Could You Use $10,000 To Start A New Business?

Have you considered throwing your hat in the ring for the Enterprise Challenge?  The Enterprise Challenge is a business plan competition to identify the best and brightest new local businesses and entrepreneurs.  Want more information?  Attend a free information night, Wednesday, September 21st, 5-6 p.m.  The Enterprise Challenge is tailored to and targeted at start-up companies and Yakima County entrepreneurs with limited independent business experience.  If participants have formed a business, it must be less than two years old.  Registration Deadline is Friday, September 23rd, 5:00 p.m.  The Top Prize is $10,000; 2nd Place $5,000 and 3rd Place $2,500.

For more information, attend a Free Info Night:

• Wednesday, September 21, 5-6 p.m., 10 North 9th Street, Yakima.

Contest activities will include high level workshops for contestants, business plan assistance and feedback from successful business professionals and valuable networking and mentoring.

 

 

Check out the schedule page for exact dates and ‘contestant only’ activities.  You can also download the brochure, give us a call at 575.1140 or email newvision@ycda.comfor

Four Cities to Participate in New Entrepreneurial Friendly Initiative

We are very pleased to announce the selection of four Yakima County cities – Grandview, Sunnyside, Tieton and Zillah – that will receive the special designation of  ‘Entrepreneurial Friendly City’.  The Entrepreneurial Friendly Cities (EFC) Initiative is designed to support small businesses in Yakima County’s rural cities and help them advance strategies that aid home town businesses.  These cities will work closely with New Vision to establish small business support offices in each of their towns.

According to David McFadden, New Vision President, “We were very pleased with the applications and commitment of the four cities.  They all bring strong community support and the passion to help entrepreneurs succeed in their cities.”  The four cities will work closely with New Vision to develop a small business support center in each city, and they will also recruit and train small business counselors that can help and mentor local companies.  An added bonus of the EFC designation is that New Vision and University of Washington – Heritage Partnership are supporting the cost of hiring a college intern to help kick-start the program.  The interns will be tailoring their duties to the needs of each city

As part of the application process, each of the EFC has formed a steering committee, developed a strategic plan, and talked with local business owners.  Sandi Fein, Chamber Director for Zillah comments, “Zillah is really excited to participate in this program.  Even the application process has been helpful so far to encourage coordination between the City, Chamber and the business community.”

The EFC will also be responsible for recruiting SCORE counselors and providing a location for a business support office.  Our office is working closely with the Yakima Valley SCORE Chapter, Heritage University, and the Yakima Valley Community College to support the EFC initiative.  These partners have been great resources throughout our entrepreneur initiative and we could not move this new program forward without their active involvement.

While each of the cities has unique goals and strengths, many of the small cities are facing similar challenges, such as how to draw more visitors (or customers) into their communities to support a retail base.    Our goal through the EFC initiative is to broaden the safety net for small businesses and entrepreneurs in the Yakima Valley.  By developing satellite business assistance centers we hope to bring important help to companies closer to where they operate and live.

The Entrepreneurial Friendly Cities Initiative is a new program for New Vision, and we decided to work with a smaller number of cities first before trying to bring every rural city into the fold.  This allows our organization to evaluate results in each designated city, work out any implementation bugs, and ultimately determine how to scale up these services for other interested communities within the region.  “The momentum in Grandview inspired by our recent downtown revitalization has provided the infrastructure to attract new business and help existing business succeed”, added Brad Smith, Grandview Chamber of Commerce.  “The Entrepreneurial Friendly Cities designation helps provide us additional resources to us keep moving in the right direction. We are really looking forward to enhancing existing services for our local businesses”.

We are excited about the EFC initiative.  Through effective partnerships we are building capacity in our rural cities to help entrepreneurs and small businesses succeed.  For most of our smallest cities retaining and growing these firms is their lifeline to the future.

