Featured Business of the Month

Little Weedz

Lynne Vickerstaff accepting Award at the Governor's Mansion

Lynne Vickerstaff of Little Weedz in Pagosa Springs has done it again.

Last year, her business plan won First Place among those submitted by her classmates in the Pagosa, Leading Edge for Entrepreneurs class.  Vickerstaff's revised plan just won Second Place in a state wide competition.

Vickerstaff was honored at reception and accepted her award on Friday, January 27 at the Governor's Residence at Boettcher Mansion in Denver. Colorado Lending Source donated a cash award to the top three winners.

"Litte Weedz, adjustable clothing for little girls has been in business now for 1.5 years," explains Vickerstaff.  The revised business plan reflects a change in direction based on what I've learned along the way.  The plan develops as the business grows and I gain practical experience. It's really a living document."

She continues, "The plan gives you a base to start from and a resource to guide you along the way. The SBDC provided so many ongoing resources and data, helping me with projections, financial information and marketing strategies.  Referring back to the plan reminds me of the initial excitement and provides inspiration to keep going on the tough days.

Instructors Richard Lindblad and Lois Higgins unanimously agreed that her plan was one of the best they have seen.

Joe Keck, Director of the Southwest Colorado SBDC stated that "Lynne, worked so diligently in developing her business plan.  She used about every resource that the SBDC has as well as many others, in developing a great business strategy and plan.  It was great to provide assistance to such a dedicated person with a clear vision.  The amount of hours she committed to the business planning process were unbelievable."  Lynne stated "I was honored to be represent Southwest Colorado in the state wide competition."

L to R: Lois Higgins, Lynne Vickerstaff, Rich Lindblad

Business Advisor of the Month 

Marcy Mitchell

As someone who's been involved with web design work for over 15 years, Marcy Mitchell could be called an Internet pioneer. While working in marketing departments as a promotional writer, she delved headfirst into the web world and has been there since. "I've gotten pretty involved in the whole social media interface and how it should work with your web site, and how blogs and all these other tools need to tie into a full strategy."

Marcy teaches the Marketing for Smarties classes in Pagosa Springs and Durango and runs her own company, MTech Internet Marketing, for which her tagline is: "Traversing the Digital Divide." "My niche has been the small business owner, many of whom don't have staff or an IT person. They need someone to partner with who can do it for them or steer them in the right direction and also empower them to maintain it."

In addition to designing web sites Mitchell can help break down quickly changing technology into terms business owners can understand. "I get the question a lot: 'Should I blog or not?' People say 'I want my site to go viral' but are they committed, engaged? I can offer a bit of reality about what it's going to take."

The interaction with her own clients helps Mitchell better-advise SBDC clients.

"Since I have a lot of clients it really helps because I'm continually seeing real-world examples of what's been successful."

Watching "the light bulb go off in people's eyes," is why Marcy loves consulting work. "I love helping people succeed, especially in marketing - because it's one of the stopping points - and I love helping them be cost-effective. Watching them grow is exciting: it can be this little company in Pagosa, but the world is their oyster."

by: Christine Rasmussen

Growing Your Region's Economy with Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs

NADO Research Foundation

Encompassing half of all private sector employment, small businesses are a vital part of the United States economy.1 Encouraging their continued growth and increasing their
 

An increased presence of small businesses and entrepreneurs is especially important in small metropolitan and rural communities. Nearly two-thirds of the jobs in rural America are based in small businesses.2 Researchers at Pennsylvania State University found that
communities with more small businesses produced an overall increase in per capita incomes.3 Local businesses tend to buy locally and use local service providers. Larger corporations generally buy from large distributors and outsource or use in-house services outside of the community.... 

.Southwest Colorado Growth Company Initiative
 

Region 9 EDD, an EDA EDD, embarked on an innovative initiative to foster entrepreneurial growth in their region. Nestled in Colorado's scenic mountainsides, Region 9 EDD promotes and coordinates economic development efforts in Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, San Juan, and Montezuma counties. The Growth Company Initiative (GCI) was formed through a partnership with Fort Lewis College School of Business, the Southwest Colorado Small Business Development Center, and county economic development organizations to support both emerging and second stage local growth companies (GC's). The GCI includes the CEO Peer Network, the Business Advisor Network (BAN), as well as access to equity financing. 

