Success story: Snyder Brace Inc.
Mid-Missouri pediatric brace specialist establishes business with help from SBTDC
Samuel Fender flashed a big smile at orthotist Lynne Snyder as she fitted the 4-year-old with new leg braces decorated with race cars. Samuel's quadriplegic cerebral palsy causes contractures that, without braces, could shorten his muscles to the point where he would need surgery.
Snyder creates orthotic leg and body braces for children like Samuel. She started her Columbia-based business last June because she saw a need and an opportunity.
"A lot of the children's families were traveling outside the area to receive their braces, and traveling in this difficult economy just wasn't really an option," Snyder said.
Snyder Brace Inc. is the only brace business in mid-Missouri that caters to children, she said.
"I was terrified, having never really owned or ran a business of my own before," she said. "I know my business but I didn't know 'business.'"
Snyder turned to University of Missouri Extension's Small Business and Technology Development Centers for help.
"Having someone partner with me — with the resources and expertise to make it a reality — was a lifesaver."
MU business development specialist Virgil Woolridge counseled Snyder on leasing her office, helped with her business plan and was just a phone call away when new hurdles presented themselves.
"We know that starting a business is a risky venture, so people like Lynne have to go in with all the information possible to make the right decision," Woolridge said. "My job is not to tell someone to go into business or not go into business, but rather to sit down with each person, analyze the situation and let them make the decision."
Read this complete success story with video.
19 Missouri entrepreneurs, innovators to be honored by state legislators Jan. 27
Owners and managers of 19 outstanding small businesses in Missouri will be honored by members of the Missouri General Assembly Jan. 27, at a business showcase in Jefferson City. The event, sponsored by the Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers (MO SBTDC) and the Missouri Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (MO PTAC), highlights the achievements of some of the top performing clients of the two programs.
Each of the businesses will exhibit its products and services at the MO SBTDC/MO PTAC Client Showcase from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on the third floor of the Capitol rotunda. They also will receive legislative resolutions from their respective state senators and representatives honoring the impact of their enterprises on the economic development of the state.
"This showcase provides a venue to demonstrate the importance of Missouri's small businesses to the economic vitality of the state," says Max Summers, interim director of the University of Missouri Extension's Business Development Program, who administratively oversees MO SBTDC and MO PTAC. "Each of these businesses-many of which are technology-oriented and in early stages of developing cutting-edge products-has received expert assistance from MO SBTDC and MO PTAC counselors, which enabled them to start or expand their enterprises."
Among the honored Missouri-based businesses scheduled to attend the showcase are:
- Accent Controls Inc. - Riverside, Mo.
- Affordable Moving Services Inc. - Branson, Mo.
- AVO General Services - Columbia, Mo.
- Brighttree - Columbia, Mo.
- Cornerstone Energy Solutions - Rolla, Mo.
- Danni Nicole's - Hannibal, Mo.
- Hot Box Cookies - Columbia, Mo.
- I3 Technology Group - Joplin, Mo.
- Innoventor Inc. - St. Louis, Mo.
- Interdisciplinary Design Cooperative - Rolla, Mo.
- Longitude Health - Columbia, Mo.
- Old World Spices and Seasonings Inc. - Kansas City, Mo.
- Project Management Solutions Group - St. Louis, Mo.
- Renovation Hardware - Portageville, Mo.
- S&D Grocery Outlet - Dexter, Mo.
- Snyder Brace - Columbia, Mo.
- Titanova - Bridgeton, Mo.
- Trux Trailer and Tractor Repair - Springfield, Mo.
- Xtreme Stereo - Kennett, Mo.
Business going green
Construction industry finds building green will reap benefits now and down the road
Business survival in lean economic times calls for innovation and efficiency. So it stands to reason that green building and remodeling is the one bright spot in a housing market that continues on an unprecedented slump. As energy prices rise, consumers are taking a greater interest in green building, and government is making it worth their while to start investing in green technology now. Green building offers a sustainable solution to our current economic and energy concerns that will reap benefits far into the future.
"The Essex," one of Belcher Homes' finished green homes. Among its many features are an Advanced Energy Efficient Insulation package, Energy Star appliances, including washer, dryer and refrigerator, and Energy Star rated windows. An October 2008 report, The Green Home Builder: Navigating for Success in a Down Economy, by McGraw-Hill Construction, found that 40 percent of builders surveyed in the report stated that building green makes it easier for them to market their homes.
"There are incredible opportunities in this industry. Environmentally conscious construction is becoming the only economically viable construction," says Brad McConnell, owner of Mid-Missouri Home Energy Services in Columbia. His company performs residential energy assessments and green renovations.
Economic and environmental sustainability come together through Home Performance with Energy Star, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. McConnell and other contractors have received training through this program, offered in Missouri by Columbia Water and Light, Kansas City's Metropolitan Energy Center and St. Louis's Earthway's Center. Energy Star offers residential customers rebates of up to $1,210 for energy efficiency improvements by qualified contractors and up to $1,600 for high-efficiency air conditioners. Improvements may also be eligible for a federal tax credit. Additionally, the Home Performance Loan Program offers low interest loans to finance energy efficiency improvements.
Read the rest of this story on building green.
Mark your calendar: Green Construction Conference in Jefferson City, March 16-17
SBA News
College education, good grades are factors in mobility of self-employed workers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It's a story that comes with its own truism: "nothing succeeds like success." States with higher gross state product growth are more likely to attract highly mobile and high-achieving college graduates, both self-employed and wage-and-salary workers, according to research by the SBA's Office of Advocacy. The research is based on the U.S. Department of Education's 2003 Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) data base.
