Читать книгу Free Help from Uncle Sam to Start or Expand Your Business - Fred Hess - Страница 6

With 1,000 different loan programs, two dozen agencies, and congressionally mandated “ombudsman” departments in every federal agency (most of them designed to help underprivileged and minorities to get a fair shake), success stories reported by the SBA and its supported agencies (SCORE, SBDC, SBIR, et al.) dominate the news. Often overlooked, however, are success stories from other agencies such as the Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Energy. Here are a few from which you might draw helpful inspirations. Taking advantage of them can save you many $$$.

An Entrepreneur with a Nose for Opportunity

San Francisco, CA – Nearly a third of all Americans have some kind of allergy. Chart Yu figured there had to be a way to help Americans breathe easier, so he created Gazoontite, a consumer-friendly retail store devoted to allergy products.

In 1997, Yu voluntarily gave up his management position at Clorox to become a sales clerk at Crate & Barrel –- a daring move that gave him valuable retail experience at 15 percent of his previous salary. He easily could have spent the next several decades trying to learn all the other aspects of running a successful start-up business. Instead, he began seeking out resources to help him formulate a realistic business plan. A visit to the San Francisco office of the Small Business Administration led him to the local chapter of SCORE.

“SCORE helped me understand the big picture – addressing consumer needs and developing a strategy for meeting them,” Yu says. “We covered everything from the first small steps to the long term moves that would sustain my company’s growth.”

Yu’s first Gazoontite store opened on San Francisco’s upscale Union Street in April 1999. A month later, gazoontite.com debuted in cyberspace. Both were immediate hits for allergy sufferers and their families. Yu’s idea also sparked interest in the financial community, attracting over $30 million of venture capital financing that has allowed Gazoontite to open stores in New York, Chicago, and Costa Mesa, California.

In 2005, Gazoontite LLC was acquired by The Clorox Corporation.

Help for Freon Sniffer

Townsend, VT -- The Instrument Division of Janos Technology developed a significant product that has the ability to detect freon-based refrigerants. U.S. and import auto manufacturers are considering whether to offer the tool as “mandated” or “optional” tool to dealers. Specifically, Ford and GM are looking to this device to comply with clean-air standards to refrigerant recycling. The company received a $600,000 guarantee loan through the Department of Agriculture Rural Business Services.

The company continues to be successful, and currently provides 77 jobs for its community. Funding will be used for company expansion and is expected to save the existing 77 jobs while providing 10 new jobs.

Fiberglass Auto Parts

Grand Ledge, MI -- E-T-M Enterprises manufactures reinforced fiberglass parts for truck, automotive, and recreational vehicle manufacturers. A guaranteed loan from the Department of Agriculture enabled the company to expand its manufacturing plant. The project saved 330 jobs currently provided by the company and will create an additional 230 jobs.

Wood Products

Medford, OR -- Southern Oregon Regional Development Inc. is in the Pacific Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative (PNWEAI) and funds are from the PNWEAI reserve. Preference was extended to businesses that create or retain industrial production of wood products. Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc. (SO-REDI), estimates that by targeting a maximum of $20,000 per job created or saved, the $1,500,000 IRP loan will create or save at least 50 jobs in the fund’s first round of loans for the communities of this two-county area. SO-REDI has initially identified 28 potential small businesses that could benefit from the IRP funds. IRP credit needs for these businesses total approximately $2,000,000.

Seed Conditioning

West Lebanon, IN -- Hubner Industries purchased a seed conditioning plant. The company purchases raw seed corn and soybeans to condition, packages and stores in a warehouse, and distributes to wholesalers and retailers. They received funding of $2,400,000 through the Department of Agriculture Rural Business Service Loan Guarantee Program. They will export some seed to Italy, France, and Spain. The funding resulted in the creation of 24 new jobs.

Zero-Cost Consultant Spots Problem

Vienna, VA -- This couple bought a five-year-old quick-print shop with four employees. Within a year they ran into many problems. Primarily, they were unable to do more than break even. Somebody introduced them to a management consultant who charged them $80 for the first session. As the shop owners anticipated a long consulting relationship at considerable costs, a friend told them about the Washington area Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) office. An experienced management expert from SCORE quickly pointed to the problem: employee inefficiency. It was a tough decision, but one man was laid off and a profit leak in the business was immediately plugged. “Five out of six small businesses fail during the first two years,” said the counselor, “due firstly to poor management, and secondly to lack of adequate financing.”

Seven Percent Interest Reduction

Valparaiso, IN -- After 22 years as an employee in the food industry, this man decided to go into the wholesale meat packing business with his three sons. They obtained financing through the SBA but at high rates existing at that time—151/2 percent. Within a few months it became clear that the business could not take off as quickly as anticipated, and that the onerous financing terms were making survival impossible. An old friend who was now a counselor with the nearby SCORE office went to bat for the new entrepreneur and arranged with the SBA rescheduled repayment at 81/2 percent. Now, nearly seven years later, the business is prospering and its products can be found from Detroit to Chicago.

SCORE Team Helps Float Business to Success

Boise, ID -- A vacation in the Idaho River country led San Francisco businessman, D.T., into a partnership with a local river raft builder. At first, the company’s quality products enabled it to grow from $250,000 to $750,000 annual gross. However, such rapid expansion brought its problems, namely purchasing, scheduling, inventory control, production snafus and managing employees, which had grown from three to eleven people. A call to the local SBA office got them in touch with a retired Boise Cascade executive who was now a volunteer SCORE counselor. With his continued help and another experienced volunteer, new production schedules were worked out and quality products restored. The SCORE counselors have become an integral pan of the firm’s team and at no cost to the company. This was truly free help from Uncle Sam!

