Empty worn down buildings dot the scenery in Glenwood, Oregon. Signs callingcustomers in still hang above abandoned businesses with empty parking lots. “For Lease” signs hang in dirty windows, complimenting the peeling paint and the darkness that lies inside the front doors.

John Tamulonis, Community Development Manager for the City of Springfield, can list off failed Glenwood businesses one by one while pointing to their previous locations on his laminated map: Tom’s Tapper Tavern, The Furniture Store, a couple used car dealerships; all now empty buildings waiting to be used.

The most recent recession that began at the end of 2007 and continued through 2009 hit every town across the country, causing businesses to close and, in Oregon, sent unemployment rates as high as 11.1% in 2009, according to the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Glenwood may have fared better than most places. It could be because of its history, it could be because of the strength of its business owners.

Dan Egan, Director of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, said Glenwood isn’t an area where new business owners look to start up. It has a history of being primarily industrial and dangerous because of flooding in the past, making it unattractive. “[The businesses there are] tough businesses and [they] tended to survive this better than others,” said Egan. Many long-time businesses of the area, like Sanipac, Lane Transit District, and Farwest Steel, have already gone through several recessions. Egan said that if they could make it through the ’80s, which is when Oregon’s unemployment rate was at its all time high (BLS), then they can make it through anything.

Since Glenwood is mostly industrial, it’s “not like downtown with cafes and boutiques that got clobbered,” said Egan. “It’s the smaller companies that lost more through the recession.” Glenwood does have several small businesses, though. Many of them closed. Some survived.

Kathie Knight stands outside her pride and joy: The Snack Shack

The Snack Shack is one of only two restaurants in Glenwood and is one of the few smaller businesses that managed to hold its own. It has survived for the last 40 years despite many recessions. Kathie Knight is its current owner and she bought it from a friend in August, 2007, only two months before the market bottomed out. “Right after we purchased the restaurant, the large manufacturers and others in the area began making drastic employee cuts or completely went out of business,” said Knight. “There was a pipe business that had 200 employees that completely closed its doors. Pretty much the 11 a.m. to Noon business for our 8 table restaurant. But we were tenacious.”

Today, the Snack Shack is a popular location for Glenwood residents, visitors, and the hundreds of people who work in the area. During the lunch hour all of the tables are filled, including the outdoor seating, sending the small staff into a frenzy, making sure every customer is served with a smile every time. The inside walls are lined with knick-knacks, art, and books, all for sale, a small addition to the business by Knight. The windows, lined by red and yellow curtains custom made by Knight, advertise a variety of food specialties including burgers, breakfast, BBQ, and ice cream.

The Snack Shack has gone through a few different names through its history, but has been a restaurant since the day it opened. It has only been closed for a one month period for renovations. Knight has made only a few changes to the Shack, like selling used goods off the walls, a few aesthetic upgrades, and using almost 100% local, all fresh, and all natural food. She loves playing a part in the local economy and tries to do so as much as possible. Other than that, she’s kept the place the same as it has been. “We pride ourselves on being ‘old fashioned’ and use the same recipes from the ’60s to make our food,” said Knight.

Knight said the recession was difficult, but she made it through due to hard work, sacrifice, and something she learned from the previous owner: never use credit. “We had always worked on a cash basis, so we had very little debt,” Knight said. “While we had several part-time employees in those early days, we started laying them off and working ourselves in order to save the overhead. Frankly, it saved our business.”

Knight has great plans for her business and its future, knowing that it may not include her. “I am 60 years old and am looking forward to retiring in the next 10 years,” she said. “As the economy improves so will business and the value of the restaurant. And we will sell, and someone younger will do wonderful new things to make it even better.” Until then, she will work to upgrade and increase the popularity of the Snack Shack, leaving a legacy for the next owner to continue.

Brad Averill shows off his building where Grizzlies Granola is produced and shipped.

Brad Averill, owner of Grizzlies Granola, saw the downturn coming and was able to prepare for it. “I decided it was more important to be profitable, even if it meant not growing or even shrinking some,” Averill said. “So I just put things in place, like being very careful about pricing, being real cost conscious, to make sure that we were profitable. so even in those years when our revenues were down, we actually were profitable.”