How a Family Illness led to a Rising Business – Jenny Mae’s Gluten Free Story

At the final gathering of the Entrepreneur Spotlight series, we learned the story of how Jenny Mae’s Gluten Free Bakery began.  Jenny Simmons shared with us a heartfelt story of how her five year old son became very ill.  After months of searching for the cause and many doctor appointments to not much avail, she had seen a television program on Celiac Disease and how a gluten allergy (anything with wheat, barley, rye and oats) can cause many of the same symptoms her son was experiencing.  She and the family started going gluten, dairy and soy free and saw results right away.

They tried many store brand products and in the meantime, Jenny began experimenting with recipes to try and come up with something flavorful that her family would eat.  Simmons notes, “After a lot of trial and error and a lot of bread crumbs”, she made some bread that had her family asking for more.  She began baking for friends and family with three pans and a mixer.  Jenny had previously been telecommuting for a marketing firm out of Bellevue and her home operation grew too large.  A friend was determined that Jenny would succeed as a Gluten Free Bakery and sought out a location and urged her to take the plunge, which she did, opening in 2009.

Jenny Mae’s Gluten Free Bakery is also an allergen-free shop, which serves the needs of vegans and people with allergies to milk, soy, eggs, nuts, in addition to gluten.  Simmons told the crowd she gets four-five new customers a day and is, “part counselor, part baker”.  Many people come in just newly diagnosed with a gluten allergy or Celiac Disease and Jenny will take the time to talk with them and share her story.

The bakery has expanded beyond bread.  She offers cupcakes, doughnuts, pies, mixes and cookie dough.  Right now it is a two person operation with Jenny and her mother; Jenny’s husband Jeff is also involved with the business expansion efforts.  Jenny mentioned that one of the biggest challenges with starting a new business is managing capital and cash flow.  The bakery is now faced with the dilemma that they have more demand than production capacity and they can’t grow and take on more customers without taking on debt by moving to a bigger location.  Because of this and lack of a formal distribution process, they have not expanded their internet presence.  Currently they have customers from all over the northwest, regularly traveling from Boise, Utah, Seattle and Portland.

The Simmons are taking a cautious approach to growth; they have increased production five-fold since starting the bakery and are still faced with the challenge of keeping up with demand. Jenny adds that the gluten-free market is taking off; there are customers interested that have to change their diet for health reasons, others that make the decision to go gluten-free for the ‘natural’ aspects of the product and there are still customers that think it is trendy.

“Make sure you do your due diligence investigating as many areas that you can think of which have an influence on your new business, like market research, licensing, location, capital, accounting, legal, permitting, etc.  Ask a lot of questions and use the resources available”,  offers Jenny.  “Secondly, once you’ve done your research and it still seems like a good idea, don’t be afraid to ‘take the leap’ and start your business.”  One final thing that Jenny said that is so important for entrepreneurs to remember is to balance work and life and also be sure to have fun while doing it!

Jenny Mae’s was the runner up in the first Enterprise Challenge Business Plan Competition and we are very excited to see the business take off and looking forward to hearing more about their expansion plans.

Jenny Mae’s Gluten Free Bakery is located at 8308 Ahtanum Road, Yakima WA 98903.  509-833-5096.  Hours are: Mon & Tues 9 to 5, Wed & Thurs 9 to 2:30, Friday 9 to 5 and Saturday 10 to 1.  Closed Sunday.

 

Three Hints for Developing a Business Message

I attended a luncheon the other day and the keynote speaker was Stephanie Pierole, Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Wexley School of Girls.  If you are not familiar with them, Wexley is neither a school, or just for girls; it is a full service advertising agency in Seattle that has big name clients such as the Seattle Sounders, the Seahawks, Car Toys, Oberto and many other national brands, to name a few.

Ms. Pierole was in Yakima to give some insight into making customers fans, and not the Facebook kind.  She was referring to fans, as fanatics, or advocates for your brand.  She gave the example that she has a new Ford and LOVES the car so much, she uses every chance she gets to tell others about how great it is.  That kind of fan.  Exactly what a start-up company wants and needs.