Cemetery Saved from Going Under

Albert Lea, MN -- Privately-owned and -operated cemeteries can be big business, but like all enterprises, they are subject to the risks and frailties of private enterprise. The local burial facility had been a family-owned business until it suffered a number of acquisitions by absentee owners. Advance payments for graves and a mausoleum were absconded and the property was embroiled in litigation and bad public relations. While the state filed charges against the latest owners, investors in the cemetery banded together and formed a cooperative association, obtained the court’s approval to try and save the company, and brought in a SCORE team from nearby Minneapolis to offer a revival plan. More than 500 lot owners were located, brought together, and offered the SCORE reorganization plan. The latter hands-on assistance and the establishment of a volunteer board of directors brought the nearly defunct cemetery back to life again.

Community Taken by Storm after Tornado

Council Bluffs, IA -- A tornado caused $30,000,000 worth of damage and the local mayor called in the local SCORE chapter to get the town back into business. Within six days, 18 members met to map out a rescue plan. One hundred thirty-four businesses were damaged; $4,500,000 was needed; 105 workers were put back to production. SCORE assisted in getting disaster loans and federal retraining programs, becoming an arm of the small municipal staff and helping 131 businesses to open again.

Incubator Community Breeds Small Business Success

Golden, CO -- The Business and Innovation Center is called an incubator because it “hatches” fledgling businesses into full-blown enterprises. It has, on an average, 14 tenants in its 8,500 square feet of space at the Denver West Office Park. A Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is also located here as well as a nearby SCORE office, whose members volunteer their time to help new, small businesses become successful. Partial support comes from private industry through corporate membership. Subsidies usually operate for the first three years of the small businesses accepted into the incubator program. The incubators are expected to grow into self-sufficiency within that time and “graduate” into outside facilities. Most incubator facilities are affiliated with universities, where professional and academic personnel are available to assist in guidance and advisory capacities. The National Business Incubation Association is located at 20 East Circle Drive, Suite 190, Athens, Ohio, 45701. Phone is (740) 593-4331.

Desert Storm Reservists Aided

Minneapolis, MN -- The owner of a local firm was called into service and taken away from his business during Operation Desert Storm. He was one of several from the area to be dislocated during this military emergency. While in some cases the wives took over, the local SCORE chapter jumped into the breach with team assistance on various levels—at no cost. The value of such professional services is difficult to estimate, but is indubitably of greater pragmatic value than a bank or SBA loan.

Sweet on Sourdough

San Luis Obispo, CA-- A couple who loved San Francisco sourdough bread decided that the area was ripe for a hometown bakery that furnished locals with the Golden Bay’s famed specialty. They leased a 2500 sq. ft. building, obtained two small loans from a lender who was backed by SBA guaranties, hired one expert employee, lined up two outlets, and began producing 150 one-pound loaves each night. It took but three weeks to increase production, due to word-of-mouth demand. Next, the company expanded into a new 18,000 sq. ft. building and increased its market into much of Southern California. Sales rose to $3,000,000 due to the right amount of dough -- from San Francisco and the SBA.

Gourmet Cookie Company Kneads Way to Wealth

New York City -- The Big Apple appears to be a tough orchard in which to grow a new company. However, a California woman transplanted to New York City opened her own deluxe cookie company after six years of work apprenticeship at a leading hotel. A friend recommended the local SCORE chapter as a counseling resource, and she attended a pre-business workshop. One of the counselors helped her in the preparation of a business plan. The latter identified competition, needed production levels for desired cash flow, location, and personnel requirements. Her initial factory was in a wholesale bakery. She attended local gift shows and utilized trade publications for publicity and small ads. The next year she opened a trial retail shop and moved into her own baking facility. The assigned SCORE counselor was with her every step of the way and the combined efforts have paid dividends.

International Trade from Deep in the Heart of Texas

Midland, TX -- Exporting can originate anywhere in the vast United States. The Texas Department of Commerce passes on leads and inquiries to local SCORE and chamber of commerce chapters. One of them is a local oil and gas drilling operation. In addition to passing on the sales lead from a company in the Philippines, the local SCORE chapter invited the oil company to an international trade seminar. Result: profitable export of equipment produced by existing facilities, all at no cost to the company.

Business Higher Than a Kite

San Diego, CA -- Two brothers who as boys loved flying kites, realized their young dreams by going into the manufacturing of scientifically designed kites. Of course, in the growing-up process, one of the brothers became an aeronautical engineer with an MBA from USC, while the other became an engineer-designer. A “big brother” was added when the local SCORE office was approached for some free business assistance to the new company, which was located in a garage. The SCORE counselor, with experience in export, advised them to look into foreign trade. A trip to Japan resulted in a working relationship with the huge Sony Corporation. The business is still a family affair (mother is the number one helper) and is prospering. Says one of the brother partners, “I never thought we'd get in so far, so fast.”

Committee Scores 100% Loan Acceptance

Salem, OR -- Getting a loan for a new or small expanding business is often the hardest job, especially when you really need the $$$. In Salem, the local SCORE chapter, headed by a banker, formed a mini-loan committee that guides applicants from the business committee in preparing the proper applications and steers them through the local banks. Of five recently recommended loan applications, all were accepted by banks. The prime reason: the committee approved workable or realistic budget figures before the applications were turned over to the banks -- and evidently the latter agreed.

