Success story: Cornerstone Energy Solutions LLC
Missouri S&T engineering grad finds his future lies in entrepreneurism
Imagine you've just graduated from school. Imagine you and your fellow grads have left the comfy confines of hallowed academia to face the real world of rising unemployment, declining personal income and a fearful economic wilderness.
It's really not hard to imagine in today's current economic atmosphere, is it?
That's the exact situation David Pollack found in May 2008. The native of El Dorado Springs, Mo., had just completed his B.S. in mechanical engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.
After taking a couple of well-deserved months to refresh himself from the study grind, David interviewed with a Florida engineering firm. His prospective boss offered a six-month assignment to transfer all the company's files from its old computer system to a new one. Sixty hours a week for six straight months of nothing but data entry. David passed on this mind-numbing duty.
Next, he interviewed with a Kansas engineering firm. The biggest part of the interview included loading a truck ... not usually an element of a typical job interview. David saw the writing on the wall and realized this opportunity also was not for him.
Soon after this second less-than-stellar offer David experienced an entrepreneurial revelation.
From the earliest time David could remember, his father Stuart Pollack constantly talked about the challenges facing the energy industry: the limits of finite resources, the need for conservation and the prospects for alternative sources of energy. Also, after four years of study in Rolla, David had formed a solid network of colleagues and friends, many of whom were also in the same professional position — looking for work.
So, his revelation involved starting an energy-related business in Rolla. His goal for the firm, Cornerstone Energy Solutions LLC, is to focus on energy efficiency in residential, commercial and industrial settings.
Read this complete success story with additional photos.
Developing strategic business relationships is critical to business health
You may have heard the expression, "It all depends on who you know." Well, it does depend on who you know. Referrals and positive word-of-mouth promotion are the most effective ways to expand your company. You need to use a systematic approach to build business relationships that will help to increase your profitability. How can you do this? Consider utilizing the following steps.
Develop a strategy.
Take the time to think through your plan of reaching out to customers, associates in your industry and colleagues in the business community. Write your plan down on paper so you have something tangible to follow, review and modify. Organize your time so you will be able to implement your plan. Remember, your plan is dynamic; there are always new ideas and methods to consider.
Establish realistic goals.
As part of your strategic plan, write down some realistic, timely goals that you will work to accomplish within the next year. Commit time each week to be able to reach these goals. You could set weekly goals of contacting five potential customers, obtaining one testimonial from a satisfied customer, luring back two previous customers who haven't recently done business with your company, and making two referrals.
Form strategic alliances.
Provide referrals to other businesses that sell to your target market but provide complementary, not competing products and services. Establish agreements in which those businesses refer customers to you and you refer customers to them. This type of arrangement will highlight your credibility and connections, and generate referrals from associates for whom you've generated business.
Read this remaining steps to developing strategic business relationships,
(This article is reprinted with permission from the Joplin Tri-State Business Journal.)
Business going green
Missouri dentists go green!
"Small changes towards a big difference," is the motto of the Missouri Dental Association's current promotional campaign to involve dentists and their staffs in using best management practices for amalgam waste. Amalgams are the silver-colored tooth fillings that offer affordable and reliable restorations, but contain metals including small amounts of mercury.
Industry studies have shown that amalgam fillings do not harm humans, but when discharged into wastewater the tiny amounts of mercury can accumulate up the food chain. The campaign will help protect Missouri's waterways and possibly prevent the need for future regulations governing amalgam waste. It is the first part of the MDA's effort to establish Missouri dentists as leaders in environmental awareness and practice.
"The MDA as a whole has demonstrated that its members are willing to accept responsibility for their environmental impacts, even though their impact is relatively small, and they are earning the appreciation of regulatory agencies, like the EPA and the Missouri DNR, that are charged with reducing mercury pollution," says Marie Steinwachs director of the University of Missouri Environmental Assistance Center, who has been a vital partner in the MDA's campaign.