She gave three great hints as to what a brand should be.  Not just a slogan, although that could be part of it, think ‘Just Do It’. She suggests that a brand should be:

1.  Simple.  Make it easy to understand and simple in delivery.  Some businesses try to be so unique to stand out from the crowd, that it can actually confuse the issue.  For example, if you are a women’s upscale spa and your message is something about ‘escape from reality’; it might imply that you have a travel-related busine.

2.  Repeatable.  If you are developing a slogan or tagline for your business, it should be easy to remember so people will repeat it.  In reference to the Seattle Sounders, Wexley came up with ‘Give us your full 90′.  It’s easy to remember, definitely applicable to soccer fans and repeatable.

3.  Pride.  A slogan or brand should instill a sense of pride and ownership.  Pierone offers that it should have a positive message to garner that pride.  For example, Yakima’s own Liberty Bottleworks is proud that they are the only U.S. Manufacturer of recycled aluminium water bottles.  A Liberty customer takes pride in using a Made in the USA, BPA-Free, environmentally responsible product.

Peirole also gave some insight into how they developed the marketing plan for the Sounders.  They first went to a loyal group of existing Sounders’ fans and asked them what they wanted.  It was the perfect focus group – these followers were engaged, interested and genuinely wanted the Sounders to succeed.  It was this group that came up with the idea to have scarves, and for fans to give it their all as much as the players.  Scarves Up!

These three suggestions are excellent if you are just starting out and trying to come up with a catchy message.  However the bigger message is that you want your product and message to relate to your customers so they will become regular, life-long customers who buy your product and encourage others to do so as well.

2011 Enterprise Challenge Business Plan Contest Kicks Off

Let the contest begin!  We are excited to kick off the 2nd Annual Enterprise Challenge;  a business plan competition to identify the best and brightest new local businesses and entrepreneurs.  The Enterprise Challenge is tailored to and targeted at start-up companies and Yakima County entrepreneurs with limited independent business experience.  If participants have formed a business, it must be less than two years old.

The Top Prize is $10,000; 2nd Place $5,000 and 3rd Place $2,500.

Contest activities will include:

• Educational Workshops
• Business Plan Assistance
• Mentoring & Coaching
• Networking Opportunities

There are some minor changes to this year’s contest based on feedback from last year’s participants.  We are kicking off a little earlier this year to allow additional time for contestants to develop their full business plans and we have also added in some additional ‘contestant-only’ workshops.  Finally, previous Enterprise Challenge cash prize winners are not eligible to compete.

Contestants will work on their business plans and advance as the contest progresses; the top eight finalists will turn in a full business plan and make an oral presentation. More details:

• The opening round begins with participants submitting a five page business plan summary, which will be narrowed to a field of approximately 16.
• The top 16 contestants will then take part in an afternoon Investment Round Trade Show Event where they will pitch their idea to a host of community judges.
• From the Investment Round, the field will narrow to eight.  These top eight finalists are treated to a one-day road trip to the Northwest Entrepreneur Network’s Entrepreneur University.  (the registration alone is $99 for this, not including travel).  The trip last year was the top ranked activity of the entire contest by the finalists.  One of the finalists met a potential investor and made some sales connections, in addition to hearing well known venture capitalists speak, and attend sessions on marketing, SEO and more.
• The top eight finalists will each have the opportunity to be matched with a ‘coach’ that will review their full written business plan and provide input in the Coaching Round.  Each finalist will then submit a full written business plan and make a ten minute oral presentation to a new panel of judges.
• The top winners will be announced at the Awards Banquet on December 9th.

New Vision will use a variety of judges throughout the several stages of the contest to evaluate participant’s ideas and plans.  Judges are a diverse group of entrepreneurs, business owners, service providers and community leaders from throughout Yakima County.  Judges will use factors such as innovation, relevant expertise, competitive advantage and market opportunity to select contest winners (and participants that will advance further in the competition).

Registration is now open and posters are being distributed this week.  Check out the schedule page for exact dates and ‘contestant only’ activities.  You can also download the brochure, give us a call at 575.1140 or email newvision@ycda.com for more information.

