Christi has an in-depth conversation with Dalida Sassoon Bollig, Chief Executive Officer at the Business Incubator Center in Grand Junction. Hear about how the Incubator supports small businesses and startups in our area, plus learn more about Dalida's fascinating international background!
To learn more about the Business Incubator Center and all their services, visit their website.
If you prefer to watch your podcasts, head over to our YouTube page to see this and all our podcasts!
Christi has an in-depth conversation with Dalida Sassoon Bollig, Chief Executive Officer at the Business Incubator Center in Grand Junction. Hear about how the Incubator supports small businesses and startups in our area, plus learn more about Dalida's fascinating international background!
To learn more about the Business Incubator Center and all their services, visit their website.
If you prefer to watch your podcasts, head over to our YouTube page to see this and all our podcasts!
The Full Circle podcast, compelling interviews and incredible tales from Colorado's Western Slope, from the mountains to the desert. Christie Reese and her team here from the Movers Shakers and characters of the Grand Valley and surrounding mountain towns that make the Western slope, the place we all love. You'll learn, you'll laugh, you'll love with the full circle. Hi everybody, and welcome back to the Full Circle podcast. Super excited today to introduce you to someone that is fairly new to our community in a number of ways, but, um, I'm really excited to get to know her. Also. It's, um, Ms. De Alita Baig from the Grand Junction Business Incubator. Wait, is it the Grand Junction Business Incubator? The Business Incubator Center, yes.
Speaker 2:The Business Incubator Center. Okay. Thank you for having
Speaker 1:Me. Thank you for being here. Um, so you've been at the job there for a little less than a year, and has it been a whirlwind? I mean, my gosh, it's
Speaker 2:Fantastic.
Speaker 1:There's so much going on there. There
Speaker 2:Is, uh, we have, um, about 61 businesses that are on board, uh, at the incubator, uh, aside from businesses in the community that come for coaching, consulting, um, you know, tax credits through the enterprise zone or loan fund or just business training workshops. It is so fun. Yeah,
Speaker 1:It's awesome. And this is right up your alley, right? Yes. Like it just really enjoyed reading your resume and your history. You have a lot of business experience, but, well, let's go way back and start, like, where were you born,<laugh>? Because you're from Sweden? Yes. Originally. Yes. So a and you did a lot of work with business organizations in Sweden. So tell us a little bit about your upbringing and your childhood and your transition into the business world.
Speaker 2:So I come from a very entrepreneurial family on my dad's side. Uh, they've been trades, um, family, um, moving a lot in Europe. So we have a large chunk of our family in uk. We have some in the Netherlands, some in Sweden, um, with the East India company, just kind of traveling, bringing spices and ceramics to, uh, Europe from east, uh, east Asia, Southeast Asia, and India and some other, um, material. Uh, and it's just kind of like in the family. But my dad was in the diplomatic line mm-hmm.<affirmative>, and he did diplomacy work for UK and sometimes for Sweden. He kind of alternated. And, um, I just, I just enjoyed the, that entrepreneurial spirit, uh, when people just kind of have a vision set out to do it and then go for it and, and then they, you know, struggle sometimes and they thrive sometimes and they grow and they create jobs and it is, it is that whole journey that attracted me. Um, although it did, I did not start with, uh, small businesses. I actually started with social work. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Uh, so I studied, uh, political sciences, sociology and international relations. And then, uh, I started working, um, with social work. And, uh, quickly I realized, huh, I can't do social work. Um, this is not me. Um, I need to, to look at things from a macro level where I can look at the strategies and the policies that affect social work. So that was the catalyst of why I wanted to get into strategy and then that took me somewhere else.
Speaker 1:Do you feel like your time in social work though, as, as we do when we change careers? Um, it, it definitely, you bring a lot of that and what you learned there to the new job. Do you feel like the social work helped inform your business acumen?
Speaker 2:I think in a way it did. Um, it was very much around, um, families and, and lack of network of support around families. And so it is a different system in Sweden where everything is kind of within the network of governance mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And so healthcare and, uh, healthcare services is very much well thought of. And there are very strict policies for help within the government and how to approach it. And I think that what I saw a lot of times is that whenever something may go wrong in society, say, uh, inflation recession, uh, an economic downturn of a sort affects a lot of families at the bottom line, uh, way stronger than it would families that have accumulated some sort of personal wealth or family wealth. And, uh, and they tend to have a struggle that is tough to, um, approach from the outside because most of the people don't even know about it. And I think that kept me thinking for quite some time. And I thought the solution is policies, you know, helping with policies, making sure that the policies are not blind to people's needs and families' needs and, uh, being more holistic in, in building policies. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative>. And so did you think about getting into politics and in that sort of vein?