Averill bought Grizzlies Granola from its original owner in 2002 and since then has been steadily growing the company. Grizzlies began in 1981 and its owner did all of his production and distribution out of a house on Concord Street, a residential neighborhood in Glenwood. Today, they deliver their product nationwide, primarily in the Pacific Northwest. They’ve moved their sales and administration to a different office in Eugene, making more room for production and storage in the small house on Concord. Averill looks forward to the day he can also move his production and storage, which he hopes to be in the next couple years. “Frankly, the building we have is far from ideal for a business,” he said. The previous owner expanded the house room by room and the company grew. The poor structure makes it difficult to keep the work areas clean and sealed which is necessary for food production.

Averill said an important part of running his business is developing strong personal relationships with his customers. He does so by keeping constant contact and by doing all of his own distribution. “Also, I don’t have any customer that constitutes probably even 5% of my business. So I’m really spread out,” said Averill. “In some ways it’s nice to have five or six really big customers … But the trouble is, if one leaves it can just be devastating. So I have purposely really tried to keep the customer base quite diversified.” Grizzlies Granola survived the recession, not only by good business sense, but also because of what Averill gained from its previous owner; a diverse customer base and good employee relations.

“In the last quarter of ’08 and the first quarter of ’09, we definitely saw a big drop in sales, and that was stressful,” said Averill. “But, things did start to pick up after that.” In fact, Averill said the most scary part of owning his business wasn’t the recession, but was his first year of ownership when he was making changes to the way the business was run. Things have leveled out since then, creating a successful business that Averill plans to continuously expand. The future of Grizzlies Granola holds product packaging, new product lines, more control over the supply chains, and, hopefully, a new building.

Some businesses that didn’t make it through the recession in Glenwood didn’t simply shut down. Some had layoffs, some relocated out of the area, and some moved to lower rent facilities on the same block. A local veterinary clinic was forced to close because its owner passed away. The property has been purchased by another party, but has yet to be used. Tamulonis said it is because the design of the property makes it hard to utilize. In the case of Tom’s Tapper Tavern, the owner wanted to retire. He tried selling during the downturn but found it impossible. The city has bought the property and plans on using the space for upgrades to Franklin Boulevard. Until that happens, it will remain vacant.

Omlid & Swinney, Rally Coffee Roasters, and Papé are all companies that expanded into Glenwood before the recession. Tamulonis said when the economy bottomed out they needed to downsize and that meant closing their Glenwood locations. Papé still owns property up next to the steel mill, but it remains unused. “The City would, of course, like to see additional firms locate in Glenwood,” said Tamulonis. However, “it is private owners who decide if a rent proposal or user is suitable for a lease proposal,” and “long-term changes we would like to see may take several years to get in place.”

Stovetec now takes the place of the old Rally Coffee Roasters on Franklin Boulevard.

Slowly but surely, new businesses are moving into the vacant buildings and Glenwood is recovering. Stovetec, a not-just-for-profit company that sells stoves meant for those who are forced to cook over open flames, has taken over the Rally Coffee Roasters building last June and is steadily growing. “This space was selected due to my instincts on infrastructure,” said Todd Albi, managing director of Stovetec. “It has loading docks, of course, and it has retail capacity in the front end.”

Stovetec makes most of its profits from national sales and most of its building is filled with pallets ready to be shipped out. “This is my bread and butter that pays our salaries,” said Albi. “We wouldn’t be able to exist here if it wasn’t for the national market.” Even so, they still get enough traffic through the door to pay the rent and Albi is planning on expanding his retail end, bringing in new products for his customers.

The Glenwood Garden Spot has made its home on McVay Highway in Glenwood.

The Glenwood Garden Spot, a retail garden center, is also a new business in the area, only a little more than a year old. “I chose [Glenwood] because there’s no better area really to try to beautify from a garden center standpoint,” said Gordon Crisman, the owner. “I think the reputation of Glenwood’s a lot worse than it really is. … For me, personally, I’m from this area. … This is really my backyard. For me, it’s not just a labor of love, but this is my neighborhood. My ‘hood.’”

Crisman has high hopes for his “hood.” He knows that right now, since he’s only in his second year, he can’t quite judge the success of his business venture. “You hope for the best,” Crisman said, “but you’re really at the mercy of everybody’s pocket books at this level.” He’s observed the other businesses in the area, noting the success of the Snack Shack across the street, the expansion of Big B Tires, and the larger companies like Franz Bakery and UPS who, he said, keep the commerce moving. “I think this area, to be quite honest, over the years, it’s going to be a bridge between the two cities,” Crisman said. “The area, I think – I think it will change.”

