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Economic Revitalization
The Economic Revitalization Committee is working together with the business and building owners to develop a business recruitment and retention and recruitment plan and to encourage the economic growth in downtown Portland. Portland residents have repeatedly shared their ideas about an "ideal" downtown Portland, and we are working to achieve that vision.
Like the Promotions and Marketing Committee, we encourage Portland residents to think Portland first when they need goods or services. This not only saves time and money that would be spent on the trip to Lansing or Grand Rapids, but it builds jobs in Portland, attracts new businesses, and increases the selection of goods and services in our own hometown.
We invite you to join us in Revitalizing downtown Portland by joining the Economic Revitalization Committee. Email one of the co-chairs for more information: Rush Clement at rushclement@sbcglobal.net or Julie Clement at jaclement@cablespeed.com.
Calling All Retail Entrepreneurs!
Have you dreamed of opening your own store? In survey after survey, Portland residents have said that they want a thriving downtown—a place they can shop, visit, and meet friends and neighbors. Yet, businesses continue to struggle and even close.
The Main Street Economic Revitalization (ER) Committee, in conjunction with the “Creating Entrepreneurial Communities” project, is exploring a retail business incubator.
“What?! You want to grow chickens?!?” No. Not that kind of incubator!
Business incubators have been around for decades, but the most widely used models focus on manufacturing and technology companies. The retail incubator we envision would look a little bit like a miniature mall in the heart of our downtown. Aspiring entrepreneurs could try their hand at opening their own retail store without quite as much risk as usual.
As we explore this idea, we want to hear your ideas! Participants will have a small store—about the size of a kiosk in a mall—with a small rent payment that includes utilities, shared services (phones, office machinery, etc.), advertising, and (most importantly) training and support. The ER Committee will help you write your business plan; train you in marketing, visual merchandising, inventory control, Internet marketing, and more; connect you with experts; and help you succeed in many other ways. In a few years, we hope many of you will “hatch” out of the incubator and grow into a larger building . . . perhaps even open some more locations of your successful venture in other small towns across the state.
Are you interested? We’re already hearing some excitement about this project, and we hope there is enough interest to move forward. Here are some of our ideas: a wine shop, a small art gallery, a yarn and bead shop, a specialty food store (gourmet or health foods), homemade chocolates and other candies, bike and rollerblade rental . . . can you think of more? If you’re interested in opening one of these retail stores, or if you have other ideas, please contact us as soon as possible. You can fill out the form below, or you can call ER Committee Co-Chair, Rush Clement, at 517.647.6710. Together, we can make Portland prosper!
Creating Entrepreneurial Communities
Michigan’s economy is struggling. You know that. And you also know that the manufacturing economy that we’ve enjoyed for decades is no longer the answer. But think about the people who made it happen. They were the “creative class” of their time. How many people rolled their eyes at Henry Ford, the Rockefellers, and others? But those entrepreneurs knew a secret: our future has always depended on innovative and creative people who were willing to take risks to drive change and enable new wealth creation.
Now think about the success stories of today: Jiffy Lube, FedEx, Cabela’s, Microsoft, Ebay . . . Each of these businesses started with a small, creative idea. The naysayers said, “That will never work”; “You’re wasting your time”; “Why don’t you get a real job?” And while these entrepreneurs were quietly working away at their “stupid” ideas, their communities continued to say, “We need a big company to come in, create hundreds of jobs, and save our community.”
What’s wrong with that picture?
Our economic problems will not be fixed by a knight in shining armor riding to our rescue. The answers lie within ourselves . . . within our community. Michigan State University recognizes that communities need to do a much better job of helping the creative class succeed. In that spirit, MSU has partnered with a number of state and private entities to begin a pilot program: “Creating Entrepreneurial Communities” (CEC). The Portland Main Street Economic Revitalization Committee has partnered with people from Ionia, Belding, and Lake Odessa to create a county-wide CEC team. We applied to be one of the pilot communities in this exciting program, and guess what! We were chosen!
In the coming months, we’ll be looking for entrepreneurs—aspiring and successful—and the businesses and entities that support entrepreneurs. We’ll be creating directories and exploring ways that we can help our own creative class succeed. We hope you’ll be part of the solution, rather than sitting back and taking bets on how soon a new venture will fail.
Who are these entrepreneurs? What kinds of “crazy” things are they doing? They’re everywhere, and they’re doing everything. It’s your neighbor, the farmer who just started giving educational tours of the farm to school children; it’s the nature enthusiast down the road, thinking about opening a canoe livery; it’s your sister—the one who’s the best cook you know—she should sell those relishes and recipes; it’s the person who wants to open a small coffee shop; it’s the farmer with a brand new idea for increasing his crop production; it’s the student in 10th grade science class who’s thinking about cancer research in new ways . . . yes, the 10th grader. And the list goes on.
Extensive research proves three things:
1. Entrepreneurs are key to creating new ventures.
2. Entrepreneurs drive regional economic competitiveness.
3. Entrepreneurs are the job creation engines of the 21st Century.
What does this mean for rural America . . . for Portland? Entrepreneurs are our best opportunity to revitalize our economy. Some of you are sitting back, reading this, and thinking, “This is wonderful! You can make it happen!” But we cannot make it happen. Only you can make it happen. The CEC program is no more the answer than waiting for a hero to ride in on a white horse and save us. The program will only work if we all do our part. Support entrepreneurs. Celebrate their success. Help them through their failures. Encourage them to move forward. Buy their products. Don’t wait for them to fail; make sure they succeed! Most importantly, follow your own dreams. Tell your community leaders what you need to succeed.
Biz Resource Center
Do you know about the Business Resources available through the Portland District Library?
The Biz Resource Center (BRC) provides a one-stop location where current and future small-business owners can find needed information and support on a variety of different business-building issues. Available resources include the latest computer technology, hardware and software, and an extensive small-business reference library of hard-copy books and publications to help entrepreneurs plan or expand their businesses.
“Using the BRC’s self-instructional resources can result in a well-crafted, comprehensive business plan, which can be used to guide a client through the first steps of business ownership, product or service expansion,” stated Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center (MI-SBTDC) State Director, Carol Lopucki. “The Biz Resource Center gives our program an added dimension. Now entrepreneurs have a place where they can research their business in a quiet, professional, and creative atmosphere.” stated Carolyn Bennett, former Portland-Michigan Main Street Manager. “It truly is a place where small-business owners can get information and support. The philosophy of the Center is to provide small-business owners with the tools and information that will give them the best chance at being successful,” according to Bennett. “To be successful, entrepreneurs need to research and prepare business plans. The more personal involvement they have in the planning process, the more likely they are to be successful.”
"Housing the BRC and expanding its business information is in keeping with the Portland District Library's service priority to meet our patrons' requests and needs," said Jan Mosser, Library Director.
The Biz Resource Center is a joint venture between the MI-SBTDC, Portland District Library, and the coveted Michigan Main Street program. The four pilot selections for the Michigan Main Street program were Boyne City, Calumet/Calumet Twp, Marshall, and Portland, although other cities continue to join the list. All cities are in the process of receiving downtown “makeovers” through intensive, specialized downtown revitalization training designed to create new jobs and investments. The BRCs are hands-on centers, which will assist in transforming downtowns into vibrant centers of commerce, thriving with the small businesses that make Main Streets attractive to community residents and visitors.
The MI-SBTDC is housed at the Grand Valley State University's Seidman College of Business in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As host of the MI-SBTDC State Headquarters, the Seidman College of Business oversees the twelve-region MI-SBTDC network. Each office within the network provides counsel and training to small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the 83 counties in Michigan.
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