Speaker 2:Um, not politics per se, but definitely governance work. Um, I was approached by the university for a fast track PhD. Uh, I finished my master's, but I did, didn't do my PhD. I decided to kind of take, put that on a break and, uh, pursue work, uh, with the government. So I started local government and then I got picked up for regional government and then I got picked up for missions outside of Sweden, and then I got picked up for high government. And, uh, it is then that I started seeing the, the bigger picture, uh, because regional government kind of started sparking my interest in how we regionally can attract jobs, businesses, um, growth to our areas, rural areas versus kind of like hubs of business, bigger cities. Um, and then high government, it was on a completely different level. It was so fun because you are starting to look at economic development from a, a more kind of like the 10,000 feet, uh, view. And you're looking at the entire world as your playground. And, uh, regions become, you know, continents, not just countries. And, um, uh, a country, a small country like Sweden with 10 million can create so much impact. And, um, you know, the, the network of collaborations and, and diplomacy work that goes into creating that thriving network to promote business was just so thrilling. I had so much fun.<laugh>. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I can see it in your face. It's awesome. And was there an element to, um, cuz we were talking about traveling a little bit before we got started today, uh, when you thought about international relations, like that's a, a part of the, the process that you enjoy as well. Yes. Learning about new cultures and,
Speaker 2:Yes. So, um, I come from a very, um, mixed background. So I have a lot of cultures and languages in my family. Uh, and so growing up we alternated languages easily and often. Uh, and we traveled a lot. And so I just kind of adopted that lifestyle as I was working and living and, um, and, and cultures and subcultures interest me specifically and subcultures in areas that are smaller interest me specifically, because usually they create things and then those things become bigger rings and you can actually follow that and you can see how how big the impact can become versus top-down method where, you know, someone in a big corporation creates a solution and then it needs to trickle down to the bottom kind of line or rural areas and whatnot. And so I, I think that traveling helped a lot because you get to see how ethnic cultural backgrounds, uh, think and innovate, uh, versus other cultures and backgrounds. And so you can compare on a completely different level.
Speaker 1:That's fascinating. Um, back to your languages. I mean, you, you speak, uh, an amazing variety of languages. I'm, I'm showing here Arabic, Danish, English, of course, French, Hebrew. Italian, Judeo, Arabic, Norwegian, Swedish and Yiddish.
Speaker 2:Yes, I do.<laugh>. That's amazing.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. Yes. And that's not a repertoire that a lot of people have, right? That's a, uh, interesting combination. So do you have some, um, Arabic heritage?
Speaker 2:I don't. I'm Jewish. Jewish
Speaker 1:Heritage?
Speaker 2:Yes. Okay. So, uh, Hebrew and Judeo Arabic was part of my family's heritage and Yiddish, so I grew up with these languages. Swedish and English as well. Uh, French as well, because I'm part French. So there's a lot of languages that were spoken on a daily basis in my family. Um, but, um, I, at some point in my life while I was studying international relations, I thought world peace is something that I wanted to try out and I wanted to travel to the middle, middle East and, uh, try my luck at, um, creating a solution. And, uh, it's kind of naive now, thinking about it now turning 40, and I'm like, Hmm,<laugh> what,
Speaker 1:What? But it's a beautiful thought
Speaker 2:Though. Deta. Like, it, it was good. Yeah. Um, so, uh, I traveled and I realized I can't really communicate with, uh, the people that I'm meeting, my friends that I'm making there and all the families that I'm, uh, connecting with. I'm not really connecting with them on a level that we can intellectually have a conversation. And so I set out to learn Arabic and it took me 13 years and have to master it. It's 21, well, it's a little bit more than 21, but 21 main accents or dialects. They are extremely different from one another because they have other influences and other regional influences mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Uh, but then I learned the standard, uh, language, so modern standard Arabic, which is kind of like news language. And then I learned every dialect I could get my hands on. So I traveled all over the Middle East and North Africa, uh, learned, um, immersed myself. Um, and, uh, and I'm proud to say today I speak it like local, so That's awesome. Yes. And I get, I get a lot of, uh, joy from connecting with people on that level where,
Speaker 1:And watching their eyes go, wait a minute, you really know the language<laugh>
Speaker 2:Yes. And, and slang and kind of like understanding the, the, the ethnic thinking, uh, or the ethnic cultural thinking about things, uh, because it defers, um, you know, if you're thinking linear or kind of, um, in a more kind of compound way of, uh, of ideas or if it is more philosophical or more, you know, in, in Sahara region, more animist, um, kind of thinking. So there's a lot of differences and nuances that language can carry that we normally don't think about when we learn a new language. But it, it creates those levels of knowledge and kind of connection with people. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative>, definitely. I've, I've experienced that in my trials. Not to the extent that you have, but yeah, it's a beautiful thing to, to be in someone else's country and speak their language and understand them and, and those slang uh, yeah, little idioms and things is great. Yes. Um, talk about the, the diversity in Grand Junction or lack thereof. I mean, I wouldn't call Grand Junction the most diverse population in the state, in the country, but I'm sure from your business perspective you see some diversity there. And how do you work with that? How do you, uh, use it to its advantage? And what are the disadvantages you see here in our community?