Twenty-four GCs currently participate in the Growth Company Initiative....Click Here to Read Article

Colorado Key Economic Indicators

The Colorado Office of Economic Development  & International Trade recently released these statistics on the economy.

Jan 18

MBA Mortgage Applications Survey

23.1%

The mortgage applications composite index surged 23.1% in the week ending January 13, 2012, with big gains in both the purchase and refinance indexes. The refinance index rose 26.4% as mortgage interest rates declined further and enticed creditworthy borrowers into the market. The purchase index jumped 10.3% and is now slightly above its year-ago level. 

Jan 18

Producer Price Index

-0.1%

As expected, producer prices fell 0.1% in December, the second drop in three months. Continued decline in energy and food prices indices contributed to the drop in the overall finished goods index. Prices in the earlier stages of production declined as well, signaling further rounds of weakening producer and consumer price inflation.

Jan 18

Industrial Production

 0.4%

Industrial production rose 0.4% in December.  Manufacturing production rose a solid 0.9% in December, following November's surprise 0.4% decline. Details show output of motor vehicles and parts up 0.6% and non-auto output up 0.9%, the biggest gain since Dec. 2010. Mining output rose a modest 0.3%, while utilities output plunged 2.7% as a result of warmer than usual weather.

Jan 18

NAHB Housing Market Index

25

The NAHB housing market index is showing positive momentum, as the composite index rose by 4 points in January to 25. All three component indicators increased as well as all four regions covered by the release. The Northeast had the strongest monthly increase, but the West region increased by 5 points as well.

Jan 19

Jobless Claims

352,000

Initial claims unexpectedly plunged by the largest amount in more than six years as seasonal volatility drove claims lower. Jobless claims fell by 50,000 to 352,000 for the week ending January 14; the prior week's data were revised from 399,000 to 402,000. Continuing claims also dropped in the prior week. In Colorado, initial claims increased by 1,799 (one week time lag in state level data).  

Jan 19

Consumer Price Index

0.0

The consumer price index was again unchanged in December, as forecast. Headline inflation has been flat for three straight months. The energy index fell by 1.3% while food increased 0.2%.  The core CPI saw a slight 0.1% increase as vehicle and apparel prices declined, while services increased 0.3%, supporting the expectation that core inflation has peaked.

Jan 20

Risk of Recession

29%

With the economy strengthening, the probability that the U.S. will be in recession in six months is falling quickly, declining from 34% to 29% for December. This is the third consecutive monthly decline and puts the probability of recession at its lowest since June 2011. In spite of this improved outlook, Europe's debt situation remains unsettled and uncertainty surrounds U.S. fiscal policy.

Jan 20

ECRI Weekly Leading Index

123.4

The ECRI weekly leading index rose to 123.4 for the week ending January 13, from a revised 121.1, continuing its increase from last week as the recovery gains momentum. The smoothed, annualized growth rate slowed its decline to 7.5, a drastic shift from the steady fall of the last few weeks.

Learning Socials 

DurangoSpace and Six Degrees Digital Marketing invite you to participate in bi-weekly 'learning socials.' Each session will begin with a presentation on a hot Digital Marketing topic, along with strategies. The marketing 

discussion will be followed by time for networking. (You can also stick around for Bocce Ball in Buckley Park.)

When: Every Other Wednesday, beginning June 29, 4:00-6:00

Where: DurangoSpace - 1221 Main, across from Buckley Park

How: email jennifer@sixdegreesdigitalmarketing.com or nancy@durangospace.com

OR join the Durango Biz Blast group on LinkedIn (QR Code below)

OR join the Six Degrees text/email list (QR Code below)Article Headline

Durango Chamber of Commerce

Pagosa Springs Chamber of Commerce

Cortez Chamber of Commerce

Women's Resource Center