Helping hands
Resources boost business owners in Mankato area
by Matt Krumrie Milt Toratti has energy. He has passion, vision and plenty of opinions. He has a no- nonsense, cut-to-the-chase style that makes one want to get right into their business idea and hit the ground running.
The Mankato resident is a one-man small-business encyclopedia and he’s here to help the small-business owner through his Mankato-based company, the Riverbend Center For Advanced Enterprise Facilitation (RCEF). Toratti says he founded the company to capture the passion, skill, resources and imagination of local entrepreneurs and existing business owners to help them realize their dreams.
RCEF is a 501 C-3 non-profit, non-membership, local business and entrepreneur development organization, that provides a grassroots approach to encourage homegrown innovation as an important economic development strategy. It was named the 2003 Best Rural and Community Economic Development Program by the National Association of Counties (NACO)
Toratti is the president, and has a nine-member board of directors that assists him and his clients. RCEF helps to turn those homegrown ideas into new jobs or retained jobs, says Toratti.
“The missing element in economic development is human development,” says Toratti, who is a retired military colonel who moved his family 29 times, taught at Toledo University and the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and has been a general manager and chief operating officer of organizations through his 62 years of life. In other words, he’s been there and done that.
From July 1997 through April of 2004 RCEF has helped over 1,000 business-minded individuals in 90 different communities and 18 different states develop and carry out business ideas, he says. Clients have ranged from ages eight to 80.
While Toratti works with clients from all over, he knows the value of this resource to the Mankato area business owner. The hard part though, is finding him.
“I don’t have a phone number listed, I have never spent a single penny on advertising and I don’t come to you,” says Toratti. “But if you want help, I’ll help you, you just have to find me. People who want to improve their business have a passion and if they really want it, they’ll find me.”
Outside opinion
Throughout the Greater Mankato region, numerous economic resources are available to small-business owners, and they’re easier to find.
Bob Klanderud is the Small Business Development Center director for the Region Nine Development Commission (RNDC), which serves nine counties in the South Central area, including Blue Earth County, where Mankato and North Mankato are located.
The RNDC provides business consulting services to existing businesses in a number of formats, including expanding a business plan, researching industry information, leasing a piece of equipment, among many others.
“A lot of business owners need to talk to an outside source to get ideas, maybe to get help with a marketing plan, or just to hear an outside opinion,” says Klanderud.
RNDC, also a non-profit organization, also runs about a dozen seminars each year on a variety of small-business-related topics.
“We try to build relationships with existing businesses and help them grow and expand,” says Klanderud. “There is a lot going on in Mankato, and we have been able to work with a number of small businesses on the cusp of big things.”
David Schooff, president of the Greater Mankato Chamber of Commerce, knows the importance of providing resources to local business owners.
Schooff estimates that about 75 percent of its membership comes from small businesses. By providing a number of programs, members who are active get more than just a place to network and make connections.
The Mankato chamber serves more than 725 members and their employees. Among its numerous programs are educational seminars and a management symposium.
The chamber is also a public policy advocate for small businesses, and lobbies with local and state government on a number of issues that could affect small-business owners, such as taxes, health insurance and transportation.
The programs provided by the chamber are valuable, says Bryan Paulsen, who is president of Paulsen Architect of Mankato.
“We’re actively involved and believe it’s a great way to keep on the tip of community development, business development, and to maintain and foster relationships with other business owners,” says Paulsen.
Dr. Teresa Marshall, president of Mankato Chiropractic and Acupuncture Center and Mankato’s Healing Touch, agrees.
“I think Mankato is a great area for small-business growth,” says Marshall. “I have enjoyed having my practice in Mankato and have been involved with the chamber for several years and they do offer great support. I think there are a lot of opportunities to network with other business owners. The attitude is to try and help all businesses succeed.”
One of the more unusual resources for small businesses in the Mankato/North Mankato region is Technology Plus of Mankato Inc. It opened in October 1999 and is a non-profit organization owned by the city of Mankato.
Technology Plus has four primary objectives: to provide a comprehensive technology center for public use, to provide an education and training environment, to provide a business start-up incubator program and to provide quality office space for established businesses.
The technology center, called Community Access, provides computer access to anyone in the southern Minnesota region at no charge. The center features state-of-the-art computers with PC and Mac platforms, access to the Internet and a variety of commonly used software programs. Conference rooms and computer-equipped classrooms are available to businesses and organizations on a rental basis.
Technology Plus also offers a Business Incubator Program designed to assist new technology-based companies to grow and develop new uses of computer hardware, software and related technology. Technology Plus offers space to technology start-up companies at a reduced rate. Six small businesses are taking advantage of the Incubator program.
Earlier in 2004 construction was completed on the 11,000-square-foot expansion of the Technology Plus building, the result of grant funding. It’s available for rent. Technology Plus also opened a satellite location in the Midwest Wireless Civic Center in July 2003, says President Bill Bassett.
There are numerous economic and small-business resources available through the four prominent higher education institutes in Mankato: Minnesota State University-Mankato, Bethany Lutheran College, Rasmussen Business College and South Central Technical College.
Each year MSU-Mankato hosts an entrepreneurs fair where local businesses and prospective entrepreneurs can share ideas, network and learn. “This has turned into a great program,” says Dr. Scott Johnson, dean of the College of Business at MSU-Mankato. “The city of Mankato and North Mankato is certainly a thriving economic region.”
The Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) is a resource available to help build stronger businesses throughout 20 southern Minnesota counties through financing and technical and management assistance, says Carol Cerney, vice president of donor services and outreach.
Julie Nelson is programs director for the Greater Mankato Economic Development Corp., which focuses on industrial-related recruitment.
“Right now is a busy time in Mankato,” says Nelson. “Small-business owners definitely have a lot of opportunity to be involved and find a way to grow right now.”
[contact]
Bill Bassett, Technology Plus Inc.: 507.385.3205; wbassett@mankatotechplus.com; www.mankatotechplus.com. Carol Cerney, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation: 507.455.3215; CarolC@smifoundation.org; smifoundation.org. Dr. Scott Johnson, Minnesota State University: 507.389.5424; Scott.Johnson@mnsu.edu ; www.cob.mnsu.edu/. Bob Klanderud, Region 9 Development Corp.: 507.389.8875; robertk@rndc.mankato.mn.us; rndc.mankato.mn.us. Dr. Teresa Marshall, Mankato Chiropractic Center and Healing Touch: 507.345.4035; staff@mankatochiro.com; mankatochiro.com. Julie Nelson, Greater Mankato Economic Development Corp.: 507.345.4519; jnelson@greatermankato.com; www.greatermankato.com. Bryan Paulsen, Paulsen Architects: 507.388.9811; Bryan@paulsen-arch.com; Paulsen-arch.com . David Schooff, Greater Mankato Chamber of Commerce: 507.345.4519; dschooff@greatermankato.com www.greatermankato.com. Milt Toratti, Riverbend Center For Enterprise Facilitation: 507.386.7285; bercef@hickorytech.net; www.blueearthsmallbusiness.org.
