Month: February 2016

Financing Entrepreneurship and Business Expansion

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Revolving Loan Fund - cropped

In 2015, the Van Wert City Revolving Loan made five loans totaling over $252,000, which supported the creation of 12 jobs.

Entrepreneurship is a critical component of any community. So, how can we support entrepreneurial growth? One tool available to communities interested in helping entrepreneurs start businesses and facilitating the expansion or relocation of existing businesses is a Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). The principal goal of the RLF is to create and retain private sector jobs, of which 51 percent must be held by persons from low-to-moderate income households. Applicants must document job creation for any RLF money borrowed and one (1) full time equivalent job must be created for every $25,000 increment borrowed. Applicants have two years to fulfill the job requirements. Loans can be made to businesses for land and building acquisition, new construction, building renovations and improvements, machinery and equipment purchases, and working capital. Loans involving construction and building renovations and improvements are subject to national prevailing wage requirements should the labor exceed $2,000.

This program allows businesses to secure fixed low interest rate loans. Two types of loans exist: Economic Development loans and Micro loans; however, each community may not offer both loan types. Most businesses apply for an Economic Development loan, which is a combination of owner equity, private funding (bank loan), and RLF money, to secure their project financing. Economic Development loans can be made for up to 50 percent of the project total. The Micro Loan option allows for RLF money to be the sole funding source for businesses with five or fewer employees undergoing projects less than $35,000 and capable of meeting the income requirements.

For more information, please visit the Ohio Development Services Agency Community and Economic Development Programs page. Communities interested in starting a revolving loan fund should review the information on the PY 2016 CDBG Community Development Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) and Training Forum announcement and submit their application by Friday, June 17, 2016.

(Submitted by Caitlin Jones, Program Coordinator, Van Wert County & Maumee Valley EERA)

Communicating Our Impact

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We spend days and weeks (and sometimes months) identifying the ideal program date, location, and agenda topics. An equal amount of time is spent scouring the research and assembling the pieces that will address those key learning objectives.

We work with others to assemble an event and when the day finally arrives we hope for the best when our program plan is set into motion. At this point, the countless hours on the phone, sending and scanning email, and sitting in meetings in preparation for this event become but a distant memory.

And ideally, our efforts have attracted enthusiastic and engaged participants and we’ve handled the few minor unforeseen issues with the utmost grace. Thoughtful questions are posed and immediate feedback is positive. At this moment (and during our drive home), we are again reminded how much we enjoy Extension work.

2015 CD HighlightsBut this program’s efforts don’t end here. Narrating our efforts is a key part of Extension work and so too, is communicating them widely. As such, I am pleased to share with you a snapshot of key engagements in the 2015 Highlights. Here you will find individual narratives involving Community Development program partners in Ohio and beyond, including:

  • Businesses such as charter boat captains, marina owners/operators, ag producers, manufacturers, etc. and,
  • Organizations such as state agencies and associations, chambers of commerce, community improvement corporations, food councils, etc. and,
  • Political subdivisions such as townships, villages, cities, counties, school districts, health districts, etc.

I hope you enjoy them. If you have questions or thoughts on how to partner, please let us know.

(Submitted by Greg Davis, Professor & Assistant Director, OSU Extension – Community Development)

Ahoy! Sea Grant goes to the Mid-America Boat Show

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What do you get when you combine the Ohio winter doldrums with a growing interest in boating and watersports? A ready-made audience at the Mid-America Boat Show.

Amidst freezing cold winds and heavy snowfall, Ohio Sea Grant Educators and thousands of others made their way to the IX Center in Cleveland for the Mid-America Boat Show a few weeks ago. It is an annual tradition, having taken place for over 25 years, bringing together water lovers, boaters, adventure seekers, and all facets of the boating industry to learn, buy, sell, trade, and catch up.

Boat Show 2016 #1 2016-02-18As one of the many educational exhibitors at this event, Ohio Sea Grant was thrilled to be able to teach about the importance of a healthy Lake Erie to the Boat Show 2016 #2 2016-02-18many visitors that attended. Stationed next to a singing pirate and personal watercraft simulator, we had some stiff competition. However, neither could stand up to the fright, ick, “Oh geez! That’s a live snake!” factor of our Stone Laboratory snakes and the al“lure” of tying your own hook for catching walleye. These were two of the many activities available to kids and adults at our Lake Erie information hotspot. Show wanderers could spin a prize wheel to be asked questions about general Lake Erie topics, decorate a fish to add to the #loveyourlake twitter campaign, sign up to be a clean boater, and peruse a selection of outreach materials and goodies rivaling the collections of the Library of Congress.

