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Saturday, July 25, 2009
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Helping grow Minn. small businesses Business assistance and referral network being launched in Brainerd, 4 other locations Associate Editor Between serving customers, answering phones and completing the ever-present paper work, small business owners rarely have time to navigate government bureaucracy when they have questions that need answers.
That's where BusinessConnection, a business assistance and referral network, comes into play. The service is being launched in Brainerd and four other Minnesota communities to connect businesses with the public and private resources to solve everyday business problems, such as "Where do I get a building permit?" "How do new wages laws affect me?" "Which lawyers in my town specialize in business practice?"
Bill Blazar, senior vice president with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, said the new venture is a cooperative effort with the Minnesota Department of Energy and Economic Development and several chambers of commerce , including the Brainerd Lakes Chamber. He outlined the new service Tuesday in media interviews and at a Brainerd Rotary meeting.
BusinessConnection is an outgrowth of Grow Minnesota!, which is a subsidiary of the Minnesota Chamber.
BusinessConnection
• Live telephone operators available during scheduled hours at (888) MINN-BIZ (646-6249).
• Answers available on the Web site at www.mnbizconnect.com.
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"Minnesota has a really good array of resources available but they're not very well organized or easy to get to," he said.
In the course of Grow Minnesota's 800 annual retention and thank-you visits to state businesses, it became clear there was a need for a service to help business people obtain information, Blazar said.
The other four communities that are promoting BusinessConnections are Alexandria, Luverne, Richfield and Chaska/Chanhassen, Blazar said. Grants from the McKnight Foundation to Grow Minnesota! and DEED will cover the startup and initial operating costs of BusinessConnection.
A public-private partnership was formed, Blazar said, because DEED is sometimes seen by businesses as an adversary and state government policy is susceptible to the likes and dislikes of each successive Legislature.
"We're more likely to stick with it," he said of BusinessConnections.
Lisa Paxton, CEO of the Brainerd Lakes Chamber, said her 1,100 business-member organization will promote BusinessConnection and will be the key contact for businesses with questions.
"We're also committed to a response within 24 hours." Paxton said. "We already have so many more connections."
Paxton said the state of Minnesota's Web site can be difficult to navigate and there is a need for a one-stop information shop.
"The idea is to be responsive just as quickly as we can be," Blazar said. "I hope we reduce the frustration level of Minnesota businesses."
The service can reach business people who are not currently connected with the Brainerd chamber, she said.
"There are tremendous local resources that businesses aren't aware of," she said.
Blazar sees BusinessConnection's role as that of an interpreter/concierge, noting that state government's information resources are "not packaged in a way that companies are likely to find."
MIKE O'ROURKE may be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
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