Minorities in Business group honors local leaders - Courier-Journal

Three Springfield residents who?ve helped improve the local business environment for minorities were honored Tuesday during the second annual Minorities in Business Heritage Awards ceremony.

?The idea is to recognize people who have made significant progress in our community, to make sure all citizens of Springfield have access to economic opportunities,? said John Oke-Thomas, president of the local Minorities in Business organization. ?There?s always room for improvement. Could we do better? Absolutely.?

The Heritage Awards ceremony took place at Q Enoteca, 308 W. Commercial St. Oke-Thomas said the organization has about 85 members. He estimated there are about 45 minority-owned businesses in Springfield.

Minorities in Business promotes economic development and business opportunities through advocacy, networking, community development and capacity-building for minority businesses and entrepreneurs in the greater Springfield area.

The honorees are:

Denny Whayne. He received the Achievement Award in recognition of his lifelong leadership in the Springfield community. In addition to serving two terms on the Springfield City Council, he has served in volunteer leadership positions for the United Way, Springfield Community Center, Boys and Girls Clubs and Missouri State University. He led the successful effort to have the Benton Street Bridge renamed the Martin Luther King Bridge and was involved in many community betterment efforts including the development of the US 65 bypass corridor, Jordan Valley Health Center, the regional crime laboratory and the regional airport.

In accepting the award, Whayne told the crowd of about 50 people: ?It?s never been about me. I?ve always tried to turn the ?me? upside down and make it ?we?.?

He reflected on his early passion for civil rights and said he thought it was his ?duty to try to make a difference.?

Whayne added: ?Things change. People change. People change things.?

Leslie Anderson. The associate professor at Missouri State University, received the Advocacy Award. During her tenure as interim Vice President in the Office for Diversity and Inclusion at Missouri State, Anderson chaired the Summit for Diversity and Economic Development that engaged 76 community organizations, businesses, faith and educational institutions. She chaired the President?s Commission for Diversity at Missouri State for four years and has been involved in many community activities, including work as a trainer for the Facing Racism curriculum sponsored by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

Joe Robles. Owner of Joe Robles State Farm Insurance, he received the Community Service Award in honor of his many community activities. He serves on the board of directors of Crime Stoppers for the Greater Springfield Area, the Minorities in Business Executive Council and the Missouri State Vice President?s Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. He serves as marketing chair for BNI-Business By Referral Chapter and is a member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Most recently, he has been a leader in the grassroots campaign to educate voters about the E-Verify ordinance.

Minorities in Business initiated its awards last year, recognizing former Social Security Administration district manager Ron Ponds, who received the group?s first Achievement Award. Francine Pratt, former president of the local NAACP and Executive Director of Isabel?s House, received the Community service Award.

The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce received the group?s Advocacy Award for identifying a lack of diversity in Springfield as an impediment to economic development. The chamber also held several anti-racism workshops.

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Ten-week program gives entrepreneurs a business crash course - Courier-Journal

Alex Frommeyer and his two partners in Beam Technologies have developed several dental-health products, including a toothbrush paired with a smartphone app that monitors daily brushing and, if you want, sends reports to your dentist.

But besides bright ideas, young high-tech entrepreneurs like Frommeyer, 24, need business training to get their inventions to market quickly.

Frommeyer got a crash course in entrepreneurship through the Kauffman FastTrac TechVenture program, offered by two Louisville business-development organizations ? Nucleus, an initiative of the University of Louisville Foundation, and InnovateLTC, a Louisville center for long-term-care innovation.

Over a 10-week period last spring, he and about 15 other entrepreneurs with startup companies met downtown one night a week to learn from experienced business operators, venture capitalists, business lawyers and others.

They received individual coaching and mentoring, refined their companies? business plans, made valuable contacts, compared notes with their peers, and honed their ?elevator speech? ? a two-minute pitch aimed at possible investors.

Besides education, they met professionals whom in some cases they later hired to provide valuable patenting help or accounting services, or even found angel investors to put money into their companies.

?The connections that you have an opportunity to make are incredible,? said Frommeyer, CEO of Beam.

So was the advice, he said. For example, his FastTrac coach suggested that instead of contracting with a manufacturer to produce one of Beam?s products ? then trying to sell it themselves ? Frommeyer and his partners should consider a licensing deal in which the manufacturer would pay for rights to make and sell the product. Beam would avoid risk and wouldn?t need a sales force.

That ?really redirected the entire business plan, because we decided we should commercialize the product in a completely different way,? Frommeyer said.

Nucleus and InnovateLTC are about to hold their third session of Kauffman FastTrac classes, a program of the entrepreneurship-focused Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City.

Entrepreneurs from 25 startups have graduated from the program, said Vickie Yates Brown, CEO of Nucleus. She said the next two series of classes will include 10 military veterans whose tuition will be paid by a grant from the Obama administration to help veterans start businesses.