One-Stop “Business Connection” Helped by SBA

Phoenix, AZ -- The Arizona Business Connection is a one-stop center for small businesses. It was established by the Arizona Department of Commerce and two area SCORE chapters. A statewide toll-free telephone provides you with no-cost calling. Local SCORE chapters follow up call-ins with check-up calls and further counseling where this is desired. The SBA’s and Arizona’s outreach program to small businesses is a great inspiration for other areas and states to follow and enhances the government’s free services to the business community.

SBA Deposits $450,000in Schnitzel Bank

Shepherdstown, WV -- Running a successful restaurant is the dream of thousands of entrepreneurs. Love does indeed go through the stomach. However, a restaurant can also become an investor’s nightmare. The Bavarian Inn, run by experienced restaurateurs from Munich, Germany, Erwin and Carol Asam, is a shining exception of a dream come true. Local banks put together $750,000 to help the business expand, and the SBA, approached by the banks, added another $450,000 the following year. This infusion of capital enabled the inn to increase its volume from $600,000 to $1,000,000. Now sales are in excess of $3,000,000 and nearly a hundred people find employment here. Superior food and accommodations, backed by real expertise and financial security enabled this very tricky business to become an annual award winner.

Hazardous Waste Companies Have Rosy Opportunities

Miami, FL -- One of the nation’s pioneers in hazardous waste management, control, and disposal is Enviropact, Inc. They started with more foresight than experience and grew in importance and size until the SBA guaranteed a bank loan of $430,000 to expand the operation. The company paid it back in less than four years. Revenue originally was less than $3,000,000. It has since skyrocketed to more than $30,000,000 with a commensurate growth in employees. Opportunities in the environment are prolific. EPA, SBA, and virtually every government agency have financial aid programs for the alert entrepreneur in this field.

Hispanic Firm Plays Winning Ball with SBA

Morton, TX -- Ben Ansolabehere (he’s of Basque origin) runs a company called Great Western Meat Company. It employs about 300 people, mostly Mexican-Americans, and does around $40,000,000 in annual business. When Ben first started, he got a boost from the SBA with a $300,000 loan, supplemented since then with $500,000. The investment was worth it and loans have been repaid. Great Western now exports $36,000,000 of horse meat to France, sells equine organs to pharmaceutical companies for serum production, and the horse hides to baseball manufacturers. In fact, 40 percent of America’s baseballs are covered with leather produced in Morton, Texas. It’s been a win-win game for all sides.

Baby Superstore

Greenville, SC -- Twenty years ago Jack Tate graduated from Harvard as a young lawyer. Two years later, while his wife, Ginny, was raising their baby, lawyer Tate changed law books for diapers and opened a large baby store. The very first year, a combination of timing, good research, and hard work helped the Tates reach a volume of $500,000. Within eight years, expansion of the business, now called Baby Superstore, enabled the SBA to come up with an expansion loan of $460,000. Today the firm has over two dozen franchise stores, annual sales of $27,000,000, and employs over 350 people in stores averaging 20,000 sq. ft. each. Success came before the money, but the SBA helped to lubricate the company’s growth at the right time.

Hot Dog! Maine’s Small Business Person of the Year

Portland, ME -- H. Allen Ryan worked for a hot dog and luncheon meat producer in the state of Maine. With the SBA’s help he transformed it into a dynamo, offering 4,000 different food and non-food items to 1,400 restaurants, schools, and hospitals. “The local bank insisted on an SBA guarantee as part of their commitment, meaning that without SBA’s help the whole deal was likely to die,” disclosed Ryan. “I found SBA to be detailed, professional, and very helpful during the negotiations for the guarantee. They asked tough questions as they sought to balance the interests of the taxpayer and their responsibility to assist small companies. In the end, they saved our deal. Without SBA’s help, I might not own our growing business today.”

The Fastest-Growing Hispanic Firm in Arizona

Phoenix, AZ -- Roberto Ruiz’s Maya Construction is also the tenth fastest-growing Hispanic firm in the nation. With the SBA’s help, sales went from $1,700 a year in 1978 to $23,000,000 in ten years. Ruiz has built everything from schools at Fort Huachuca to a water distribution system (including drinking fountains) for the National Park Service in the Grand Canyon. Maya has built private and state building, roadway, and underground water and sewer projects, as well. Seeing himself “as a coach, not a captain” of his company, Ruiz likes to act “as a cheering section for employees, to tell them when they’re on target and guide them when they’re not.” Twice a year, he and his top managers take a two-day retreat to plot Maya’s business future.

Ruiz has garnered many accolades, including Arizona Small Business Person of the Year and National Minority Contractor of the Year. SBA likes to think of itself as a cheering section for this intrepid Mexican-American.

Federal Express: SBA Was There at the Creation

Federal Express vice president Fred Smith, whose family founded Dixie Greyhound, started his air package delivery service in Memphis, Tennessee.

Undercapitalized and overreaching, the company had lost close to $7,000,000 in the first few months. There was no partial bail-out possible -- Smith determined he needed no less than $24,500,000 of investment capital (to be matched by banks) in order to service the dozens of cities that would make the new delivery concept both profitable and efficient. Meanwhile, as one report put it, “the company was being held together with bailing wire.”

SBA’s Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) supplied 20 percent or roughly $5,000,000 of financing needed by Federal Express when the young firm was in its critical start-up years.

Some 51,000 people are working at Federal Express (up from only 518 at the time of SBA’s involvement). The $3,000,000,000 company created a new concept in hard copy delivery and a whole industry of competitors as well.

From A $75 Parking Lot Striper Machine to Riches

Steven Neighbors of Boise, Idaho, swept parking lots as a schoolboy. He noticed that many lots needed fresh stripes to guide drivers into parking spaces. When the opportunity to buy a $75 striping machine came along, he took it.

