Reimagining Main Street

new dollars in capital accessed by CARES-funded Capital Access Center clients

When the pandemic hit, the Kentucky SBDC in Louisville was the first to provide timely information and convene experts to ensure vital information and resources to Kentucky's communities as fast as possible. When SBDC coaching transitioned to virtual meetings, the SBDC leveraged its online scheduling program and introduced the software to the state network. The SBDC also developed and launched COACH CONNECT, a webpage where clients can quickly and easily view a coach's skillset, contact a coach, or view the coach's calendar and schedule a meeting. The team created, developed, tested, and launched the Guide to Entrepreneurship group coaching program to give entrepreneurs basic information, and tools to help plan their startup.

Good friends Mandy Caruso and Ashley Hanson of Campfire Booking joined forces after the pandemic provided the impetus they needed to leave their careers and follow their dream of starting a vacation rental business. They worked with Business Advisor Tina Oddleifson who provided guidance on moving their vision forward. They tackled issues ranging from branding and value proposition development to taxes and accounting. With this help, they launched their business and surpassed expected goals during their first summer season. They comment, “We were very excited to see what the Maine SBDC had to offer...Tina made herself readily available and her wealth of experience and knowledge proved to be invaluable.”

While others leaned away from risk and uncertainty, the sister/brother team of Colleen and Sean Taylor moved towards the opportunity they saw in the pandemic. They purchased a vacant property in North Adams with Sean's wife Malinda Hayden-Taylor and transformed it into the Craft Food Barn, a take-out destination including full breakfasts, lunches and dinners. They did this while managing the fits and starts of two other restaurants and complying with COVID constrictions.The Taylors have been active Berkshire Regional Office clients since June 2008. Over the years, they received assistance to maintain their first restaurant, Freight Yard Pub, through trying times including working through the Great Recession, and of course, the pandemic.

“With the help of the Michigan SBDC, we used the pandemic as a time to re-evaluate our service offering and envision what reopening might look like. The combination of grants and our savings allowed us to reopen successfully while moving from a pole barn to an expanded, full training facility on the farm grounds.”