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SIDEBAR ONE

This chart, provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows the large amount of business closures during the ’07-’09 recession. An “establishment birth” is when a business is started. An “establishment death” is when a business is closed. In that last three months of March, 2009, the chart shows that there was a net change of -63,000 businesses in the United States. This is the biggest decrease since the beginning of the data series which is 1992.

SIDEBAR TWO

Big Plans for the Future of Glenwood

Currently, the City of Springfield is working on building up Glenwood, economically and visually. The plan in place is called “The Refinement Plan,” making Glenwood an “urban renewal district.” This plan includes expanding Franklin Boulevard, adding a new Emx line to LCC, building new housing and streets on the waterfront, and bringing in more residents. The hope is that this will create a place that people will want to visit instead of simply driving through. Neil Obringer, Local Works Supervisor at NEDCO, said they want Glenwood to be an area that compliments the work that is being done on downtown Springfield.

“The underuse of property is a drag on property values and the redevelopment of the area,” said John Tamulonis, Community Development Manager for the City of Springfield. “Such blighted conditions are a primary reason for the City’s forming an urban renewal district in 2005 to help the area transition to more private investment and greater economic improvement over the next several years.” The city’s purchase of Tom’s Tapper Tavern is a step in that direction because the current building is in the line of the Franklin Boulevard expansion.

The Refinement Plan includes many phases to work through so it is a very long process. “We’d like to bypass all the grain grinding necessary to make Glenwood into a new loaf,” said Tamulonis, “but the steps are necessary before we can be happy bakers with a great product!”

Today, the city is working on many different assessments for the area including an environmental assessment and studies on residential possibilities. Proposed ideas include student housing for the university and the community college or workforce housing. Either way, Tamulonis said, the goal is to create nice residential areas that are safe and easily accessible.

The front of Indulge does not do the store justice.

Never Judge a Book By its Cover

On a rainy, Tuesday afternoon in Springfield, Oregon, a young man wanders into an antique shop located in the Mohawk Shopping Center. The shop is named Indulge, which makes perfect sense the second you open the front door. The young man assumed it would be an unimpressive shop given its location, but realizes instantly he was foolish to judge a book by its cover. The store he has just walked into is not what he had expected. In fact, it’s unlike any other antique store he has ever been to before.

Indulge is nestled in the back corner of the strip mall in the Mohawk Shopping Center. In a time of growing, economic hardship for small business owners, Indulge still manages to attract customers—new and old. The strip mall is also the location of several other small businesses, including CrossFit Intensify, Vintage Revival and Big Foot’s Lair.

Indulge is first and foremost an antique shop. But plopped unexpectedly in the middle of the store is also a bakery and restaurant. The young man is surprised by what he sees. Indulge is lively and bustling, especially compared to the other shops located in the same strip mall. The employees are all engaging, each asking the young man how his day is going.

As the young man approaches the front counter he asks the woman at the front, “Do you guys serve food here?” At first looking surprised, the woman with curly black hair says “Absolutely! Are you hungry?”

Indulge!

The Indulge has been open for three years. Some small businesses in the Mohawk area are struggling to find business, but the teamwork and hardworking people at Indulge have made it work. Penny Englert, one of four owners at Indulge, believes it’s because of their customer experience and uniqueness. “It’s the restaurant, it’s the variety and it’s our customer service,” Englert said. Many business owners worry only about profit, but Englert said Indulge’s main focus is to treat the customer right. Englert believes that’s the best way to keep the customers coming back.

Trees, a fountain, and extravagant chandeliers give the restaurant the look of a homemade Rainforest Café

Englert, a charming, older woman who did not give her specific age but instead hinted she was north of 60, said the most difficult aspect of opening Indulge was getting through the first two years. “It was hard to get people to notice the store at first because of the location,” Englert said. Smaller stores like Indulge need to maximize their customer’s experience. If a customer enjoys his or her experience, they tell friends, and word of mouth is the best advertisement.

One in the Same

Interstate 5 separates Springfield from Eugene, Oregon. At first glance, Springfield may appear to be the “other” city in the area. The two have a different feel from each other, but they share many of the same civilians. People who work in Springfield often live in Eugene and vice versa. The same goes for shoppers. Springfield has different store options from Eugene, but many citizens just make the short drive.