“I had a dream to start a road-striping business and was not taken seriously by anyone but the SBA. Their personnel listened seriously to a kid who looked fifteen, and set in motion for him to be trained to consider market, project goals, cash flow, etc. In essence, the Small Business Administration, with the commitment of a direct loan of $10,000 and an investment of time, created a small businessman.”

The investment of time was provided chiefly by SBA’s SCORE counselor Jim Cheatham, a retired engineer, and Nancy Guiles, a loan officer, in the Boise district office. The result is business history. Neighbors’ company, Eterna-Line Corp., was listed among Inc. magazine’s 500 fastest-growing private companies for several years. Annual sales went from $5,000 at the time of the SBA loan to $10,000,000 today. Currently there are 200 employees.

Canvas Tarps Made in a Basement

He invented a beltless tarp that rolls automatically over a truck full of grain. His hardwood veneers adorn many renovated homes across the land. But what makes Ed Shorma most happy is that there are at least fifteen nationalities among his 220 employees at Wahpeton Canvas in North Dakota.

You wouldn’t expect Malaysians and Indonesians to work in 30°-below-zero weather, or what Northerners call white-out storms. But Shorma has sponsored dozens of refugees from many lands, and has gone one step further -- he's given them jobs.

Up-from-the-bootstraps stories don’t involve SBA -- that’s the conventional misconception. After an unsuccessful stint at farming and a term in the state legislature, Shorma wanted to go full tilt with canvas-making. To affect a move from a basement to a downtown space, SBA loaned Shorma $75,000. The extra space was put to immediate use manufacturing original equipment seats for Canadian farm equipment makers -- helping the trade balance in the days when it wasn’t so unbalanced.

At the time of SBA’s first loan, Wahpeton Canvas had gross annual sales of $147,000 and seventeen employees. Today the firm sells $12,000,000 worth of goods a year, and has 220 employees. Not a bad return on investment!

The Pretty Puny Pickle Packer

Like relish on your hot dog? Have a yen for sweet (or dill) pickles? Chances are, sometime in the past thirty years, most Americans have enjoyed a product of Atkins Pickle Company of Atkins, Arkansas. Think of the Ozarks the next time you taste a good, long, green pickle. And think of the SBA -- without it, Atkins would have remained a small, unknown pickle packer.

The pickle company received a $350,000 SBA loan when it had less than $l, 000,000 in annual sales and 100 employees. Today Atkins Pickle has $20,000,000 in yearly sales and 400 employees.

Fired Man Builds Uniform Chain

“I was fired into greatness,” quips Harvey Hafetz of his dismissal from a job as a sales representative for a cosmetics distributor. Of course, that’s today -- then it was a painful experience. Harvey’s wife, Zena, had decided just that year to leave her job as an elementary school teacher and try another challenge. The couple purchased a small uniform shop in Reading, Pennsylvania, as an investment and to give Zena part-time on-the-job training for a new career. But when Harvey lost his job, he joined his wife at the little store. Z&H Uniforms was born.

Today, the company has twenty retail stores, mostly in shopping malls, and eleven leased departments catering primarily to health care professionals. A contract sales department furnishes executive-type apparel, hospitality, food service, and industrial-type clothing to industry.

Z&H added ten stores after acquiring a Philadelphia-based competitor’s stores with the help of a $600,000 SBA-guaranteed loan from Meridian Bank. The firm had 75 employees then: only three years later, it has 170. Annual sales volume has doubled in that time, from $3,500,000 to $7,000,000.

Fishing Boat Success

Ever heard of a startup fishing boat? It happens. With a loan of $500,000, SBA helped launch the Huntress II and its captain, Richard Goodwin, into the fishing waters off the coast of Rhode Island. According to James Hague, district director in the Providence office, “Our major consideration in approving the SBA portion of this loan was that under-utilized species such as mackerel, hake, herring, and scup, not widely consumed in the United States, would be processed and exported to foreign markets such as Japan, Spain, and other European countries.”

The Huntress II employs forty workers, and annual sales in the first year were $2,400,000, substantially exceeding expectations. Sales doubled in the second year. Huntress, Inc. recently purchased a second ship for $1,200,000, which will employ up to fifteen new workers.

“The fishing industry in Rhode Island has always been a risky business,” said Buddy Violet of Ocean State Business Development Authority (OSBDA). “But these new boats are to fishing what Babe Ruth was to baseball. Phenomenal!” Violet noted that SBA was a crucial partner in the project. The state of Rhode Island “could not have gone anywhere else to cinch the deal but the SBA,” he said.

Government at Apple’s Core

An SBA-backed Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) provided $504,000 in equity financing to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, founders of Apple Computer. The company made $42,000 in profit that year. Only fifteen years later, Apple Computer enjoyed annual sales of $6,300,000,000 and employed 10,000 people.

Mexican Restaurant Big Hit

Who said SBA won’t back a startup restaurant?

Mariano Martinez, Jr. gathered every resource he could to start a restaurant in Dallas’ Old Town Shopping Center. He had $5,000 of his own money, and he borrowed $5,000 from his father, $5,000 from a friend, and $51,000 from SBA. By year’s end, Martinez had 60 employees and annual sales of $350,000.

Over the next twelve years, Martinez opened a second restaurant in Arlington, Texas, with SBA help ($390,000 loan), and another in Dallas with a $243,000 loan.

Today, employment at the firm has increased to 200, and annual sales exceed $3,000,000. The original loan is paid off, while the others remain current.