Alicia Heazlitt, market research manager for InnovateLTC, said her organization and Nucleus began talking about establishing a new local program for entrepreneurs not long after InnovateLTC was created in 2010. She said they set out to find an offering that would ?really help them go to market quicker, and really arm them with the right information.?

They settled on the Kauffman program, and Nucleus and Innovate LTC employees underwent training to become FastTrac facilitators.

In return for tuition ? $895 per person, or $400 for the second and third person from the same startup ? FastTrac attendees meet and learn from a roster of volunteer speakers and business coaches from fields such as finance, law and marketing.

They include well-known Louisville business names such as venture capitalist Bob Saunders; serial entrepreneur Kent Oyler, who has co-founded 18 business ventures; and Mayor Greg Fischer, a former businessman who co-invented the SerVend ice and beverage dispenser.

?Every week, it?s just sort of a Who?s Who of our community that comes in to say, ?I?m willing to work with you, help you, and try to mentor you,?? Brown said.

She said graduates have later said they couldn?t have become involved with such people on their own, and that such introductions ?made a real difference in helping them to become more successful.?

?It connects you to the people who are really plugged in to the business scene in Louisville. You?re really connected with the movers and shakers,? said Todd Deetsch, who attended the course last fall. ?It?s a great resource.?

Deetsch, president of Psyche Comfort Products, has developed a memory-foam pillow shaped to let mask-wearing sleep apnea patients sleep on their side.

He was trying to build his company based on what he had learned through trial and error in other ventures until he heard of the FastTrac program and enrolled to get more systematic training.

The course took him through the process of launching a business, from developing a concept to satisfying investors? expectations, he said.

He also developed relationships with professionals who have continued to work with his company after the fall sessions ended.

?I think the Kauffman (program) is good because we each speak our own language. There?s the scientists speaking the language of science, and then there?s the businessmen speaking the language of business,? Deetsch said.

?I think Kauffman is kind of a bridge to connect us, so that we can understand each other. That?s what I thought was useful about the program.?

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Indy businesses hiring temporary workers to handle demand during Super Bowl 2012 - Courier-Journal

Waiters and waitresses. Security guards. Even massage therapists. They're all in high demand as Indianapolis businesses temporarily bulk up their staffs in preparation for throngs of Super Bowl fans.

For the broader economy, the temp jobs represent just a small upward blip, economists say. But for residents in between jobs, the cash from a temporary gig brings huge financial relief.

"It's really helped me out a lot," said Toni Clark, who works as a banquet server for LGC Hospitality Staffing. "I can have something in my pocket until I can find full-time work."

While Clark's boyfriend helps with the larger bills, the money from her job has paid for groceries and allowed her to financially assist her son who is in college.

Plenty more people will have the same opportunity to earn some additional cash, said Glen Greenawalt, LGC's executive vice president.

The company is looking to hire 1,000 temporary employees for the weeks leading up to the Feb. 5 Super Bowl at Lucas Oil Stadium. Most of the jobs will pay $9 to $17 an hour. New hires will work as customer service representatives, cooks and servers for the convention center, major downtown hotels, The Columbia Club, Skyline Club and Centerplate, the hospitality service for Lucas Oil Stadium and NFL events.

"We afford the opportunity for these (organizations) to take on more business than they normally could," Greenawalt said. "They can double their production for a few days or a few weeks."

Overall, the Super Bowl is expected to result in a one-time burst of $384 million in total economic activity, according to projections by Michael Hicks, associate professor of economics at Ball State University.

It also will add $213 million in direct wages and 5,000 jobs -- some temporary to support Super Bowl-only events and some permanent to meet the ongoing needs of the expanding convention business spurred by the city's international exposure as the Super Bowl host.

The temporary jobs, however, will have little effect on Indiana's 8.7 percent unemployment rate, experts say.

"It's not going to have any sort of lasting impact," said Kathy Gjerde, an associate professor of economics at Butler University. "It's a flash in the pan."

But putting new work experience on the resumes of long out-of-work residents could help them land full-time jobs later.

Hicks noted that some hiring managers have opted to ignore applicants unemployed for a year or more. A temp job could serve as a "gateway" to permanent employment, he said.

Temp opportunities are plentiful at restaurants, security companies and spas.

Indy All Night, which delivers burgers, pizza and pasta to night owls from 7 p.m. to 4:30 a.m., is adding 10 delivery drivers, four order takers and eight cooks.

Owner Jim Garberding said he didn't want to miss out on what he expects to be two months' worth of sales between Jan. 27 and Feb. 5.

Elsewhere, Trinity Executive Security is hiring 50 people to meet current clients' "accelerated" security needs. And Blu and Hyde Nightclubs are looking for 150 extra people, from bouncers to bartenders, to serve customers at temporary adjunct venues built on Meridian Street parking lots.

And don't forget the Body Works Day Spa at 435 Virginia Ave. Some fresh paint, a couples massage room and a relaxation room has the spa ready for the crowds. It's bringing in additional massage therapists and front desk help to deal with the expected Super Bowl rush.

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