Three Tips to Increase Your Website Traffic

Do you know how many web visitors you have?  How do people find your website?  If you are trying to drive customers to your website or have a website and aren’t getting much traffic, here are three fairly easy (and free) things you might try.

1.  Google It. This first tip actually includes two tips so you get more bang for your buck. 

Google Analytics.  If you are not using Google Analytics, set up an account to track your website statistics.  It’s free, easy and provides layers of information.   offers free tools for tracking website visits, key search words, and many more statistics to help increase your web traffic.  One feature that we use is the list of keyword searches.  This allows you to see how people are searching to find your website. There are numerous resources on Search Engine Optimization available, but this is an easy reference so you can start incorporating those phrases into your web content.  For example, say you have an Italian restaurant in Yakima and you call it a Bistro.  You see that in your searches ‘Italian Restaurant Yakima’ is one of the top searches, so you find ways to incorporate that phrase in your website.

Google Places.  “Claim your Google Place!”.  Google is a location based search, so if you want to increase your placement in Google searches, which in turn, leads to more visitors, make sure to set up a Google Place page.  It’s also easy and free, although not as quick.  Google actually verifies that it is a ‘real’ location.  This can be a little more challenging for home based businesses and it takes about a month before you see your map location on a Google search, but it’s worth your time.

2.  Links, Social Media & Networking.  Make sure you have your website on your business cards and on your electronic signature.  Use your methods of correspondence and posting to include links to your website, for example, we include recent blog posts or events in our e-newsletters.Set up a Facebook ‘business page’ and LinkedIn account to drive visitors to your website.  You can also use your personal Facebook to encourage your friends and acquaintances to ‘Like’ your page.  CAUTION:  Be advised that if you set up a business as a ‘person’ page, Facebook can actually remove that page without telling you and you will lose all your contacts (friends)!  Other businesses with legitimate business pages can report businesses-as-people pages to Facebook.  If you have a ‘friend’ page, now is a good time to migrate to a ‘fan’ page while you can encourage your existing ‘friends’ to become ‘fans’.

3.  Blog.  If you haven’t started a blog but want to, we recommend building up some posts before you go live with it.  Also, it’s a great idea to develop an editorial calendar with topics that correspond to your core messages and/or services.  Finally, one of the most important pieces of blog advice I would offer is that if you are going to start a blog, you must commit to actually writing it.  How many times have you seen an enewsletter come in, click on the link to read the company blog, only to be disappointed that the most recent post was in 2009?  It’s not only discouraging as a reader to waste a few clicks, but it makes you wonder if the company is staying current on other issues and trends.  How can they know what’s going on if they don’t keep their own website current?

 

These are just a couple of suggestions that I have seen firsthand help increase traffic to YakimaValley.biz. A website is a constantly evolving project and it can be overwhelming; it can also be one of your fastest growing sources of new customers and a good investment.

On Tap: Start-Up Advice from a Craft Brew Artisan

Yakima Craft Brewing.  Just Good Beer…  Sometimes a business name and slogan says exactly what it needs to.  Jeff Winn, founder of Yakima Craft Brewing, recently spoke at the monthly Entrepreneur Spotlight and educated the audience on the craft brewing and hop industry, where the name of Yakima’s only brewery (for now, we hope) came from and where they are today.

Winn explained how Yakima Craft Brewing got started.  He and his family were living in Portland, he was working in the high tech corporate world, brewing beer at home that people raved about.  After his 40th birthday, he decided to take the plunge, quit his job and relocate to the origin of craft brewing, hops and coincidentally, his wife.  It also helped that Yakima is equidistant from two of the largest craft beer markets, Portland and Seattle.

Winn noted that the craft brewing industry only makes up 5% of the beer industry by volume, but 10% in sales (dollars), meaning that there is a larger profit margin for craft beer compared to mass produced.  Even more importantly, craft beer has weathered the recession fairly well, and is now seeing an increase in the female market sector, which is virtually untapped for marketing potential.  Winn says, “As people discover craft beer, they just can’t go back.”

