By B.C. Manion
How do you make your business grow?
That was the crux of the second annual Economic Gardening Conference held last week in Pasco County.
It turns out there are lots of resources that companies may find useful in their quest to expand, but the sources of help are often scattered – and many business owners may be unaware of them, speakers at the conference said.
One source of help for businesses is known as the GrowFL program. It targets second-stage companies – which are defined as growth companies that are beyond the startup stage and are poised to expand.
The GrowFL program is administered by the Florida Economic Gardening Institute at the University of Central Florida and is funded by the Florida Legislature.
GrowFL offers presentations that bring leaders of second-stage businesses into a confidential setting where they can learn from their peers.
It also offers CEO Roundtables, which brings groups of entrepreneurs together for collaborative problem-solving sessions on issues important to their companies. These sessions also are held in a confidential setting and are led by a trained facilitator.
Besides offer technical help, GrowFL also supports referral networks and events that can lead to new business relationships and clients.
The economic gardening approach is practical, said John Hagen, president and executive director of the Pasco Economic Development Council.
The traditional economic development model was to identify employers who could provide a substantial number of jobs and use enticements to lure them to a community.
Hagen said it makes sense to concentrate more resources on nurturing local businesses to help them flourish.
Individually, they don’t produce as many jobs – but collectively, they can be a powerful source of economic development. Instead of relying on a small number of large employers, a community can develop a broad base of small companies that are thriving.
In essence, the GrowFL model asks: “How do we take our current economic base and extract as much growth as possible?” Hagen said.
“That is what we need,” said Pasco County Commissioner Pat Mulieri, who attended the meeting. “The entrepreneurial spirit is what made our country great,” she said. “For many years, we always wanted the big guys.”
Besides helping individual companies to succeed, the community becomes more attractive to companies that are looking to relocate, Hagen said.
Economic activity begets economic activity, he said.
“You want to go into a place where things are happening,” Hagen said. That sends a message. It tells companies: “This is a safe place to invest because other people are doing it.”
Steve Quello, founder and president of CEO Nexus, facilitated a panel discussion at the conference featuring three Pasco CEOs who have been benefitted from GrowFL.
The panelists were Don Morrison, president and owner of Designer Golf Company and Site Essentials; Anthony Gaeto, CEO, president and co-founder of Web Direct Brands and Peter Buczynsky, president and co-founder of PharmaWorks.
All three men, whose companies are in Odessa, talked about using GrowFL programs to help them leverage their resources to find new markets or to make better business decisions.
Morrison said he has benefitted from insights gleaned from discussions with other CEOs.
The person at the top of a company often doesn’t have anyone else inside the company to bounce ideas off of, Morrison said. In peer discussions it becomes clear that top executives are often grappling with the same kinds of issues, he said.
Company CEOs often can learn from each other because they come from varied industries and offer different perspectives, Quello added.
Low-interest loans also are available for those who qualify. To get the details on loan requirements and restrictions, go to www.BBIF.com or call (407) 649-4780.
GrowFL is just one of many resources available to businesses, but company leaders are often so immersed in the day-to-day challenges of their company that they don’t have time to explore sources of potential help, speakers said.
In Orlando, there’s a one-stop for entrepreneurs needing help. It is called the Disney Entrepreneur Center, and it brings together myriad resources to help businesses.
Closer to home, the PEDC is planning a virtual network to tie various resources together to help business owners seeking assistance.
Members of the website’s core group are the five local chambers of commerce, SCORE, the Pasco-Hernando Work Force Board, the Small Business Development Center, the Pasco Library System and the PEDC.
That’s only the beginning, though.
Hagen wants the Pasco Enterprise Network to be open-ended.
The idea is that anyone seeking help could open any door and be led to the right resource, Hagen said.
“There are a lot of resources out there that tend to operate independently,” Hagen said. “We want to create a business ecosystem.”
Hagen said he expects the website to be up and running within 90 days.
//GrowFL at a glance
To qualify for the GrowFL program, companies must meet these qualifications:
Employ 10 to 100 people
Have gross revenues ranging from $1 million to $50 million
Be a company focused on growth, with increases in the number of employees or gross revenues during at least three of the past five years
Operate in one of these sectors: manufacturing; finance and insurance services; wholesale trade; information industries; professional, scientific and technical services; management services; and administrative support services.
For more information, visit www.growfl.com.
Here are some websites that may be useful for business owners:
www.pascoedc.com
www.BBIF.com
www.disneyec.com
www.flevc.com