The program's initial focus is to encourage dentists to collect and recycle amalgam waste through the voluntary use of amalgam separators in dental offices. By negotiating with equipment and service providers, the MDA has been successful at lowering the cost for members to participate. The best management practices program was introduced at the MDA's 2010 winter session, and dentists are already listening — and acting.
Read the rest of this story on dentists going green.
Reminder - Green construction conference is Mar. 16-17 in Jefferson City, Mo. For more information, visit: Greening Missouri Homes Conference
Obama outlines new small business proposals to increase capital, help with refinancing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barak Obama in a Feb. 5 address, proposed the expansion of two critical Small Business Administration (SBA) lending programs, aimed at allowing small businesses to refinance and increasing limits for working capital. These are both legislative proposals designed to help small businesses through what continues to be a difficult period in credit markets.
The President's new small business initiatives call for:
Expanding SBA's existing program to temporarily support refinancing for owner-occupied commercial real estate loans:
The administration is proposing legislation to temporarily allow for the refinancing of owner-occupied commercial real estate (CRE) loans under the SBA's 504 program, which provides guarantees on loans for the development of real estate and other fixed assets. Currently, 504 loans cannot be used for the refinancing of maturing debt. This change would respond to the difficulties many current, solvent borrowers face in refinancing existing commercial real estate loans.
Businesses with a loan maturing in the next year and that are current on all loan payments will be eligible. Lenders that are refinancing mortgages for existing customers will make a loan for up to 70 percent of the current property value; and SBA will help finance the remaining 20 percent. For new lenders taking on a refinancing project, SBA will take on a greater share of financing, up to 40 percent. SBA's proposal for a temporary, zero-subsidy CRE refinancing program would be funded through additional fees for refinancing projects, not through a Congressional appropriation. This proposal will help refinance up to $18.7 billion each year in commercial real estate that might otherwise be foreclosed and liquidated.
Temporarily increase the cap on SBA Express loans from $350,000 to $1 million:
The President is proposing to temporarily increase the maximum SBA Express loan size to $1 million, which would expand the program's ability to help a broad range of small businesses through a streamlined approval process. Unlike traditional 7(a) loans, lenders can use their own paperwork for SBA Express loans, which can be structured as revolving lines of credit. Currently, these Express loans are capped at $350,000 and carry a 50 percent guarantee. Fees would cover virtually all of the added costs of this proposal.
These proposals complement the President's broader small business agenda — a key part of his overall jobs plan.
Other elements of the administration's small business agenda include:
- Extending small business expensing and bonus depreciation for 2010. Eliminating capital gains taxes for small businesses in 2010.
- A Small Business Jobs and Wages Tax Credit that would cut taxes for more than 1 million small businesses by paying up to $5,000 for every net new job and covers payroll taxes on overall wage increases in excess of inflation.
- A proposal to transfer, through legislation, $30 billion to a new Small Business Lending Fund that will support lending by community and smaller banks.
- Additional SBA lending proposals, including an extension of the Recovery Act programs that eliminate fees and raise guarantees on SBA's two largest loan programs and permanent increases in the maximum loan sizes for major SBA programs.
SBA News
SBA, Minority Business RoundTable renew partnership to expand outreach to minority entrepreneurs
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Small Business Administration last month renewed its two-year partnership agreement with the Minority Business RoundTable (MBRT) to continue joint outreach efforts to minority entrepreneurs, according to Karen Mills, SBA administrator.
"During these difficult economic times, it is imperative that we provide small and minority businesses with the necessary tools to drive economic growth and create jobs in their communities," said Mills. "Far too often, minority-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs encounter hurdles to getting capital, contracts and other assistance to help them succeed in the marketplace. Making sure we do all we can to remove these hurdles is a top priority for SBA and the Obama administration."
The strategic alliance is part of SBA's ongoing effort to support small business development initiatives in underserved communities. The agreement allows the organizations to share resources and educate minority entrepreneurs on how to use SBA products and services to establish and grow their businesses.