A lot of thought went into his business name – Yakima, where Bert Grant’s is credited with opening the nation’s first post-prohibition brewpub in 1982 and where 75% of the nation’s hops are produced; Craft, which he explains making beer is an ‘art’ or craft; and Brewing, which is the manufacturing process of making beer.  The slogan is simpler yet, Just Good Beer, but sums up nicely what their mission is.

Winn acknowledges that he developed a business plan and still uses it as a working document, and even more, that his projections were fairly close to actual revenues and expenses.  Jeff contacted our office in 2008 and we were honestly very excited that he was seriously considering starting a brewing company in Yakima County.  After we talked with him, we were even more impressed; he had a solid business plan, knew the business and most important, knew the amount of money he needed and was relying on bootstrap financing.

As fortune would have it, Jeff was able to make two important connections with the former Grant’s Brewing.  He was able to connect with Chris Swedin, who had worked for Bert Grant and he was able to get a hold of some of Grant’s original brewing equipment, which he still uses today.  Jeff and Chris are the two person team that not only brew the beer, but bottle, label and market as well.

The biggest challenge they are facing right now is that they simply cannot brew enough beer to satisfy demand.  Some would argue that this is a GOOD problem to have, and they weren’t discounting how happy they were that the product sells as fast as they can make it; however their only step to expand the brewing capacity is to completely dismantle the existing operation and purchase all new production equipment.  This is not only expensive but a major challenge when they have to still supply product to their customers!   They are still relying on raising funds among family and friends and committed to remaining a Limited Liability Partnership.  For them, maintaining that governance and control is very important, rather than opening up to a large group of investors.

Jeff has some frank advice for start-up companies.  The first comment is that, ‘Most owners don’t get paid’.  He commented that he and Chris often work 60-80 physically-demanding hours a week; pouring any profits back into the company.  The second thing Winn stresses is that entrepreneurs have to be passionate and have the passion to live and dream the business.  It’s easy to see why Yakima Craft Brewing is a success; you hear the passion and determination when Jeff talks about their beer and craft brewing in Yakima.  Jeff and Chris are taking a slow, yet realistic, approach to growth.  They have seen other companies create a lot of product, while at the same time creating a lot of debt and they chose to go the opposite route.  “Start small, develop a reputation, improve quality, expand when you need it”, says Winn.

Aside from being a craft brew ‘artist’, Jeff is also a graphic artist.  Jeff designs all the labels and he and Chris come up with the names for each variety.  They have a great philosophy and it carries into their product.  One of the first rules of the business is to use hops grown in the Yakima Valley.  The other rule is that they don’t brew to the market; they brew the type of beer that they like, and hope other people like it.  Again, that passion rings true.  One of the recent labels is the 1982, a tribute to the year Grant started brewing in Yakima.

If you haven’t had the chance to try Yakima’s only craft beer, visit their tap room for a pint and snack; a word of advice though, go early.  Since adding a small tap room onto the production facility, it has been busy every night.  Jeff sums up the last three years by saying ‘There is nothing better than the beer business’. We are so excited to see Yakima Craft Brewing succeed; Jeff’s philosophy, commitment to the craft and community and smart business sense is refreshing.

Are you Paying the Right Wage?

Ever wonder what an average wage is for billing clerk?  How about a truck driver or machinist?  If you want to know what the average wages (or salaries) are for particular positions in Yakima County you will find the Bureau of Labor Statistics annual wage estimates helpful.  Each year the Bureau posts average wages for hundreds of positions.

There are layers of statistics and rates.  One interesting item is also the number of positions in each classification.  This can be helpful for entrepreneurs that are looking to start a business in a certain field.  The sample below shows the overall statistics for a computer programmer. When you are on the website, if you click on that job, it will take you to even more detailed information about computer programmers, including national estimates, types of industries jobs are available, what states pay the most and which industries have the highest paying positions in the field.

