A Joint Initiative Between     Heart of Wisconsin     Business & Economic Alliance and     Community Foundation of Greater     South Wood County

Home About Us B2B Club Breaking News Contact Donate Events / Programs Feedback Ideas Incubator Industry Clusters Links / Resources Progess Funds Progress Teams Public Art / Murals Publications		Breaking News April 14, 2005 - Small Business Cluster Expands By Steve LeWallen, For the Daily Tribune Editor's note: The Daily Tribune will regularly run columns updating readers on the Community Progress Initiative's industry cluster groups. The cluster groups - designed to enhance the local economy - each have a specific focus. This week, Steve Lewallen, owner of Steve's Plumbing in Wisconsin Rapids, writes about the Small Business Development Cluster. The excitement is running high! Each month, we see a larger group of people attending our meetings. With the enthusiasm growing, many new ideas are developing to help our entrepreneurs and existing businesses flourish or make their businesses run smoother. We, at the Small Business Development Cluster, have been busy through the winter months getting a handle on what services we have for entrepreneurs who want to start, expand, or better understand their present business situation. We have a great wealth of services available, such as SCORE, UW Extension, Small Business Development Center, Heart of Wisconsin Entrepreneur Boot Camp, Department of Commerce and CAP Services in Stevens Point. We have met with all of the above organizations and discussed what each provides. It is our intent to make use of the organizations by better understanding what they offer, how they work and what kind of businesses they cater to. It is also a goal to connect our entrepreneurs with the organization that will best suit their needs. This information also will assist us in creating services that are not developed already or creating a plan for the overabundance of services in the same field to work together. We are excited about this and can't wait to report back our findings. Entrepreneur Club - I see this as the newest buzz word in community development. We are extremely excited about this new concept that we see working well in other areas. We have seen what it can do for the business climate; therefore, we have scheduled a meeting to discuss what we can do to start our own Entrepreneur Club. We had the opportunity to see the Juneau County Entrepreneur Club in action. It was unbelievable, the amount of people that attended the meeting and the help they gave each other, both peer-to-peer and business-to-business. And at the end of the meeting, no one wanted to leave due to the level of excitement they had. Through the Financial Services survey, it was discovered that there was a need for document destruction. I have learned that this might become available in the near future. Isn't it neat, that through sitting down and discussing openly what needs we have as businesses within our community, that answers can become solutions. Let's watch and see what happens to this and future ideas. You always are welcome to come to a meeting. If you would like to get involved with the group, just call myself or The Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance at 423-1830.
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