How about a Joint

Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, affects millions, sometimes requiring an implant. The SBA participated in many of the 300,000 joint procedures in operating rooms yearly. Here’s how.

Giant pharmaceutical corporations traditionally manufacture orthopedic implants. The SBA took a chance on a small company in Warsaw, Indiana, called Biomet, whose first-year sales were only $17,000. It guaranteed a $500,000 loan to the owners, Dr. Dane Miller, Niles Noblitt, Jerry Ferguson, and Ray Harroff.

Originally its four owners were the only employees. Biomet expanded to 530 workers and annual sales of over $55,000,000. The company’s phenomenal success -- due to technical innovations and rapid delivery of its implants -- has made it a fast growing NASDAQ (National Association of Security Dealers’ Automated Quotation System) company, and the fifth-largest manufacturer of orthopedic implant devices in the world.

Plenty of Bread in the U.S.

Samir Saleh fled Lebanon when civil war broke out. He came to the U.S. and with his uncle’s help started a bakery.

Uncle Moussa also “was aware of the resources of SBA,” according to Samir. At first there was a pessimistic assessment by a SCORE counselor and the internationally known baking consultant Frank Dadon. But soon, Fred Fried, a retired Westinghouse financial supervisor and SCORE counselor, was giving the Salehs help with business planning and accounting. Along the way, two SBA loans gave the Salehs a boost. A $100,000 loan covered new machinery and a small debt to a credit union. Three years later, an additional loan of $178,000 helped the bakery expand to four times its original size.

“For people in our situation, SBA’s assistance is the best thing that ever existed,” said a grateful Samir. “Only in America could three young immigrant boys with little previous business experience come so far in ten short years.”

SCORE Classes in an Indiana Prison

Richard Dasse of the Northwest Indiana Chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) recalls when he and his SCORE associate began providing management training seminars in a most unusual place -- an Indiana prison. ““Afraid? You bet we were. We feared for our safety, and we really wondered if anyone would be interested.”

Now, after three years of providing assistance at the Westville Correctional Center, Dasse acknowledges, “This is not exactly a Sunday School atmosphere,” but adds: “We’re tremendously impressed. The interest is great, and we've encountered some brilliant individuals.”

The courses offered at Westville, a medium-security institution located about an hour’s drive from Chicago, are similar to those a small business person might find "on the outside" -- a pre-business workshop, one on small business management, another on challenges specific to small business, and another on small business sales.

Intel -- A Giant in Byte-Size Chips

It’s the eighth largest manufacturer of semiconductors in the world (and one of only three American companies in the top ten). It’s responsible for two of the major postwar innovations in microelectronics that have made today’s electronic age possible -- large-scale integrated (LSI) memory and the microprocessor. Its computer chips, software, and minicomputers drive everything from digital gasoline pumps to scanner cash registers in supermarkets.

It’s Intel. And when it was a one-year-old baby company, with 218 employees and $565,874 in sales, it received SBA-backed Small Business Investment Company equity of $299,390. Today, Intel has 19,200 employees and annual sales of $1,900,000,000. It has often approached and even surpassed achievements of rivals Motorola and Texas Instruments -- two corporate giants when Intel was a startup small business.

A large percentage of Intel’s total revenues come from abroad, making the company one of the top fifty U.S.-based manufacturing exporters. Who ever thought that a well placed bit of SBA-backed equity twenty years ago would be a key force in helping to fight our trade deficit?

Hardware Store in Wyoming

The number one store in the 1,500-store coast-to-coast chain of hardware stores rests in the mountain town of Casper, Wyoming. Owner Ed Bratt claims, “If it hadn't been for the SBA loan, I doubt we’d have even got off the ground.”

When Ed and Joyce Bratt tried to find funds to start a retail hardware store, banks shut them out. But by year’s end, SBA came to the rescue with a startup guaranteed loan of $175,000. “On opening day we sold twelve percent of our inventory,” Ed relates. No surprise that the loan was paid off in three years. With ten employees then, the Bratts now employ 39; their annual sales volume is $3,000,000.

Ice Cream Fails to Melt

Life with the 140-year-old Applegate Farm in Montclair, New Jersey, was anything but bright for Betty Vhay. Since purchasing the dairy farm, Vhay had endured more than the usual set of hard knocks. Money was chronically low; neighbors brought a lawsuit against the farm over “loud” machinery that was making ice cream; she went through a bitter divorce. It seemed to her at times that the circumstances of the farm’s purchase were an ill omen. After losing an unborn child in an auto accident, she had taken $100,000 in settlement money to stake her future on Applegate Farm.

Alone, and with two children to support, Vhay pulled out all stops in the search for money for the ice cream operation. Bank after bank turned her down as a credit risk. Then the Money Store Investment Corporation took a chance on Vhay and provided her with an SBA-guaranteed loan of $170,000. For the first time, she had working capital, was sole owner, and recorded her first profit.

At first Vhay employed 10; today she employs 52, most of whom are teenagers outfitted with their first job as ice cream barflies. Annual sales grew to $700,000 from $420,000 in six years.

Mel Farr Scores Touchdown in Cars

For every sports star that makes it big, there are many others who lose out when the limelight fades. Bad management skills, drugs, naive investments -- these are only a few of the pitfalls. But Mel Farr, former all-American halfback for UCLA and star runner for the Detroit Lions, stutter-stepped away from those things.

Mel Farr Ford, Inc., in Oak Park, Michigan, is one of the largest car dealers in America, ranked 37th of the nation’s top 100 U.S. black-owned businesses by Black Enterprise. But Farr does not forget a helping hand.

