Gateway to Entrepreneurial Tomorrows, an economic incubator established by Marist College in 2004, is working to be a game changer for business hopefuls, particularly minority and women business owners who traditionally have the most difficulty in bringing ideas to fruition.
GET held its seventh job fair at Rockland Community Campus”™ Haverstraw Extension in mid-May, attracting more than 200 hopefuls who wanted to learn how to get their dreams turned into reality.
With free business workshops, seminars and how-to clinics, GET offered attendees the opportunity to find out how to move further along the ladder of success.
Larry Pontillo, a lender relations specialist for the Small Business Administration in New York City, was one of the seminar leaders.
“There are 26 million businesses in the U.S.,” Pontillo said. “99.8 percent of them are considered small business and 53 percent of those are home based.” Out of the 550,000 startups each year, however, only one of two will still be in existence in four years. Pontillo let his listeners know it takes heart, soul, fortitude and fiscal prudence to make the dream a reality.
According to Pontillo, the biggest reasons for business failure are insufficient funding and the lack of management skills. “There”™s no reason for that to happen when there are so many regional partners out there to help you at no cost.”
Among them are the New York State Small Business Development Centers, SCORE, The Women”™s Business Development Center in White Plains, the U.S. Small Business Administration and community colleges.
The SBA has several avenues to obtain financing, from its 7A Finance Program, SBA Express and its new Patriot Express loans for veterans, reservists, National Guardsmen, currently enlisted personnel or widowed spouses.
Working through bank executives familiar with its products, the SBA will help to guarantee a significant portion of a loan for those who keep careful watch over their business.
“The best way to find out if you are financially attractive is to check your own personal credit score. If you can”™t handle your personal finances, it will create too much doubt about your ability to handle business finances,” Pontillo said. “The nonprofit agencies I mentioned are there to help you ”“ from helping to build your personal credit score to one that is attractive to help in creating a business plan. Most importantly, they will let you know if the idea you have is a financially viable one that will be attractive to a potential lender.”
Some of the SBA”™s small lenders who eventually went on to become success stories are AOL, Staples, Federal Express, Apple and Outback Steakhouse, Pontillo said. “We were there for them, and we are here for you now. They were former mom-and-pops or running out of their homes. Now they are giants in the industry.”
While most businesses may not attain the stature of Apple or AOL, the dream of owning a business is one that seems to resonate no matter what shape the state of America”™s finances are in.
GET has three offices: Poughkeepsie, Newburgh and the village of Haverstraw. Though times are tough, it hopes to eventually have an office in every mid-Hudson county.
