^ìj Minority & Small Business Week
Page 6
O ctober 6. 2010
Cutting Edge Business Training
Innovative
programs come
to new facility
by J ake
T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
If you're in the throes of unem
ployment or just want to shake off
the shackles of your cubicle, start
ing your own business might not
be a bad idea.
For those who do decide to
take the plunge, you don't have to
do it alone. Portland Community
College offers a program called
“Continuous Learning for Indi
viduals, Management & Busi
ness,’’, a new facility at 1626 S.E.
Water Ave. that can be a great
help to businesses ranging from
startups to those up and running.
The Portland Observer sat
down with Tammy Marquez, the
interim director of PCC's Small
Business Development Center
which manages CLIMB, and
Kedma Ough, the executive direc
tor of Micro-Enterprise Inventors
Program of Oregon, to find out
what resources are available to
start up businesses.
"Our focus is on challenging and
inspiring entrepreneurs to start or
grow healthy businesses," said Portland Community College offers training programs for small business owners and professionals
Marquez, which PCC helps by pro- at the new CLIMB center (Continuous Learning for Individuals, Management and Business), at
viding advising and training.
1626 S.E. Water Ave., just north of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
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She said the CLIMB Center is
designed to help out about 900
business owners a year.
Many economists say that the
best time to start a business is when
the economy is recovering from a
recession. However, Marquez and
Ough say it really depends on what
the business plan is.
"Business planning is incred-
ibly important," said Marquez.
However, she likens many cli-
ents, who are brimming with en-
thusiasm and energy, to thor-
oughbred racing horses, champ-
ing at the bit.
"All they want to do is have
you raise the gate and start run-
ning. They don't know where they
are running,” she said.
The CLIMB Center for Ad-
vancement and the small business
center offer training on just about
every aspect of running a busi-
ness including marketing, leader-
ship and management, data accu-
racy, computers and more. Most
classes are free or affordable, and
there's no cut off point.
Marques said that some clients
stay with them for 10 to 20 years,
One business has been coming
back for 50 years.
PCC works closely with the mi-
cro-inventors program, which pro-
vides additional training and con-
sulting, primarily for inventors and
innovators.
Ough said she works with en
trepreneurs who range from the
idea phase to others who are look
ing at licensing.
"One of the things I always
share with people is that there's
this notion that to be an inventor
you have to be a scientist or re
searchers sitting in a lab coming
up with an idea," said Ough, which
is often not true.
She said that she does have a
lot people who might fit the more
common profile of an inventor
coming to her seeking help on
consumer products and green
technology ideas, but also has
plenty of clients who might not be
as expected, especially women
who have baby products.
Marquez said that two big chal
lenges to startup businesses is
the lack of consumer spending
and banks tightening up lending.
“[Banks] are saying to the small
business owner, if you have a
viable idea, if you have a way to
pay back the loan, if you have the
ability to provide us with three
years of financials and you are
bankable, we will look at your re
quest,” said Marquez. “In my
opinion this is how it should have
been all along."
H ow ever, both Ough and
Marquez stress that there are
ways to get around this. Both say
that getting a loan isn't always a
good idea. Often clients will come
to them saying that they need
cash for something like an ornate
office when the debt will likely
become cumbersome and the re-
furbished room won't add much to
the company's bottom line.
"If it doesn't lead to sales,
what's the point?” said Ough.
They recommend looking for
ways to do in-kind trades with
other companies before taking out
loans to keep costs down,
It's also important to collabo-
rate with others as well,
Ough recalled a client who had
developed a headband device
meant to keep peoples' heads
steady during flights so that they
avoid neck cramps. Another cli-
ent who worked in the medical
field suggested that instead she
look at marketing it as something
that could help out caregivers who
deal with elderly and disabled’
patients who need to be spoon
fed. This client just got a manu-
facturing deal, she said,
Lastly, new businesses should
always look at getting certified as
a minority, emerging, disadvan-
taged or woman-owned business
because it can lead to special busi-
ness opportunities,
"Being a 100 percent woman-
owned business does have it ad-
vantages," said Marquez.