Certain areas of Springfield don’t look as nice as Eugene. But Springfield does not have a better or worse economic environment—it’s just different. There’s a natural inclination to segregate Eugene and Springfield like they are two separate worlds, when they essentially share the same border and the same regional metropolitan economy.

Mohawk Boulevard is one of most congested streets in Springfield. Courtney Griesel, a management analyst for the city of Springfield, said, “Mohawk poses some difficulties and those same difficulties are benefits.” Griesel has worked for the city of Springfield for the past six years. She believes Mohawk is positioned strategically in a great location because there’s a lot of traffic that comes through the area. Mohawk turns into 14^th Street, which is a major northwest thoroughfare for Springfield. By nature, the traffic draw is greater. Mohawk Boulevard also has direct on and off access to Oregon Route 126, which is a state highway that connects central, western and coastal Oregon. It’s also the easiest way to get from Eugene to Springfield.

“Another benefit of opening a business in Mohawk is the regional draw,” Griesel said. “You’re not just relying on your own concentric circle.” McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center is a huge draw as well. “People come to the hospital for service and they’re coming from outside of the typical concentric circle,” Griesel said. Griesel believes if small businesses market to those people, they have a chance to pull in a piece of that slice.

The drawback to the Mohawk area is the vast amount of concrete. It doesn’t have a warm and inviting feel of a wonderful place where you would want to park your car once and meander around. “There’s giant roads and it doesn’t have great points for pedestrian connections,” Griesel said. A lot of people make up their mind of where they are going to go before they head to Mohawk. It’s a destination area, not a friendly community. If a business wants to give customers a reason to come back, they need to make a brilliant first impression. 

It Isn’t Easy

There are more than a handful of factors that go into running a successful business. Neil O’Bringer, 26, works with community economic development for the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO) in Springfield, OR. O’Bringer, who graduated from the University of Oregon, said the different requirements that are placed on business owners can be challenging.

Often times, business owners do not have a MBA or a long business background to go along with their individual skills. “Just because you’re a personality, or you really know how to make a great croissant, doesn’t mean you’re a good business owner,” O’Bringer said. “You can make a great product but there are a range of challenges that are always thrown at you.” These challenges include marketing, finance, sales and legal issues. “It’s a challenging environment to run a small business for the nature of what is going on all the time,” O’Bringer said. The natural inclination for some business owners is to take on all the challenges and do the best they can, despite the fact there are resources out there to assist them.

The recession and the economic condition of the United States lend itself to a tough business environment, according to O’Bringer. “It’s going to be more competitive, there’s fewer dollars to allocate and it creates certain opportunities for some [business owners] and certain challenges for others,” O’Bringer said. If a business doesn’t give customers a reason to spend their money there, they will elsewhere.

Can I Get Some Wine?

The young man heads over to the restaurant inside Indulge. “Would you like to sit at a big table or the rounded one?” the hostess asks. The young man points and says, “How about that small one over there?” The host, a middle-aged gentleman wearing a navy blue shirt, replies “No problem.”

Indulge is not only an antique store, it’s also a restaurant.

The customer makes himself at home in his small table decorated with a flower vase and equipped with the basic salt and peppershakers. Trees, a fountain, and extravagant chandeliers give the restaurant the look of a homemade Rainforest Café.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” the waitress asks. She wears a baby blue ball cap to go along with her baby blue jacket. “Um yes, I’d like to order a glass of wine while I contemplate what to order. What do you recommend?” the young man asks. Grabbing the drink menu, the waitress points to the top choice. “The Pinot Noir is our most popular. I’ll get you a glass of that after I check your I.D.,” the waitress says.

It doesn’t take the waitress long to grab the glass of wine. The young man, shocked by how quick the service was, says, “Wow, that was quick. Thank you.” He sits back in his cushioned chair and observes the scene. The restaurant is about 80 percent full, which surprises the young man because just 10 minutes ago he had no clue it existed. He believes this is a well-run place, one he will definitely recommend to others.

If You’re Good, You’re Good

The stores in the strip mall located in the Mohawk Shopping Center are buried in a sea of concrete. It makes advertising from the street cumbersome. “One business has some open banners, and Indulge has three,” Griesel said. “They use them to try to arrow point customers into their space.” Since it’s difficult to see the stores when you’re driving on Mohawk Boulevard, stores must give shoppers a reason to return.

Indulge has a large selection of antiques, carefully organized to make things easier to find.