Click here  to get 2010 wage estimates for Yakima County.

City of Yakima Initiates Small Business Lending Program

The City of Yakima is jump-starting a new business lending program called the Grow Yakima Fund.  Yakima is working with the National Development Council (NDC) to administer the new loan program which is designed to support local small businesses.  Michael Morales, Assistant City Manager, comments that, “The city is fortunate to participate in this program.  It’s a win-win by helping the city economy grow and small businesses expand that might not otherwise be able to.”

The requirements are not different than what a conventional lender might require, however the financing terms can be more attractive to small businesses.   Key features of how the Grow Yakima program differs from conventional lenders are:

• Longer Terms – Using repayment schedules up to 25 years that give the borrower smaller monthly loan payments
• Larger Loans – Providing loan amounts ranging from $100,000 to $2 million
• Lower Down Payments – Allowing higher loan-to-value ratios to preserve the business’s equity and maximize growth potential
• Lower Interest Rate – Providing lower interest rates to enhance community development rather than corporate profit
• Better Structure – Matching the term of the loan to the life of the assets being financed, ensuring debt service does not exceed available cash flow.

According to the the Grow America Fund (GAF) website, “The GAF operates as a community development lender to support the creation of jobs and the expansion of eligible small businesses in underserved areas, particularly minority and women-owned businesses.  The financing provided is partially guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration under GAF’s Small Business Lending Company license, and GAF has Preferred Lender status nationwide.”

This program provides Yakima small businesses an excellent opportunity to access capital, in turn creating jobs and growing our local economy. If you would like more information on starting a business or financing your business expansion, please call or email me.

Four Ways New Vision Helps Local Business Grow

You may have noticed recent changes on the website to incorporate local industry resources in addition to entrepreneur resources.  We found that many topics overlapped and applied to both people that want to start a business and our local companies that want to grow and expand in our County.  New Vision can help your company start and grow in Yakima County.

There are numerous resources and tools in our toolkit, but here are four key ways we can help:

1.  Tools and tax incentives for expanding companies.

From financing tools, industrial site assistance or state incentive programs, we can provide information to help guide your expansion.  We can help navigate the territory of government-backed loans, inform you about state tax credit programs for hiring new employees and assist with the industrial revenue bond process. 

2.  Workforce training and education.

New Vision works closely with the Workforce Development Council, other training partners, local colleges and universities and local industry to offer a variety of training courses, based on industry demand.  One request that arose from my visits with local manufacturers was the need to train new supervisors.  Out of that input, we recently offered a series of training classes for new supervisors; the classes were so popular we had to add an additional session.  In all we had over 60 employees from 19 different companies attend one or all of the four part series.

We also frequently inform members of our association and subscribers to our Industry and Entrepreneur E-News of upcoming educational events.  These are often included in the events page of the website.

One additional resource is to collaborate with our local industry and educational partners to allow a company to take advantage of one of the State’s Workforce Training Programs.  We have aided quite a few local companies with the State Job Skills Program and are currently working on a project with the Customized Training Program for one of our large manufacturers.

3.  Talent Attraction – Recruiting and retaining key employees to Yakima County

Our office is helping local employers recruit and retain key technical and professional employees to the region.  The talent attraction effort is anchored by two new websites that complement one another:  LiveYakimaValley, a comprehensive county-wide lifestyle website and WorkYakimaValley, a job exchange portal.  We have held numerous training sessions to develop a stable of regional ambassadors to help new residents get comfortable in the area and have also organized a number of very successful new employee receptions to introduce new citizens to local leaders.

4.  Leadership on Community Issues

New Vision administers the Yakima County SIED fund that helps fund public utility improvements that support expanding companies and paves the way for new business facilities.  We are also actively involved in the redevelopment project of the former Boise Cascade Mill site.

One call to our office (575.1140)can yield quick, confidential assistance.  Often times, we can connect you with the person or agency best suited to your question.  We are here to help local companies and look forward to talking with you.

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