Reimagining Main Street

Stacey and Jordan Smidt have been operating a tent rental business and snow removal service since 2015 in Luverne, MN. Stacey contacted the Southwest MN SBDC In 2021 to help develop a business plan and financial projections to renovate half of the building they own to provide a year-round indoor event center. They wanted to use the space to host wedding receptions, family events, meetings, and community gatherings. In October of 2021, the Smidts hosted a celebrity wedding for Luverne native Shantel VanSanten and her husband, Victor Webster. Shantel and Victor met while filming a movie in Belgium. The celebrity wedding story was featured in the November issue of Brides magazine. It looks like a blissful future!

New business starts by clients in opportunity zones through MELP ( Mississippi Entrepreneurial Launch Pad )

Joshua Clarkweiss, the owner of Full Circle Forest Products, Rutledge, MO, wanted to grow his business. He was offered a grant from EIERA but needed matching funds. Through his local electric co-op, he was connected to the Missouri SBDC to refine his business plan and financial projections. Later, Clarkweiss was awarded the needed matching funds. https://bit.ly/fullcircleforest

Frank Kasten, general manager at Union Oil Company, Circle, MT, started working with the Wolf Point SBDC in 2021 and has received assistance with a business plan, tax abatement, grants, loans, gap funding, and other resources. The assistance and planning have come together in a big way for Farmer's Union Oil. Beginning in January 2023, their new 23,458-square-foot fertilizer plant will be operational. This plant will serve a 45-mile radius in Eastern Montana and allow them to store 21% more fertilizer. With more storage capacity, they will be able to increase revenue by providing storage solutions for different fertilizer companies.

Three brothers, also longtime coworkers, are keeping a Mitchell, NE, meat processing company locally owned. Rigo & Luis Rodriguez had worked at Robinson's Meat Processing Co. for over a decade, while their Edgar had been an employee for four years. When the opportunity arose, the three decided to purchase the company. They worked with the SBDC to develop their business plan and financial projections and on their applications for loans and local LB840 funds to successfully transition the business to their ownership. Today, Rigo says demand for the company's services has been growing, with the plant processing an average of 20 head of cattle a week. He says the Nebraska SBDC helped make a complicated process achievable.