Micro-business Awards Remarks

Micro-business Awards
Remarks of Governor Judy Martz
Helena
3/4/2004

**Check Against Delivery**

Good Morning. I am delighted to be here to share in this occasion as we recognize the achievements of three Montana business people.

I can tell you plainly the primary goal of this administration is, without question, is to see that businesses have the opportunity to prosper right here in Montana - and that our state truly is, and will continue to be, 'open for business.'

Montana's economy is built on small business. In 2001, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 79% of Montana's non-farm business establishments with payroll employed nine (9) employees or less. That's why economic development is the cornerstone of my administration.

I want this state to be a place where we all can make a good living, raise our families, and give our kids the opportunity to do the same.

Government cannot, should not, and, under my watch, will not replace private sector job creation. But, government does have a vital role to play in ensuring that the environment is conducive to job creation.

Our efforts go beyond better paying jobs. A strong economy enhances funding for education, healthcare, and human services. That's why our first priority is to strengthen Montana's economy.

All of our plans are built around an economic strategy that is designed to help and promote businesses in communities throughout Montana - led by the people who have the ideas and talent to keep our young people here.

You are an important component of our economic success. We will be calling on you, along with our Micro-business Finance Program and our Small Business Development Centers, to help facilitate business retention and expansion.

These local business resources provide access to the tools and resources needed to start or expand a business.
Most importantly, they are available where they are most needed - in our local communities, where our entrepreneurs live and work.

The Micro-Business Finance Program was created in 1991 to encourage, assist and build a network of profitable businesses across this state.

Over the last decade, working through the statewide micro-business centers, this program has invested just over twelve million dollars in approximately seven hundred eighty-seven businesses.

Over nine hundred and fifty jobs, both full and part-time, have been created or retained through this program.

The first business I would like to acknowledge is the 2003 Micro-Business of the Year recipient, D & J, Incorporated.

A grocery, hardware, sporting goods store and gas station located in Harrison, Montana, in the Tobacco mountain range just southeast of Whitehall.

Keith and Kimberly Dykman have successfully found their niche, not by getting rich, but by enjoying life and raising their family in a small town and giving back as much as possible to their community.

The business originally started in 1974 as an automotive repair shop and gas station. Keith & Kim purchased the business from Keith's parents in 1993 and realized that due to the high cost of operating an independent garage, along with the difficulty in disposing of automotive fluids, the Dykmans decided to open a hardware store in the front of the garage.

In 1997, the only grocery store in Harrison went out of business. Since the local residents then had to go out of town to buy groceries, they took their hardware and automotive business with them, impacting the Dykmans local business.

It was at that time that Keith & Kim decided to remodel their building, converting the front portion into a grocery store, the rear portion into a Trustworthy hardware store, thus becoming the only source of gasoline, groceries and hardware in the rural Harrison/Pony area of Montana.

Known by locals as the "Harrison Mini Mall', the Dykman's strive hard to meet the needs of their local customers. They provide a delivery service for seniors and "shut-ins" and have also been known to open their store after hours to serve their customers.

The Dykman's live in the second story of the building housing their business, which makes them available to meet emergency needs that may arise.

Determination, perseverance, business savvy, and the hard work of both Keith & Kim have kept this business open. In 1999, the Dykmans were notified their existing above-ground gasoline tank was too dangerous and would either need to be replaced or removed entirely.

To be without a source of gasoline in the Harrison/Pony area would have created a hardship for the local community, as well as D & J, Inc., since gasoline was a big draw for their business.

The Dykmans were already stretched financially meeting their existing loan obligations incurred with the remodel of the store.

It was at this same time, that the Department of Environmental Quality offered a special loan program designed to assist businesses with the required replacement of gasoline tanks.

This program was a low-interest rate buy-down loan available through the Department of Commerce and Headwaters R&CD Area, Inc. MicroBusiness Finance Loan program.

Due to the community support and need to retain gasoline availability in the Harrison/Pony area, the Dykmans decided to take on the additional obligation and have proven to be excellent borrowers.

The Dykmans are big supporters and participants in local school and community activities. While the business is only capable of supporting the Dykmans as employees, they recognize the community needs to provide employment opportunities and training.

In doing so, they have a 15 year-old "Down Syndrome" young man who works in the store 1 hour a day for 3 days a week stocking shelves and doing general cleanup.

This provides him with work experience, but more importantly, interacting with other people has proven to help his confidence.

The local high school junior class "Closeup" conducts the store's annual inventory earning a donation of approximately $600 to support their class trip to Washington, DC.

