and where the industry could confer with academia about the kinds of training employees need, he said. The facility would be a “green’’ building, he said, and hands-on learning about the building’s systems would be part of the curriculum. It would be solar heated and cooled and capture rain water for irrigation.

Rosen said the Ocean Campus Center could also host programs for K-12 students and serve as a location for classes run by the harbormaster. The building is expected to have a boat-building lab, computer lab, classrooms, and meeting space.

Source: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1275518325381725299#editor/target=post;postID=7835482347606140657

Small Business Grant | "Malloy: Three small Hartford area businesses receive EXP grants"

By: Governor Dannel P. Malloy's office
Source: http://www.norwalkplus.com
Category: Small Business Grant

Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that three Hartford area small businesses have qualified for grants through the state’s Small Business Express Program (EXP) to expand their businesses and create jobs. EXP was created as part of the bipartisan jobs bill that was passed during the October Special Session.

“The Small Business Express Program is a state initiative designed to help small businesses grow and aid in the state’s economic recovery, making a big impact in their communities,” Governor Malloy said. “It’s just one more way we’re trying to begin an economic revival in cities and towns across our state.”

“Jobs and unemployment are the most important issues facing our economy, so I am very pleased that the state will soon be helping three companies in Hartford to grow and expand their hiring,” State Senator Eric Coleman (D-Bloomfield) said. “These businesses reflect three core industries in our region: manufacturing, insurance and retail. I thank Governor Malloy for supporting these smart local investments.”

“Much of Hartford’s economic activity is supported by small businesses and we rely on the small storefronts and restaurants, especially in downtown, to keep the city running. I thank the Governor and look forward to continued support of our merchants,” State Representative Minnie Gonzalez (D-Hartford) said.

“Small and medium businesses are the backbone and the most effective driver of the economy and indispensable for economic recovery,” State Representative Kelvin Roldán (D-Hartford) said. “I thank Governor Malloy for his support of small business and look forward to the positive impact on Hartford.”

In total, EXP will provide $100 million to help the state’s small businesses hire more employees and fund capital investments. The program, administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), offers loans and matching grants to Connecticut companies with fewer than 50 employees.

The three Hartford area small businesses announced today are:

Express Countertops, Kitchen & Flooring LLC makes and assembles kitchen cabinetry and countertops for homeowners, wholesalers and contractors. The company operates six retail locations and a manufacturing and warehouse facility in Hartford. Express Kitchens, which is expanding its manufacturing capabilities so it can fulfill a backlog of customer orders, will receive a $100,000 matching grant to purchase inventory. The project will retain 40 jobs.

Hybrid Insurance Agency LLC is a full-service, underwriting management and wholesale insurance brokerage firm. This is a fast-growing insurance group, beginning operations in March of 2010 in Windsor, a year later opening a satellite office in Columbus, Ohio, and a service operation in Kathmandu, Nepal. They currently have 11 employees in their headquarters and approximately 650 retail agents and brokers. A $100,000 loan and a $26,320 matching grant will go toward the relocation of the headquarters to Hartford. The project will retain 11 employees.

Star Hardware Corporation, a retailer of hardware, construction supplies and home improvement products, is the only store of its kind in Hartford’s enterprise zone in the north end. Star Hardware is an essential business in the neighborhood, providing competitive financing options to credit-challenged contractors and individuals. The company will receive a $100,000 matching grant to help redesign the showroom and hire new employees. Funding will go toward leasehold improvements, new machinery and equipment, and computer software. The project will retain 12 jobs.

Source: http://www.norwalkplus.com/nwk/information/nwsnwk/publish/Business_21/Malloy-Three-small-Hartford-area-businesses-receive-EXP-grants_np_16293.shtml