Many of our local companies were started by entrepreneurs who had an idea for a new or improved product and then worked hard to fulfill their dream. Look throughout our industrial parks and our downtown corridor and you will see numerous examples of successful entrepreneurs.  Realizing that the majority of business growth in Greater Minnesota comes from helping your existing businesses grow, or helping startups be successful, we realized that we needed to make helping entrepreneurs a priority.  This is where the Albert Lea Entrepreneurial Advancement Program arose from.

The ALEAP project started with a group of participants in Albert Lea’s most recent Blandin Community Leadership Program cohort.  Savile Lord, Chad Adams, John Katz, John Holt and Cierra Anderson wanted to reinvigorate the entrepreneur spirit in Albert Lea by focusing on five particular areas:

1) Creating a monthly networking and mentor program.

2) Creating co-working office space downtown.

3) Offering a training program focused around the business plan.

4) Hosting a “Shark Tank” event to highlight the importance of entrepreneurs to the community.

5) Offer a micro-lending program.

Their goals for this program were to create five new businesses with 15 new jobs over the next two years and 10 new businesses and 40 new jobs over the next five years.

So where do we currently stand with each of these items?

1) The kickoff for the monthly networking gatherings was held June 9 at The Marketing Plant in downtown Albert Lea. Going forward the gatherings will be the third Thursday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Marketing Plant with the first hour dedicated to a speaker/program and the second hour dedicated to peer-to-peer networking. If you see yourself as a budding entrepreneur, or are a successful entrepreneur who wants to give back, I invite you to join the monthly gatherings. To get on the mailing list, send an email to info@themarketingplant.com or visit http://themarketingplant.co/aleap/ for more details.

2) The Marketing Plant has created the co-working office space in their building on Broadway, and it is known as The Outlet.  There are numerous membership options available for those in need of office space, or just interested in working side by side with like-minded individuals, so please contact The Marketing Plant for details (http://themarketingplant.co/).

3) We are currently working with Riverland Training and Development to finalize the training program. Topics to be discussed will include finance, law, HR, marketing, locating & distributing, strategic planning, presentation skills, along with how all these items fit into a business plan.

4) The Blandin members are working on the “Shark Tank” event with the idea to host the event later this year.

5) ALEDA currently offers the micro-lending programs. Since 2009 we have made over 15 loans totaling more than $1.2 million, and we currently have funds available.  The key to these funds is that they are to be used as gap financing in partnership with the company’s lender/bank.  We aren’t here to replace the bank, instead we are here to help the lender feel more comfortable with the deal by filling the gap that may exist between the bank loan and the owner’s equity.

Going forward we realize the importance of the ALEAP program being the entrepreneur’s program, so expect it to morph as we receive input and suggestions from those participating.  If you have any questions, or are interested in participating, please feel free to contact our office at 373-3930, and we will point you in the right direction.

Until next month, remember that we are all in this together.

 

Ryan Nolander is the executive director of the Albert Lea Economic Development Agency.