Small Businesses ABLE to Succeed

Greater Lafayette Commerce announces new, enhanced tools to help small businesses

Building a small business takes just the right tools, and Greater Lafayette Commerce filled a tool box with new and enhanced offerings at a news conference Wednesday, June 30, at our offices.

Under the theme, “Small Businesses are ABLE+ to Succeed in Greater Lafayette,” speakers used the acronym to represent advice, business tools, loans, education and training offered by the nonprofit business organization and others it is teaming up with.

“Our commitment is to help small businesses launch, grow and thrive,” said Joseph Seaman, Greater Lafayette commerce president and chief executive officer. “Small business is the lifeblood of our economy.”

Advice—free, confidential, by-appointment individual counseling and workshops—is available through the SCORE program hosted at Greater Lafayette Commerce, said Mariellen Neudeck, one of several volunteer counselors. “We provide candid, realistic, unbiased evaluations of small business situations.”

Business tools—an online resource of everything business-related—is the newest investment Greater Lafayette Commerce has made to help small businesses, said Jody Hamilton, director of development. Accessible anytime by anyone at www.greaterlafayettecommerce.com, Tools for Business pulls resources and information together in a single site, with new postings and resources added regularly.

“It’s as specific as local funding for signage and facades downtown to using the U.S. Post Office’s online thank-you notes to customers,” Hamilton said. “You can learn about market research, launch a customer survey, begin a mystery shopper program, use a cash flow calculator, evaluate your website, and even watch videos on selling techniques.”

Loans and capital resources were covered by Jerry Holsapple, capital resources loan manager at Greater Lafayette Commerce. Options include the SBA 504 loan program, gap lending, help locating lenders and counseling borrowers on the loan process. Plans are also in the final stage for a new loan program for micro-businesses.

“Capital resources can make or break a business,” Holsapple  said. “Our goal is to help small businesses take another step toward success.”

Education, too, is key, said Susan Davis, regional director of the Hoosier Heartland Small Business Development Center, which serves a 12-county area and regularly co-sponsors educational workshops with Greater Lafayette Commerce.

“Our services include education, financial, marketing, production and other assistance,” Davis said. “We also help with feasibility studies, venture capital formation, rural development and assistance applying for Small Business Innovation and Research grants.”

The plus sign in the ABLE acronym represents a reintroduced on-the-job-training program at Tecumseh Area Partnership, said John MacOwan, business consultant and Jobs for American Graduates manager. “The benefits of this program are truly immeasurable,” he said. “We’re literally paying part of people’s wages while they’re being trained on the job, which is of tremendous value to an employer.”

The program, open to any size business and funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, allows employers to obtain funds to pay up to half of the wage for a new employee or former worker re-hired for a different job for up to six months. Jobs must pay at least $10 an hour. The training can be contracted, arranged through Ivy Tech Community College or provided by the employer. 

Upcoming Workshops

Greater Lafayette Commerce is co-sponsoring or participating in these upcoming workshops:

Moving Forward in 2010

Small Business Administration Workshop

Tuesday, July 13, 1 p.m.

The Outpost

2501 Old U.S. 231 South

Register by July 8

317/226-7272 (SBA)                  

Free

Franchise Seminar

Tuesday, July 27, 6 to 8 p.m.

Greater Lafayette Commerce

337 Columbia St.

Register at 765/742-4044

Free

Unlocking the Secrets of Payroll

and Bookkeeping for the Business Owner

Thursday, July 29, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Greater Lafayette Commerce

Register at 765/494-9142

$35

ABLE+ to Succeed

Among the community’s newest and enhanced programs for small businesses include:

Advice: SCORE Counseling Program, 765/742-4044.

Business Tools: www.greaterlafayettecommerce.com, click on “Chamber,” scroll down to Tools for Business, on left.

Loans: Capital Resources Program, 765/742-4044.

Education: Through Small Business Development Center, 765/494-9142.

+ Training: Funded program for on-the-job training through Tecumseh Area Partnership,

765/807-0885.