“When SBA granted my loan it was the very key to what I needed at that time,” Farr recalls. “Without it, I more than likely would have had to postpone or even forget about my dream of becoming an automobile dealer.”

The SBA made an auto dealer loan of $200,000 to Farr, when sales were $6,000,000. Today there are two more Mel Farr dealerships (Lincoln-Mercury) in Detroit, Michigan, and Aurora, Colorado, and aggregate sales are $52,000,000. There are 140 employees. Farr out!

Black Ex-Marine and Jewish Female Consultant Create United Nations Drilling Company

A Black man and a Jewish woman -- not your usual business team in critical pre-construction testing! It happened in the Bronx.

In a highly-specialized field hardly open to minorities and women, Garrett W. Brown, a Vietnam veteran, and Honie Ann Peacock, a consultant in employee relations, drill for "dirt" samples in the chasms of the Big Apple as Python Drilling and Testing.

Their first year was not a good one for construction. There were nights without dinner and weeks when payroll was met on a credit card. Peacock, a single parent, took two outside jobs and worked full-time without pay to help get the fledgling company off the ground. Brown, an ex-Marine sergeant who specialized in heavy construction equipment and diesel engines, brought 20 years of experience in the construction industry to the company. He designed and built their first drill rig in his living room.

Peacock wrote the loan proposal and marketing plan that enabled the company to receive a $50,000 direct loan from SBA, which bought them their first big drill rig and truck. Today their 16-person crew has been trained completely from within and represents a virtual "United Nations," including Blacks, Filipinos, Hispanics, Irish, and Finns, both male and female.

Though it has been an uphill struggle to gain the confidence of their numerous clients, Brown and Peacock maintain a positive attitude. And why not? From the time of SBA’s loan, annual sales have grown from $30,000 to over $1,000,000.

Doughnut-Making Machine Export Success

Li’l Orbits, a Minneapolis manufacturer of a miniature doughnut-making machine and doughnut mix, turned to the Department of Commerce for export assistance. The Department provided publicity with their New Product Information Service (NPIS) along with a description in Commercial News magazine, both distributed widely abroad. The products were also exhibited at a fast food exhibition in Paris, France.

“It looks like we’re in the export business to stay,” reports Li’l Orbits president Ed Anderson. “Results to date are gratifying. Worldwide publicity through this program has resulted in sales of the machine to firms in Japan, Thailand, Germany, and the West Indies.” These efforts resulted in $575,000 in sales. Inquiries from Jamaica, the Philippines, Singapore, Norway, Korea, and Denmark are expected to yield further sales.

Thermal Bags by Ingrid

A 12-employee, Des Plaines, Illinois, firm makes insulated bags for catering and food delivery. In five years the firm has gone from zero to approximately $900,000 in sales. Ingrid exhibited at a trade show attended by foreign firms but their orders were too large for her to fulfill.

She contacted the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration and described her problem. They arranged for her to attend an export-financing seminar. “Now we know how to do it,” Ingrid says. “We couldn’t have done it without the guidance we received from the Commerce Department.”They now export to England, Norway, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Mexico, and Panama.

Rebuilt Transmissions and Engines

Tracom, Inc., a small Fort Worth company, rebuilds automotive transmissions and engines. The Department of Commerce consulted with them about the potential for exporting, identified the appropriate foreign firms, and helped prepare a sales letter. One sale was to an Australian distributor for $470,000!

Sales increased from $250,000 a year to $2,500,000. Currently they sell to many foreign markets including the United Kingdom, Kuwait, and New Zealand.

Wholesale Computer Supplies

Digital Storage International, a company with six employees, handles magnetic media such as diskettes, tapes, and data cartridges in Columbus, Ohio. A slow domestic market compelled them to look elsewhere. The Department of Commerce’s Agent Distributor Service (ADS) helped locate overseas representatives. The Cincinnati DOC office also provided export counseling. This help led to expansion into 28 countries.

Department of Energy Helps Software Firm

The Department of Energy funds projects under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. It helped Emerson and Stem Associates, a small San Diego firm, develop software for elementary and junior high students using Apple computers. They then negotiated a licensing agreement with a major software publisher for production and distribution.

Department of Health Helps Launch Firm

Data Sciences had two employees and a good idea. They wanted to develop devices to help gather information for pharmaceutical firms from experiments via an implantable transmitter that monitors various body functions. They presented the idea to the Department of Health and Human Services, and received financial backing.

As a result of this help, the firm has grown to 12 persons and is selling about $20,000 worth of devices per month.

Department of Defense Funds Research

Ultramet, a Pacoima, California, firm, had an idea for a coating for rocket engines that won’t corrode and is tolerant of high temperatures. The DOD’s Small Business Innovation Research program provided funds to develop it. Ultramet is now selling this product to major aerospace companies.

National Science Foundation Helps Company Fight Pollution

Tracer Technologies, located in Newton, Maine, wanted to build an anti-pollution device. Funds from National Science Foundation through its Small Business Innovation Research program enabled them to do that. They came up with a gadget that can separate chlorinated hydrocarbons so that they can be burned in ordinary furnaces. A service business was launched as a result.

