Genesee County's "e-team" goes into action
for budding entrepreneurs
By Melissa Burden | The Flint Journal
July 21, 2008
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan - The "e-team" sounds like a name for the staff at your favorite electronics store.
But the "e-team" is a regional collaborative of entrepreneurship services providers that are working together to help people start and grow businesses.
It's not that the business assistance groups didn't collaborate before fall 2007.
But that's when the group started meeting regularly and sharing ideas and resources, said Marsha Lyttle, director of the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center Region 6 for Genesee and Lapeer counties and one of the "e-team" members.
"We all really understand what each other does and where we can provide more resources and support for our customers," Lyttle said, adding she now knows the person to call, not just the agency to refer a customer.
The Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce is spearheading the "e-team," which has grown to about 10 members, said Nell Taylor, the chamber's business development manager and "e-team" coordinator.
Other members range from the Procurement Technical Assistance Center, which helps people secure government contracts, to the Flint Area Enterprise Community Inc., which offers loans to qualified businesses who locate in one of Flint's renaissance zones.
The "e-team" helps buck the perception that local groups aren't working together to spur economic growth, Taylor said.
"(It's) not only shown synergy, but it's also shown that we have a cohesive entrepreneurial support network," he said. "Everyone's really working well together."
Groups in the "e-team" can help with start-up information, business assistance such as counseling, incubator space, financing and incentives and education and training.
Lyttle described the "e-team" as "one of the most important things to happen in Genesee County" for helping businesses.
And ultimately the "e-team" means entrepreneurs who want to start or expand businesses will get better service.
"It's not about territory," Lyttle said. "It's about client service now."
One example is Rocky's Pizza, which opened May 1 at Corunna Road and Court Street in Flint.
Rocky's Pizza partner John Varner, a U.S. Army veteran, first sought assistance from VetBizCentral, a nonprofit in Flint that helps veterans start and grow businesses, Lyttle said.
That group referred Varner to MI-SBTDC, which helped him add to his business plan things such as traffic counts and how many pizzas the business would need to make to break even, Varner said.
He then took that plan to the Flint Area Enterprise Community for a loan review.
"From there I got the money and opened up the pizza place," said Varner, 61, of Swartz Creek, who is a partner in two of three Rocky's Pizza locations.
And business has been going well, especially with the proximity to Kettering University's campus, Varner said.
"Kettering has been awfully good to us," he said.
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