The Dykmans join a list of 5 other past MicroBusiness of the Year winners located in Lewistown, Plentywood, Missoula and Billings.

It is with great pleasure today that I present, on behalf of the Montana Department of Commerce, and the Economic Development Advisory Council, the 2003 Micro-Business of the Year Award to Keith & Kim Dykman, owners of
D and J, Incorporated.

2004 Business Plan of the Year

Another purpose of our Micro-Business program is to deliver marketing, financial, and business management training statewide through the Micro-Business Technical Assistance Program.

This program is committed to offering classroom instruction and long-term technical assistance to small business owners who are committed to both the growth and the professional development of their business.

In 2003 the program delivered 21 training opportunities in 16 communities to 333 small business owners or participants who were evaluating their business idea.

Using the NxLeveL (nex level) Entrepreneur and the NxLeveL Micro entrepreneur course, our participants spent three hours a night for fifteen weeks reflecting on their business, discussing their business problems with professionals from their communities, and writing their business plans.

We have found that our participants are business owners who care about their business and are willing to go the extra mile to study the business tools that will make their business more profitable and professional.

One crucial component to assist a company to strive and grow in a competitive environment is to have a business plan that gives the owner a tool for planning, decision-making and setting goals. This may sound easy, but to write a great plan takes a lot of time, commitment, and thought.

Annually, the Department of Commerce, Micro-Business Technical Assistance Program, holds a business plan competition. The competition is always fierce, the qualities of the business plans are exceptional, and choosing a winner is no easy matter.

Today, when we honor the 2004 Business Plan of the Year winner, Robert Kaufmann, the owner of Kaufmann's Overhead Door in Bozeman, we are honoring all of the entrepreneurs who have had the wisdom to recognize the importance of a roadmap for their business future, and the fortitude to follow that roadmap.

I was particularly struck by a comment made by Elsa Campbell, Rob Kaufmann's daughter, who is responsible for business development, sales and marketing.

"My Father chose to use our last name Kaufmann as the name of Kaufmann's Overhead Door because he wanted each of his customers to know that he stood behind his work and he stood behind all of the work his employees did as if he were the one doing it."

Rob's business plan for Kaufmann's Overhead Door also reflects this commitment to quality and clearly deserves this award.

Rob Kaufmann's story is a classic example of the Montana Entrepreneur. He was raised in Montana, but like many others left and worked in Seattle until 1988, when he returned and worked in a glass and door business in Kalispell, while his wife, Lyndsey, completed two years of education at Flathead Valley Community College.

In 1990, they returned to Bozeman in order for Lyndsey to complete her degree in Elementary Education at MSU. At that time Rob decided to start his own business.
What started as a one-employee, one-truck business has grown to an 11-employee workforce serving all areas within a 100-mile radius of Bozeman.

In January of 2002, Kaufmann's moved into their own 5700 square foot warehouse, office facility, and fully stocked showroom with frontage on the I-90 corridor on the East side of Bozeman.

In 2003, Kaufmann's had gross sales of $1,200,000. And not to forget the rest of the story, Lyndsey is the fourth and fifth grade teacher at Morning Star Elementary School in Bozeman.

Rob, as a member of the Chamber of Commerce in Bozeman, had heard of the NxLeveL Business Plan Training sponsored by the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce.

He talked with David Smith, the Executive Director of the Chamber, and elected to enroll in the Entrepreneur Course. The course, taught by the Commercial Loan Officer at First Interstate Bank in Bozeman, Kent Wood, proved to be a great opportunity for Rob.

For Rob, the business plan and the course gave him "lots of direction" and have allowed him to "see his business more clearly."

He continues to review his plan and use it as a tool to track his growth, which is continuing at the rate of 20 to 30 percent a year.

Please join me in congratulating Robert Kaufmann the President of Kaufmann's Overhead Door of Bozeman for a job well done.

Keith and Kim's business, D and J, Inc. and Rob's business, Kaufmann's Overhead Door, are examples of the many small businesses in Montana who, because of the quality or the service they offer and the professionalism they promote, are providing a strong business infrastructure in Montana.

This is a key element in the economic development of our State. The investment in Montana by tourists who travel here, by the businesses that relocate here, by the Montana company who decides to expand, are in part motivated by the quality of our small business community.

In addition, our small businesses provide many thousands of jobs to the youth and young people of Montana who wish to stay here and raise the next generation of Montana citizens.

Thousands of Montanans dream of business ownership. Today's honorees are role models who have seized their dreams and turned them into business realities.

These entrepreneurs are living proof that Montana truly is 'open for business.'

Thank you, and God Bless.