Pizza Analysis

The owner of a pizza shop was having problems with pizza consistency, and productivity. The Commerce Productivity Center sent information on statistical process control, cause and effect diagramming, and other techniques so he could monitor and analyze the process of preparing pizza, and determine the probable causes of the consistency problem. The CPC also provided him with information on providing quality service to the customer, measuring productivity, and how to study and improve workflow and equipment location. Japanese housekeeping “Five S” principles were instigated:

•Sort out the clutter

•Set things in order and standardize

•Shine equipment, tools, and workplace

•Share information, no searching

•Stick to the rules

Other principles he learned were:

•Clutter hides problems

•Storage spaces should be self-regulating through visual controls

•Cleaning equipment is a form of inspection

•Make information easily accessible; for example, place operating procedures on machines

Cultural Help

The American manager of a small West Coast electronics firm was having problems managing the engineers of Singapore and American-Chinese origin. The Commerce Productivity Center sent data on the work-related values, attitudes, and habits of these ethnic groups, which are different than those of American workers. The manager studied the data and instituted more appropriate policies. The result: increased productivity.

The Effect of Cold on Workers

A Northeast construction contractor’s job was delayed by legal problems. Outdoor construction was going to have to be done in winter instead of in warmer weather, as had been planned. The owner wanted to know how much productivity would decline because of cold, inclement weather so he could adjust his prices. The Commerce Productivity Center located and sent formulas and information on how construction productivity is affected at different temperatures.

The Effect of Lighting

A floor plan for remodeling some offices at a company had been developed. The plan called for every worker to have a window in his office. The boss didn’t think this was a good idea. The remodeling planners called to find out if employees with windows in their offices are more productive. The Commerce Productivity Center researched the problem and offered the findings. Workers with windows are happier, but not necessarily more productive. The real issue is proper lighting. Windows and sunlight aren’t necessarily appropriate. The best lighting is that which is designed for the particular tasks being performed; proper lighting improves performance. And lighting can be designed for energy efficiency and save money.

The Effect of Nightshift

A contractor was remodeling an office building’s interior during the daytime. The remodeling made so much noise that the building’s occupants couldn't get any work done. The occupants got a court injunction forcing the contractor to do the work at night.

When the night work started, the productivity of the contractor’s workforce dropped dramatically. The contractor called for help; the Commerce Productivity Center researched the problem and found the probable cause. People have an internal biological clock set by routine. Your body tells you when to wake up, when to eat, and when to go to sleep. When the workers suddenly shifted to night work, their biological clocks were disrupted. It produced a jet-lag-type effect.

Studies show that an individual’s productivity can decline until the biological clock adjusts to the new routine. There was a stress-producing disruption in the workers’ routines and schedules.

Saving Money on Wine

A small winery was losing money and needed to cut its costs. The winery had also been hiring full-time employees for jobs that took less than full time. The Commerce Productivity Center provided information on how to study the production process to identify waste in areas such as transportation, work in process, machine setup, non-value adding activities, storage, defects, et al., and on developing multi-skilled, multi-functional workers.

Good Advice at the Last Minute

The International Operations Group helps small businesses with their uncertainties concerning foreign clients. For example:

The president of a small consulting company heard that a potential Japanese client was coming to town the next day, on extremely short notice, and would be available for meetings. The International Operations Group helped the company locate information about the company, its products, and recent company activities, so that the consultant made a favorable impression and acquired the Japanese firm as a client.

Ever Been Buried by Your Work?

A rapid transit system contractor was involved in trenching and excavating and asked for help in protecting his workers. A Department of Labor consultant in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was called for a confidential, risk-free evaluation (i.e., the consultant would not issue any citations for violations of state or federal safety standards). The consultant arrived the day after a heavy rain and found some workers in a twelve-foot deep trench that was neither shored nor sloped. He advised immediate evacuation; the supervisor ordered all workers out of the trench. Ten minutes later the sides of the trench gave way. The workers would have been buried. The consultant showed the contractor a six-step plan to resume work safely.

The Government Cures Headaches

Workers at a small auto parts custom electroplating shop were having headaches. A gas-fired hot-water boiler had recently been installed. An OSHA consultant analyzed the problem: Carbon monoxide from the boiler was coming into the building because there was no vent to bring fresh air to the boiler, and, the exhaust fans, instead of helping, were making the problem worse. The employer, with the consultant’s help, was able to fix the problem easily.

Meat Packer Gets Solution to Hazard Problem

A meat packer’s employees worked on a slippery platform 10 feet above a concrete floor. The employees stood on the edge, working with power tools on carcasses suspended from a moving conveyor. The platform was slippery with animal fat. Guardrails could not be used since they would inhibit the conveyor. The employer contacted other meat packers and found that none had a solution.

An OSHA consultant gave a free, confidential, no-hassle safety survey. He recommended the employees wear a body belt with a lanyard attached by a sliding ring to an overhead rail. The employees thought they wouldn’t like it, but after trying it found it convenient and comfortable, and it didn’t slow them up.

Census Data Helps Sales

A manufacturer of corrugated boxes contacted the U.S. Census Bureau to help him analyze his sales in the state of Arizona. At the time, he was selling primarily to food packaging companies. Using census data, he found the market potential was 15 times larger than he was experiencing. Lumber, pottery, and glass industries in Arizona also needed his products and he successfully marketed to these previously unidentified customers.

A manufacturer of products for dairy farms used census data to locate counties with large numbers of dairy farms. By next determining which were the most prosperous, he was able to optimize his marketing efforts.

Government Publication Brings $2,500,000 in Sales

Barrier Industries of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, manufactures an insecticidal paint called “Bug-X.” They approached the Department of Commerce, who suggested worldwide exposure in the U.S. Government publication Commercial News USA. Information on “Bug-X” resulted in $2,500,000 in sales. The firm has signed six overseas agents and reports another eighteen under negotiation.