Stores like Indulge understand this. “Go into other antique shops in the area and you can see the difference,” Englert said. Englert’s correct. Next store to Indulge is another antique shop, Vintage Revival. Vintage Revival is by no means a bad store—it just lacks the traffic Indulge enjoys. Englert believes the reason Indulge is doing great business wise is because of what they have to offer. The employees of Indulge give their customers a reason to return. In a location that is hard to find on a busy street, many of the stores in the strip mall are overlooked. This is what business owners need to understand—you can make a good product but that doesn’t make you a good business owner. Running a business takes time and it takes passion.

“People are shopping, they just need a reason to pick you,” Englert said.

[Sidebar 1]

Waremart

One of the most recognizable features in the Mohawk area is the large, vacant building sandwiched between Coburg Pizza Company and Wells Fargo Bank. The vacant building used to be the location of a Waremart, but closed over a decade ago and reopened down the street as WinCo.

To a certain degree, a downtrodden building like the former Waremart building can scare people away from the area. “If you’ve got a large fixture of that area that takes up a lot of space and has experienced disinvestment, it’s going to detract from the rest of the area potential,” Neil O’Bringer said.

Mohawk does not exactly look like friendly place, especially on day with bad weather.

The Waremart building is the traditional “big box” store from the 1970s. According to Courtney Griesel, the building was meant to be a giant store with mass amounts of everything. “That was great, but things have changed,” Griesel said. “People don’t want mass amount of everything they want a little bit of something.” The idea of the building was convenient, but people aren’t tied to convenience. The vacant building now sits in a sea of asphalt, unpleasant to walk or drive by. “Businesses really struggle to make their own identity and stand out from that [Waremart],” Griesel said.

The city of Springfield has a partnership with the University of Oregon’s Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP). One of the areas the two have looked into is the Mohawk area and how to develop the vacant Waremart building into something more lively and sustainable. A newly developed area could turn Mohawk into a community site, not only a destination site like it is currently.

[Sidebar 2] 

CrossFit Intensify

Zach Smith, co-owner of CrossFit Intensify, believes he and his partner Andrew Crippen have an easier job running a business than most business owners in the Mohawk area. Intensify, located in the Mohawk Shopping Center on Mohawk Boulevard, does not rely on gaining members from the area. “We pull people from all over. Eugene and Springfield,” Smith said. Smith believes the atmosphere and the experience Intensify gives its members is the reason for the gym’s success. “We’re a destination. Not a location,” Smith said.

Co-Owner Zach Smith believes CrossFit Intensify is a destination, not a location.

Intensify is in a great location because it’s close to Oregon Route 126, the easiest way to get from Eugene to Springfield. It’s not a burden to get to the gym, especially if you’re from out of town.

Smith believes the reason so many businesses fail is because the owners don’t want to turn their business into a job. Smith said it takes hard work. “All of our money goes into CrossFit to help it grow,” Smith said. “It’s not nine to five. It’s four a.m. to six p.m.” Smith hopes in the future the hard work him and Crippen have put in will result in more time off. In the mean time, the two are willing to make the sacrifice.

Projects include the conversion of Main Street into two-way traffic, the construction and re-alignment of parking spaces, and the restructuring of city code to accommodate for downtown planning. Businesses and residents have mixed feelings about the proposed projects.

According to Courtney Griesel, the City of Springfield Management Analyst and resident, the city tries “to look at downtown in the perspective of the larger community.” Griesel said that she sees these development projects as a grassroots approach for improvement because the implementation and planning processes involve collaboration with community organizations.

Downtown Springfield residents are proud to live in this community.

The Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation serves as the parent organization overseeing the Main Street restructuring. According to NEDCO’s website, this nonprofit group aims to revitalize neighborhoods through a diverse number of economic development projects.

“The partnership between city services [ensures that] everything is done in sync,” said Griesel.

But not everyone is happy. Jack Koehler, the owner of Sweety’s frozen yogurt shop on Main Street, does not support the proposed renovations. “The problem is that even if everything was set up and ready to go, we couldn’t do it,” Koehler said. “They’re huge and they’re multibillion dollars.”

Koehler said that many business owners and residents would like to see the installation of light fixtures along city streets. “Anytime you have evil, the more light, the more activity, they tend to go away,” Koehler said.

By evil, Koehler said he meant the strip clubs and bars dotted across downtown Springfield. According to Koehler, local strip joint Silver Lace will be closing soon. He said he credits these closures to the emergence of new restaurants in downtown.

