Small Business - The Reason
for America's Greatness
By Len Willner, former Chapter Chair
In 2000 this Chapter, out of 389 Chapters nationwide, was voted Chapter of
the Year. The award recognized the dedicated service and innovate programs
our Chapter provided to the community. As Chairman, I was invited to Washington
during SBA Small Business Recognition Week, to receive the award. It was there I
had the opportunity to view an exhibit featuring entrepreneurs from every state
in the nation.
Going from exhibit to exhibit and talking to each individual entrepreneur
gave one a great appreciation for the drive that made these people successful.
There were many exciting presentations. Among them were:
A young lady from Puerto Rico gave birth and became a stay-at-home mom. In
the family oven she began baking marzipan candy, which she attractively packaged
and began selling locally. Four years later, she has a factory with six baking
ovens and is shipping her wares all around the world. She now has 16 in help,
and is planning to hire more.
A young husband and his wife in Alaska borrowed $10,000 from each set of parents
and entered the beer-making business. Four years later they were shipping beer
to Alaska and Canada and planning on entering the American market. They employ
25 people.
A woman was working in a Doctors' office, handling the billing to Medicare
and Insurance companies. Having a computer and fax machine at home, she
persuaded the doctors to permit her to operate as an independent contractor. Ten
years later she has a large practice, in a large facility, serving many doctors,
and she employs 100 people.
A young man, entering his final year of college, bought a lawn mower and
worked all summer to raise money for his tuition fees. He discovered he enjoyed
the work, and upon graduation took courses in Agronomy. Now five years later, he
has 6 trucks with 20 employees, and is making plans to expand his Landscape
Design business.
A 59 year old woman in the far West started a software business. Three years
later her sales reached nine million dollars.
And here's the most important fact of all:
Almost HALF of ALL the winners began their businesses with help from
SCORE!
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