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Montana SBDC Network Highlights
March 2012

Hello SBDC Network!

In this Issue

Introducing Ryan Hansen

Success: Rockford Coffee

SBDC Invest in Success

Featured: Missoula & Bozeman SBDC

Montana Community Development Corporation

Save the Date!

3rd Annual

INVEST IN SUCCESS

State Wide Conference

April 23 - 24, 2012

Missoula, MT

Reserve YOUR spot today!

Register Here

Have you heard?

The Montana SBDC is now on Facebook! We will be posting links to helpful business articles, economic news in Montana, and open the flow of conversation between businesses, SBDC clients, and other economic development organizations.

FREE Profit Mastery

Click Here for More Info

Our Resource Partner

The Montana SBDC is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration

www.sba.gov

ASBDC Member

www.asbdc-us.org

Department of Commerce

www.commerce.mt.gov

2012 Invest in Sucess

Key Note Speaker:

Tom McMakin

The Montana SBDC is honored to have Tom McMakin presenting the keynote address at the 2012 SBDC Invest in Success Conference.

Tom is President of Profitable Ideas Exchange in Bozeman. He is also a partner in and co-founder of Orchard Holdings Group, a private equity firm. Previously, he served as an operating affiliate at McCown DeLeeuw and TSG Consumer, two consumer-focused buyout groups. For ten years before that he was the Chief Operating Officer of Great Harvest Bread Co., a multi-unit operator of bread stores based in Dillon, Montana. Tom is also the author of Bread and Butter, a book that describes his work at Great Harvest and how he and his team created a nationally recognized corporate learning community and culture of best practices using collaborative networks.

Introducing...

Ryan Hansen, SBDC Director

Ryan is currently the director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in Bozeman. However, beginning later this month, Ryan will be relocating to the Missoula SBDC and will assume the director role there. Both the Bozeman and Missoula SBDC's are hosted by Montana Community Development Corporation (Montana CDC).

Ryan began working for the Montana SBDC Network in April 2011. Ryan provides technical assistance to new and existing businesses in the Bozeman and Missoula areas, and helps clients prepare for the loan application process with banks as well as Montana CDC's lending programs.

Ryan holds a bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Montana and expects to complete his MBA in 2013 from the same school. He previously worked for the Montana World Trade Center, and comes from a family of avid entrepreneurs and small business owners. His small business experience comes from the restaurant industry where he developed, launched, and managed new restaurant concepts for a hospitality management firm in South Dakota.

When he isn't too busy counseling clients, helping prepare business plans and assisting with the loan application process, Ryan enjoys taking photos, biking in the summer, cross-country skiing in the winter and fly-fishing (year round, of course!).

Since taking on the role of director at the Bozeman SBDC, Ryan has quickly made his mark by being involved in securing more than $8,807,300 in total new capital for clients, and providing over 310 client counseling hours to 92 unique clients. Five new businesses have been successfully launched as a result of Ryan's ongoing counseling.

Currently Ryan is dedicating time to coordinating the planning for the annual Montana SBDC Invest in Success conference. With a star-studded agenda featuring well-known speakers on subjects such as marketing and growth management, Ryan and the SBDC Network hope to have a stellar turnout this year. (More information and registration options can be found here.)

Ryan is passionate about supporting the role that small businesses have in a community's prosperity and is glad glad to be a part of the Montana SBDC Network.

SBDC Success Story: Rockford Coffee

Ryan Wilson opened the first Rockford Coffee shop in Bozeman in December 2004. It is a multi-faceted business: coffee roaster, coffee wholesaler, retail coffee bar and bakery. The popularity of Rockford Coffee on Main Street led Ryan and his wife, Kristin, to pursue opening a second location in the heart of downtown Bozeman to target the downtown "professional crowd." They began to research their financing options and the business resources available in the area.

Ryan has a master's degree in Business Administration and Technology Management. However, to further his expansion plan for Rockford Coffee he decided to look to a technical assistance provider for additional accounting support. Before moving to Bozeman, Ryan spent six years as the network manager for an advertising agency in the Seattle area. When he decided he wanted to open his own business, he and his wife moved from Seattle to Bozeman. Since opening the first Rockford Coffee shop, Ryan has become a very hands-on manager and works in the store every day. He is the head roaster, and manages and maintains all the wholesale accounts.

(Ryan and Kristin Wilson, owners of Rockford Coffee in Bozeman)

Ryan's wife Kristin also spends time in the store as a barista and helps with the bookkeeping for the business. Both Ryan and Kristin are actively involved in the Bozeman community. They have three young children, and much of their time outside of work is spent volunteering and engaged with children's activities in the area. They have been described as "young and lively business owners and strong members of the community."

From a recommendation by the Downtown Bozeman Partnership, the Wilsons sought out the Bozeman SBDC for assistance in their expansion. After working extensively with Ryan Hansen, the Bozeman SBDC Director, the Wilsons applied for and received an SBA microloan to build the second Rockford Coffee shop. Their new storefront opened in summer 2011 and has been very well received by the downtown community!

For more information about Rockford Coffee, visit http://rockfordcoffee.com/ and don't forget to "like" them on Facebook here.

3rd ANNUAL INVEST IN SUCCESS

SBDC BUSINESS CONFERENCE

The Montana SBDC Network has been busy planning for itsannual SBDC Invest in Success business conference. This year the conference is being held in Missoula at the Holiday Inn Downtown on April 23 - 24.

Tom McMakkin, former COO of Great Harvest Bread Company, will deliver the keynote address.

The SBDC has invited many local Montana entrepreneurs to tell their stories in the form of "Tales from the Trenches" presentations during each breakout session.

Individuals seeking to attend are encouraged to register before April 1 in order to take advantage of the SBDC early bird discount of a $75.00 registration. Click here for more registration information.

Companies and other businesses are encouraged to consider being a vendor and participate in the tradeshow. Please contact Patty Cox with Montana CDC at [email protected] for more information.

"Guiding Montana Businesses to SUCCESS!"