Some community members feel unsafe in downtown Springfield.

Koehler said that he and his wife enjoy the “oldness” of Springfield and resent the idea that “Springfield is scary.” He said that he appreciates the vibrant art community and local restaurants that make the city a happy place to work.

In order to ensure the safety of this community, Koehler said he collaborates with local police and the undercover prostitution department. “We see a lot more than they see,” he said. “I just give them a call and say ‘Hey, we got a hooker walking down the street.’ They’re real good at responding to that kind of stuff.”

Christian Rodriguez also enjoys living in Springfield. He moved here with his family for job opportunities three years ago and currently studies mechanics at Lane Community College.

“It’s a good community; we help one another,” Rodriguez said. “We recycle, which is something you don’t see in every city.”

After living in Texas, Idaho, and Bend, Oregon, Rodriguez feels at ease in this community.

“The way I see it, it looks calm, no problems,” he said.

By Beckie Jones

Springfield Times Intern

Springfield’s Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO) is getting ready to launch a new program called HATCH, designed to incubate small or start-up businesses until they get wings of their own.

Claire Seguin, NEDCO executive director, said funding has been provided by the City of Springfield to underwrite the cost of rent and services for up to four entrepreneurs of qualifying income to simultaneously join the program.

Adjacent to the NEDCO building, at 216 Main St. a building is currently being remodeled and prepared as somewhat of a blank canvas for the four chosen companies. The interior is separated into four sections, each about 250 to 350 square feet.

Seguin said she visualizes occupants that can grow symbiotically such as a nail salon, an art studio, a CPA and a flower shop that can display each others’ work, pass out advertising and provide referrals for their cohorts to their own customer bases.

“We also need to find four businesses that love being in this incubator environment, where they help each other grow,” Seguin said. “They kind of have to have the right philosophy about business, about supporting each other.

For more on this and other news from around the Springfield area, be sure to pick up a copy of the Feb. 4 issue of Springfield Times, available at news racks and stores all around the area. Look under the ‘Newspaper Locations’ link on this site to find out where. To subscribe to the paper, call 541-741-7368 or stop by 741 Main St.

By Beckie Jones

Springfield Times Intern

Claire Seguin has been a Springfield businesswoman for only a year, but you’d never know it by her love for this town and the people in it.

The recent transplant from San Diego moved her husband and son up here last year when she was offered the executive director position with Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO).

Seguin’s pride and enthusiasm for what her organization does for the people of this town is evident in her friendly, warm demeanor.

“I think NEDCO’s just an amazing organization,” Seguin said. “I get more and more proud every day to be a part of it because everywhere I go someone says something good about NEDCO. (They’re) coming from kind of a proud tradition and it’s really neat to be the next generation and figure out things to do.”

For more on this and other stories from the special Women in Business tab, be sure to pick up a copy of the Jan. 28 issue of Springfield Times, available at news racks and stores all around the area. Look under the ‘Newspaper Locations’ link on this site to find out where. To subscribe to the paper, call 541-741-7368 or stop by 741 Main St.

At a recent PR Risk, Crisis and Trust Communications Conference, I had a very interesting conversation with one of the attendees during my self imposed coffee break and her “must stretch my legs” break. Our connection started with her asking me about my target market and whether I helped only small businesses. After a rather convoluted yes – involving some discussion surrounding the “S” that was removed from the Business Development Corporation and NEDCO’s role – we got to talking about manager’s who don’t read – not just books – but emails sent to appraise them of a situation which they would then ask questions about in a meeting – as if hearing about the information for the first time -forcing you to roll your eyes in wonderment and exasperation. Simply summarized she found that the managers she worked with did not keep up to date at all. She felt that once they got to a certain position that they assumed an attitude of “I reach” and that they felt they need not learn anything else!

Consider this:

• 33,000 new products are launched every year (costing billions of dollars) – yet as many as 75% fail. Why? Most marketers don’t know what customers want.

• Many business fail within 3-5 years from start up. Why? Because many don’t know what they need to do to stay profitable and grow.

• Internationally 38 corporations fell off the Fortune 500 in 2009 alone, and 429 of the original 500 from 1955 are gone. Why? Their leaders lost touch with changes in their respective industries, with new technologies and new customer demands.