Teenage Landscape Entrepreneur

A Pennsylvania teenager applied for and received a Department of Agriculture Youth Project Loan to start a landscaping business. He purchased all of the necessary equipment and operated the business for three years before moving on to bigger things.

Grant for Solar-Powered Outhouse

A Missouri inventor applied for and received a grant to research and construct a solar-energized outhouse. The Above Ground Aerobic and Solar-Assisted Composting Toilet uses solar energy to decompose waste.

SCORE Helps Two Young Ladies Launch Butcher Shop

An old-fashioned butcher shop where you can buy ready-cut and portioned meats, but also obtain cut-to-order steaks and roasts, is the unusual business of a pair of young women from Ohio. The father of one has a meat market in another area and he taught his daughter the business. With the help of a knowledgeable SCORE counselor they were able to draft a credible business plan and obtain an SBA-guaranteed loan of $150,000. The money advanced to the two entrepreneurs was used to purchase display cases, a walk-in freezer, smokehouse, and double oven. With continued help from SCORE counselors, lots of enthusiasm and hard work, the two women recreated a business that had been a vanishing breed -- and customers have been coming from near and far because they learned that the shop’s products were truly a cut above.

SCORE Helps Prevent Loss of Lifetime Savings

This is a non-success story and it could apply to any business anywhere. This one comes from San Diego where a man who had been pensioned from a large company had a bundle of cash to invest. He liked the liquor business because of its quick turnover, constant business, and easy-to-handle merchandise. A business broker offered him two stores on the market for $300,000. Fortunately, even though he had his mind pretty well made up to buy them, he followed a friend’s advice and contacted the local SCORE office.

A counselor with many years of liquor store experience did his own investigation of the stores -- checking inventory, merchandise, traffic flow, competition, service handling, pricing -- and then recommended against the acquisition. It was $100,000 overpriced. The locations were weak. The competition from big chains and discount stores was overwhelming. Despite his enthusiasm, the would-be entrepreneur finally realized the SCORE counselor’s wisdom and withdrew his offer -- possibly saving his lifetime assets before, like alcohol, they could evaporate.

SCORE Doubles Jewelry Designer’s Business

A jewelry designer in Seattle happened to see a story on SCORE in her local newspaper. It stimulated her to seek free counseling and explore her desire to go into a retail business. First off, the counselor guided her in executing a viable business plan, and then advised her on seeking and securing a good location.

A seven-step plan was developed under which she doubled her business after the first year. The counselor still helps out after four years, including proposing a “Men’s Night” promotion before Christmas, which turned out to be the year’s most productive sales event.

Rags to Riches for Fashion Designer

In Massachusetts, a young African-American mother, divorced, with two children, and struggling along on sheer guts and hard work, heard about SCORE and requested an appointment. The assigned counselor evaluated her talent and enthusiasm accurately.

Her unique use of knit fabrics and design combined with her capability and vitality led to creating a media event around her. A publicity campaign was planned that attracted a number of local notables and generated considerable press coverage.

A well-executed projection and business plan enabled her to get an SBA-guaranteed loan that allowed for the addition of several sewing machines and more workers. Currently, she heads her own design studio, producing fashions under her own label, and has gone national with her line. She was selected as “Woman of the Year” in New England.

Long-Term Relationships with SCORE

Supermarkets are admittedly one of the toughest businesses next to running a restaurant. This Indiana family supermarket has had the longest counseling arrangement of any business in the U.S. -- and all with the local SCORE counselors. For sixteen years one or several members of the Service Corps of Retired Executives have advised them.

Ownership is now in its second generation. Ironically, the family-owned business was encouraged to take over the vacant premises of a former Kroger supermarket that had a well-established location.

SCORE counseled budgeting, financial planning, quality assurance, promotion, and the kind of public relations that chain stores could not provide. They helped the family to get into computerization as well as guide them into each step of planned expansions.

Day Care Center - Just Kid Stuff to SCORE

Reading in the papers that day care centers are one of the most needed and hottest enterprises, a man-and-wife team of corporate executives saw an opportunity to go into business for themselves. They decided to start an upscale, after-school, youth-sitting service for latchkey kids in their Connecticut community.

The local SCORE counselors helped them set up a proper business plan and, to conserve limited capital, suggested a direct mail campaign to specific, higher income neighborhoods. Another counselor suggested publicity for the unique venture that was quite successful.

They opened “Kidstop” with seven young customers. Within the year the business had expanded to 64. “The SCORE counselors were a dramatic help to us,” said the owners. “We’re going to continue using and benefiting from their expertise.”

Ornamental Plant Business Blooms Overseas

A large grower of ornamental plants in Florida was trying to sell his plants overseas where a potentially uncrowded and lucrative market awaited him. However, he found that it took more plants to fill a traditional container than he could produce, and more expertise and money than he could manage. So he explored the idea with other growers throughout the state. The result was a cooperative association of growers.

They hired a coordinator-promoter familiar with marketing in Holland and Western Europe. During their first year, the cooperative group sold $2,000,000 worth of plants.

The best was yet to come, however. A SCORE counselor helped reorganize the co-op and initiate a newsletter and promotion material to use at European trade fairs. In 1986, export volume increased six times to $12,000,000. It's currently $18,000,000 and growing.

Inventor Gets Help from the Department of Energy

A Detroit, Michigan, inventor developed a system that senses knocking in an automobile engine and controls the spark timing in individual cylinders. The idea was submitted to the Office of Energy-Related Inventions run by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (formerly National Bureau of Standards).

The invention got a favorable review and the government assisted him in bringing it to market. The inventor licensed his system to Ford Motor Company in exchange for royalties.