SBA has supported substantial financing to minority-owned small businesses under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Since ARRA was signed into law early last year, minority-owned small businesses have received more than $4 billion in SBA-backed loans, about 23 percent of the more than $18.5 billion in small business lending SBA has supported under ARRA. Minority-owned businesses continue to account for about 29 percent of the agency's overall lending and 37 percent of its microloans.
Minority-owned small businesses also have received more than $3 billion worth of federal contracts under the ARRA.
MBRT is a national membership organization for minority CEOs that serves as a unified voice for minority businesses. Through this partnership, the SBA and MBRT intend to help more of these businesses succeed and stimulate economic growth in their communities and the nation's economy.
Kauffman Foundation CEO issues recommendations
for economic recovery, job creation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the heels of recent unemployment numbers and citing sobering new data that show a majority of American entrepreneurs do not expect to create jobs in 2010, Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, delivered "The State of Entrepreneurship" address Jan. 19, calling on policymakers to make this cornerstone of American capitalism a priority.
During an event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. that included perspectives from entrepreneurs and remarks from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Schramm underscored the importance of entrepreneurs to economic recovery, emphasizing that hundreds of new companies are being created each day.
"Entrepreneurs are still the primary engine of job creation in the United States," Schramm said. "In the last 30 years, literally all net job creation in this country has taken place in firms less than five years old."
"It's not tenable for the United States to continue with the status quo," Locke said at the event. "In a world where innovation is critical to U.S. competitiveness, we must do everything in our power to optimize commercialization that stems from our nation's vast research investments. The commerce department is working hard to find solutions, and as has always been the case, we will look to America's entrepreneurs to help chart the path back to recovery."
Schramm also unveiled a new survey of entrepreneurs, commissioned by the Kauffman Foundation and conducted by Douglas Schoen LLC that shows entrepreneurs are optimistic about their companies but are struggling to expand and create jobs in the current economy. Highlights from the survey include:
- 36 percent of entrepreneurs reported reductions in head count in the past year; only 8 percent have added employees.
- Nearly two-thirds have seen their sales volume and their profitability decrease.
- 71 percent of entrepreneurs do not expect to add any new jobs in 2010.
- 61 percent of entrepreneurs think the economy is on the wrong track.
To catalyze job creation and to ease the burden that entrepreneurs feel in today's economic climate, Schramm presented a number of policy recommendations that he said would help set the country on a path toward economic recovery:
- Reform immigration policy, granting citizenship for foreign students graduating from American universities and other immigrants who want to start new companies and create jobs.
- Revise Sarbanes-Oxley regulations to allow company shareholders to choose whether their companies must fulfill some of the most onerous reporting requirements if they think the costs of compliance outweigh the benefits.
- Provide a temporary payroll tax holiday to companies less than five years old.
- Give academic entrepreneurs the choice of multiple avenues to commercialize their research so their innovations can reach consumers more quickly.
- Offer fellowships for doctoral graduates in scientific fields to educate them about how to start companies.
- Provide entrepreneurship education and training to students in high school and college.
"I offer these ideas merely to jump-start a much-needed conversation-at a time when our nation is bleeding jobs and needs some fresh solutions," Schramm said. "Unleashing these innovators, these risk-takers, these job-creators, is the best way to assure a sustained recovery and to assure that the state of our union is strong."
Staples launches stick to it! Business Challenge
The Association of Small Business Development Centers is partnering with Staples to help launch a first-of-its kind Small Business Goal-Setting challenge. Business owners and their employees can go online and easily set, monitor and fulfill their professional goals for the coming year, and get free office supplies and services from Staples in return.
Businesses will be able to take advantage of this unique new resource through April 12, 2010.
For details, visit www.asbdc-us.org/News/2010-01-15_Staples_stickK_to_it.pdf or log onto the initiative's Web site at staples.stickk.com.
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