We now have access to more information, than at any time in history – about 500 Exabytes on the Internet alone (an Exabyte being one quintillion bytes), yet in a time where one false move can destroy your business or wipe out your wealth – it is harder than ever to find a handful of insights to drive your major business decisions. In a world where we seem to have an explosion of information – insightful information seems hard to identify.

What do Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and A.G Lafley have in common? They read. Warren Buffet , easily the most successful investor in history, credits his success to spending the majority of his day reading, hunkered down in the details of company annual reports, business periodicals and numerous other books.

In a New York Times Article titled: “C.E.O Libraries Reveal Key to Success” it cites “Serious leaders who are serious readers build personal libraries dedicated to how to think, not how to compete.” It goes on to say “Personal libraries have always been a biopsy of power. The empire-loving Elizabeth I surrounded herself with the Roman historians, many of whom she translated, and kept one book under lock and key in her bedroom, in a French translation she alone of her court could read: Machiavelli’s treatise on how to overthrow republics, “The Prince.” Churchill retreated to his library to heal his wounds after being voted out of power in 1945 — and after reading for six years came back to power.”

A recent study showed that 45.1% of adults didn’t read a book all year, only 12% of adults read one book per month and a tiny minority – just 4% read at least one book per week. Which category do you think Warren, Bill and A.G fit into? Indeed the tiny minority of readers – who are incidentally also leaders!

Although the publishing industry is a thriving one, the truth is that many people who buy books rarely get past page 18. There are two major obstacles to reading. One we’ve already established – too much information and the other is of course – not enough time available for reading and reading is a time intensive activity.

There are really only two ways to get around the reading challenge. One is to of course do the heavy lifting yourself and commit to reading at least a book a week. The other option is to invest in a book summary service.

Some people bluntly say they don’t read. They say they would read if only they had the time.

People who don’t read cheat themselves. By not reading, you limit what you can achieve, make mistakes you could avoid, and miss opportunities that could improve your life. Soon, as the gaps in your knowledge become apparent to others, you must reconcile yourself to not being taken seriously. I will also be blunt: You have time to do what you choose to do. So please do yourself a huge favor and make the time to read.

The word ‘entrepreneur’ generally calls to mind an image of a fast-talking, savvy businessman with numbers on the brain and money to burn.

Schoolchildren wielding rubber-bands? …Not so much.

But this rubber-band project was a building block of an innovative activity geared to stimulate students’ entrepreneurial drives.

This was done by students at one of the schools linked to the Trinidad & Tobago Entrepreneurship and Innovation Club (TTEI), which is headed by Ryan John.

Rubber-band innovation

As John explained, the rubber-band project demonstrated why students frequently arrived late to school.

Thick rubber-bands of varying colours were sold for $1 each, and along the rubber-band’s surface, information was written to indicate time and distance between places.

The students then used the rubber-bands to indicate on maps their routes to school, demonstrating how difficult it was to be on time.

The end result is a visual and artistic representation that reflects an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to the process of problem-solving.

The students hope to venture out into the surrounding community to expand the project and get others to take part in it, with the hope of gaining an audience of the Ministry of Works and Transport and eventually the Prime Minister.

TTEI – nurturing innovation

The example of the potential to be gleaned from a mere rubber-band was one of the seeds of thought inculcated by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Club.

Currently operating through The National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST), the Club provides a forum where young people can visit in order to get some information on business practices and to practice entrepreneurship before leaving school.

Ryan John believes that it is essential to begin teaching and encouraging entrepreneurship from a very young age, at least at the Form 3 level.

“By the time they’re finished with CXC, they’ve gone through that ‘brainwashing’ process of ‘you’re going to school to work for somebody, to get a job’,” he said.

“Before that is injected, we need to instill in them that there is a possibility that exists for them to be able to put something of their own out there and live off it.”

All-encompassing innovation

John lamented the fact that, at present, as the Club operates through NIHERST, it mainly attracts youths from the Port-of-Spain region.

He would like for the Club to exist in different locations around Trinidad and Tobago, and to liaise with other companies to aid the development of the country.

He acknowledged that some companies have already contributed to promoting innovation, but insisted that most efforts have been separatist to date, which only benefited the company’s interests rather than the country as a whole.

TTEI aims to function as an all-encompassing entity and neutral body that does not focus on any one sector or industry, but takes the entire development of the country into consideration.

“We want it to be a centerpiece for every element that exists for helping youths – we’re connected to Science and Technology, so we can direct members of the Club to where to go for ideas and how to make their ideas feasible, where to go for patenting, and so on,” John said.