Boat Show 2016 #3 2016-02-18As you might imagine, visitors were mainly concerned about invasive species, harmful algal blooms (HABs), and actions they can take in their everyday life to reduce their footprint, houseprint, or boatprint on the lake. Below are some of the simple tips for keeping Lake Erie healthy that we shared with boat show visitors…they can apply to you as well…

  • Clean, drain, and dry your boat when you move it to different waterways.
  • Pick up trash as you see it and responsibly dispose of or recycle your own items.
  • Take aquarium pets and plants back to the pet store or offer them to a school if you no longer want them.
  • Reduce or eliminate the fertilizer you place on your lawn.
  • Plant a rain garden at the end of your driveway or near your gutter spouts to reduce the amount of water running off of your property.

(Submitted by Jill Bartolotta, Extension Educator for Ohio Sea Grant)

Endnotes:

al“lure”: Chis Pluntz, Pro Anglers. 2009. Tying hooks – Building Walleye or Trout Spinner Baits and Crawler Harnesses. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g19jh0cB4oA.

#loveyourlake: Twitter. 2016. #loveyourlake. Website: https://twitter.com/hashtag/loveyourlake.

HABs: Ohio Sea Grant. 2014. Harmful Algal Blooms. Website: https://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/research/issues/habs.

(Photo credits: Ohio Sea Grant)

15 minutes could save your … strategic plan

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We’ve all experienced it, or heard about it. A team spends weeks or months developing a strategic plan, and nothing happens with it after the glossy document gets printed. Why does this great new plan just sit on the shelf gathering dust? Business scholars over the past two decades have been researching why plans fail to be implemented.1 The overarching theme of their conclusions: people resist change. How do we address this challenge? Through a structured plan for execution. Your team needs to commit to the plan, yet they are busy with their daily duties (the “whirlwind”) and they don’t take time to focus on the strategic plan.

WIGs 2018-02-04An effective execution plan starts with committing to a series of 15-minute segments on planning and implementing the strategic plan. Franklin Covey’s 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX)2 is one formula to follow. The four disciplines are:

  1. Select one or two “wildly important goals” (WIG) that drive your strategic plan and can be measured and tracked.
  2. Identify the activities that lead to achieving the WIG(s), ones that your team can influence.
  3. Create a compelling scoreboard: simple, visible to the team, shows the lead and lag measures, and tells immediately if you are winning.
  4. Establish a weekly cadence of accountability in which each team member commits to working on one or two of the lead activities as well as reports on the efforts toward the WIG.

This 4DX plan is easy to implement by committing to 15-minute segments for each discipline:

  1. 15 minutes to identify and establish your WIG from your strategic plan. If you need two WIGs, spend another 15 minutes on the second one.
  2. 15 minutes per WIG to list all of the leading activities required to meet your WIG.
  3. 15 minutes to determine how you will show (scoreboard) the team’s progress toward leading activities and WIG and where it will be displayed.
  4. 15 minutes per week – the same day/time each week – for the accountability meeting.

We facilitated a strategic plan for one of our clients a year ago. After following up with them to see their progress, they reported that the leadership team implemented a few goals but felt they needed our help to really drive the plan throughout their organization with all employees. They embraced 4DX and are starting to see results.

This works! Try it, and let me know how it works for you.

If you need help in setting up your 4DX plan, the Alber Enterprise Center can show you how. Call 740-725-6325.

(Submitted by Myra Wilson, Program Director, Alber Enterprise Center at Marion)

1:

Govindarajan, V., & Trimble, C. (2010). The other side of innovation: solving the execution challenge. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Gudmundsson, H., Ericsson, E., Tight, M., Lawler, M., Envall, P., Figueroa, M., et al. (2012). The role of decision support in the implementation of “sustainable transport” plans. European Planning Studies, 20(2), 171-191.

Hahn, W., & Powers, T. (2010). Strategic plan quality, implementation capability, and firm performance. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 9(1), 63-81.

Kotter, J. (1996). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Larian, L., Day, M., Backhurst, M., Berke, P., Ericksen, N., Crawford, J., et al. (2004). What drives plan implementation? Plans, planning agencies and developers. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 47(4), 555-577.

2:

McChesney, C., Covey, S., & Huling, J. (2012).  The 4 disciplines of execution: achieving your wildly important goals.  New York:  Free Press.