The paper issued in December, Educational Attainment, "Brain Drain," and Self-employment: Examining the Interstate Mobility of Baccalaureate Graduates, 1993-2003, uses the B&B data to study the employment and location of self-employed and wage-and-salary workers 10 years after graduation. The paper's author, Advocacy Office chief economist Chad Moutray, finds that the mobility of the self-employed is similar to that of their wage-and-salary counterparts in this data base. Among the findings are the following:
- A student's academic achievement level — which comes down to whether they earned mostly As and Bs in their majors — is more likely to indicate higher mobility than the choice of major.
- Students with an expensive, high-caliber education and/or graduate degrees, and those with well-educated spouses are more likely to be mobile.
- States that tend to be more focused on the "knowledge economy" are attracting many of these mobile new workers. States with gross state product growth of 10 percent or more are 13 percent more likely to be the landing place for these high-achieving, mobile college graduates.
- Workers with strong ties to home — including those who are older, married, with children, and homeowners — are less likely to move out of state.
For a copy of the paper, visit the Office of Advocacy Web site at www.sba.gov/advo.
Kauffman Foundation study of successful entrepreneurs finds experience, management, luck are considered keys to business progress
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the years immediately following the 1990-1991 and 2001 recessions, net job creation came from small, entrepreneurial companies, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. While fostering new business creation could again help the United States move more swiftly toward ending the current economic and job downturn, little has been known about the factors that cultivate and support entrepreneurialism.
A new study from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, "Making of a Successful Entrepreneur," provides insight into company owners' views about what influences the success or failure of a start-up business.
"New employment is a harbinger of economic recovery," said Robert E. Litan, vice president of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation. "This study provides an understanding of the factors that help entrepreneurs achieve success. If we, as a nation, respond to this data by developing policies that encourage entrepreneurship, we have the potential to increase the numbers of high-growth companies that will create jobs and accelerate economic recovery."
Vivek Wadhwa, leader of the research team, said, "Entrepreneurs tell us their ranks remain small because others fear the risk and time required to start a venture. But the current economy has given us an opportunity: We could harness the energy of the many workers who are now unemployed, teach them how to be entrepreneurs and provide them with seed financing for their ventures. These workers have nothing to lose, and the economy has a lot to gain."
Wadhwa said these are the kinds of insights the survey report will deliver. The research also found that entrepreneurs identified such elements as prior work experience, learning from previous successes and failures, a strong management team and good fortune as the most important factors in their success. The survey researched the beliefs of 549 company founders of successful businesses in high-growth industries, including aerospace, defense, computing, electronics and health care.
Nearly all of the company founders surveyed — 98 percent — ranked prior work experience as an important success factor, and 58 percent ranked it as extremely important. Learning from both successes (88 percent) and failures (78 percent) also played a key role in respondents' current successes. In fact, 40 percent cited lessons learned from failures as extremely important — the second-highest "extremely important" rating.
The company's management team contributed to success for 82 percent of those surveyed, with 35 percent ranking this factor as extremely important. For 73 percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed, luck was an important factor in success; 22 percent ranked good fortune as extremely important.
The survey also found that:
- Professional networks were important to the success of their current businesses for 73 percent of the entrepreneurs. In comparison, 62 percent felt the same way about personal networks. University or alumni networks, on the other hand, were important to only 19 percent of the respondents. Among Ivy-League graduates, 29 percent placed importance on alumni networks.
- Only 11 percent of the first-time entrepreneurs received venture capital, and 9 percent received private/angel financing. Of the overall sample, 68 percent considered availability of financing/capital as important. Of the entrepreneurs who had raised venture capital for their most recent businesses, 96 percent considered financing important.
- Eighty-six percent of Ivy-League graduates ranked university education as important, as compared with 70 percent of the overall sample. Only 20 percent of entrepreneurs and 18 percent of Ivy-League graduates ranked university education as extremely important.
- Most company founders (86 percent) ranked state or regional assistance as slightly or not at all important.
- In identifying barriers to entrepreneurial success, the most commonly named factor — by 98 percent of respondents — was lack of willingness or ability to take risks. Other barriers cited by respondents were the time and effort required (93 percent), difficulty raising capital (91 percent), business management skills (89 percent), knowledge about how to start a business (84 percent), industry and market knowledge (83 percent), and family/financial pressures to keep a traditional, steady job (73 percent).
IRS roundup:
IRS announces 2010 standard mileage rates
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Internal Revenue Service recently issued the 2010 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.
As of Jan. 1, 2010, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) are:
- 50 cents per mile for business miles driven
- 16.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
- 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations
The new rates for business, medical and moving purposes are slightly lower than last year's. The mileage rates for 2010 reflect generally lower transportation costs compared to a year ago.
The standard mileage rate for business is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The rate for medical and moving purposes is based on the variable costs as determined by the same study. Independent contractor Runzheimer International conducted the study.
A taxpayer may not use the business standard mileage rate for a vehicle after using any depreciation method under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) or after claiming a Section 179 deduction for that vehicle. In addition, the business standard mileage rate cannot be used for any vehicle used for hire or for more than four vehicles used simultaneously.
Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates. Revenue Procedure 2009-54 contains additional details regarding the standard mileage rates.
Send this newsletter to a friend
Visit www.missouribusiness.net/newsletter to read previous newsletters archived on our Web site.
For more information about doing business in Missouri, visit MissouriBusiness.net or contact one of our service centers.
Subscribe to this newsletter at www.missouribusiness.net/newsletter_sign_up.asp. Unsubscribe information is found at the bottom of each eNews letter. We will never share or sell your e-mail address to others.
Missouri Business eNews is published monthly by the
University of Missouri's Business Development Program.
W1051 Lafferre Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
573-882-4321