Mobile mentorship

Some successes of the Club to date include the hosting of National Entrepreneurship Development Company Limited (NEDCO) and Business Development Company (BDC) for lectures and discussions on business funding.

Ryan John has also conducted talks on the necessary sacrifices involved in being an entrepreneur, and worked with students in teams towards the development of innovative ideas towards an end product.

John’s next step for the Club is to begin a ‘mobile mentorship’ program, where youths can connect to recognised and established people in their fields of interest and pitch questions and concerns by text-messaging, emailing and the Internet.

Reflective of the high-paced technologically-driven atmosphere of youths, this is ideal for young entrepreneurs, and would also be a more low-maintenance and less time-consuming relationship for the mentor as well.

UTT’s Innovation Centre

TTEI is only one initiative to indicate that innovation is alive and well in Trinidad and Tobago.

Who knows? Perhaps the members of TTEI will be the same youths to develop start-ups businesses under the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s (UTT’s) Innovation Centre (TTIC), a business incubator that will provide tenancy and enhanced managerial and financial support for 1-3 years to start-up technology and knowledge-based companies.

Operating virtually since October 2006, the Centre will finally have a place to be physically housed upon the launch of e TecK’s Tamana InTech Park in Wallerfield, north Trinidad.

Like John’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Club, TTIC aims to be a springboard for young entrepreneurs who need the framework to pursue their entrepreneurial desires and innovative ideas, with the intention of culminating in the successful launch into the world of business.

To find out more about TTIC, click here.

To connect with TTEI on Facebook, click here.

NEDCO was organized in 1987 as a not-for-profit corporation to operate as a Certified Development Company. Since then, it has been the principle Certified Development Company serving Nebraska. Under Section 504 of the Small Business Act, SBA selects local development organizations to assist small businesses in securing buildings and other real assets (such as machinery). The 504 loan program is a significant benefit to small businesses and the communities they serve.

Most commercial loans and SBA guaranteed loans are for operating purposes. The 504 program allows businesses to buy their own real assets (rather than leasing them) and pay for them over a longer term. Under the program, a business must put 10% down – about half of the down payment required under a conventional mortgage. The bank agrees to finance half of the loan. The remaining 40% is financed by the CDC (NEDCO in Nebraska) at a rate lower than conventional rates. Thus, the blended loan is at a lower rate, is more secure for the local bank, and provides a solid financial commitment to the local community by the business.

For many years the Nebraska Business Development Center has worked closely with NEDCO by packaging loans that use the 504 program. In addition, Loren Kucera, NBDC director at Wayne State College, and Ingrid Battershell, NBDC director in Scottsbluff, have served on NEDCO loan committees. Loren has also served for many years on the board of directors for NEDCO. NBDC is proud of the work NEDCO has done in Nebraska economic development and proud of our continuing relationship with NEDCO.

Loan modifications are for homeowners that are currently late on their mortgage and have a VIABLE way to keep their home if their loan was modified to a lower payment. Homeowners MUST call their servicer and work directly with them.  Yes servicers are backlogged at this point but if you are persistent and have all of your documentation, you should be successful.  

NEDCO is a non-profit organization that can help you gather the right documentation and counsel you on how to go about and have the most success with your modification process.   THIS IS A FREE SERVICE.

Please think twice before you pay someone to negotiate for you.  If it sounds too good to be true, it is!!  If you have money to pay a negotiatior or modification company- please call your servicer immediately, that money will go along way with your servicer to have them help you modify your existing loan.

www.nedco.cdc.org or 1-800-345-7106 are ways to reach a NEDCO counselor.  They can help!!

NEDCO is relatively new to Marion and Polk Counties, but has been servicing the Eugene and Corvallis area for years.  NEDCO works with a variety of First-Time Homebuyer Assistance Programs, including:

City of Salem, Homebuyer Assistance Program

Home Ownership Opportunity Program

OHCS Purchase Assistance Loan

Valley Individual Development Accounts (VIDA)

HomeStart $$- Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle

They also offer a variety of educational services for potential homebuyers, including the Threshold Homeownership Program, the ABC’s of Homebuying, Default and Foreclosure Prevention Consultations, and individual consultations for credit repair and financial counseling.

Their Salem office is located just up the street from my office, at 862 Commercial St SE, in Salem. Carlos can be contacted at 503-779-2680 for more details on each of these programs.