Speaker 2:I think it's a great question. Uh, I think that we do see some diversity, although, uh, it is, depending on what you compare with, there will always be differences, right? So if we're cont uh, comparing with a metropolitan, uh, city, there's way more diversity and ethnic backgrounds that can be, um, um, kind of small, small businesses have, uh, can, can hire a large number of, uh, diverse, um, uh, individuals. Um, I think we do still see a large number of diversity compared to other areas. Uh, we are de facto in a hub on the Westland Slope. Grand Junction is the largest city. Uh, we do have smaller cities around us that are also thriving and have a population of one 50 ish, 1 57 ish thousand. Um, that's still an okay number to, to see. We, we do see some, um, Hispanic, uh, small business owners. We see. Uh, okay. I need to back up a little bit cuz the definition for what diverse is differ first from organization to another. Right. So I think o edit, um, um, things or defines diversity as, uh, women owned businesses, veteran owned businesses, minority owned businesses, um, ethnic minorities, and then Native American Alaskan, uh, heritage. Okay. And, um, um, we definitely don't see that much Native American or Alaskan heritage here, but we do see a large number of women owned businesses and veteran owned businesses. Uh, and we are getting better at approaching Hispanic, um, uh, businesses. We just managed to this past year, uh, translate all our forums and everything on our website to Spanish, uh, and we have a bilingual person on staff and we have at all times someone who speaks both languages, uh, where anyone that walks in through the door, if they have an appointment or not, if they need help in Spanish, we are able to provide them with that. Fantastic. Um, and that is just the beginning of what we can kind of like scratch the, the surface of the need out there. I think there oughta be a lot of us in this same boat trying to approach, um, uh, a multicultural diverse, um, business society. Uh, because when, when we see everything from a holistic kind of image, when we include everyone in the services and the activities that we have, we encourage a thriving society. Uh, and, and I think we are slowly but surely getting there. Um, but we really can't change the, um, um, the population, um, formula. If, if I say, um, it's, it is what it is. Right. And we're working with what we have. Yep.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Um, you said something earlier when we were talking a little bit about social work, uh, versus, um, uh, business and, and support. And how does the role of the business incubator work to support families which then support or, or supports businesses first, which then does support families, right? I mean, talk about that, that interplay of support with business and social work.
Speaker 2:So, um, we don't really do social work at all at the incubator. That's not really what what we are here to do. But we do have a vast network of context that we help connect people to. We collaborate a lot with Mesa County, with the city of Grand Junction, city of Fruita, city of Palisade. We, we have the, the know-how of how to approach things if we need to, um, and, and who to approach, who to which contact to give to our customers or clients. Um, but, um, back to your, to your question, I, I think that the way that we see it as, uh, when families, when, when a, when a small business owner or, um, a person who wants to start a business or someone who started a business but is kind of in a, in a different, um, place in their business cycle, uh, come to us, um, we normally assess first what the need is, uh, because business training looks different from one business to another depending on where they are. Yeah. Um, and so some need more intense cash flow projection help, some need intense, uh, kind of connecting them to the resources in, in the community. But small businesses is the backbone of America. It is the backbone of our rural community, even though we, we like to see our cities as not so rural. Right. Uh, but we are de facto in a rural part of Colorado. And so, um, that is very important and it's, it's something that we have to mention often and, and we have to, uh, promote that, uh, to our small businesses that because they exist, because they take the leap, because they actually do the work that they do because they provide the services. Most of these dollars trickle back into the community. Uh, there's a study that was done, um, recently ish, uh, I think 2020 or 2019, I can't remember which year by the sba U s sba a, uh, small
Speaker 1:Business
Speaker 2:Association, uh, small business Administration Administration, uh, sorry. Yeah. Um, that, um, came to the conclusion that small businesses, uh, give every dollar, uh, um, that, um, is spent with a small business, uh, generates 68% of those dollars back into the community. Wow. Uh, versus 48, 46, uh, by big businesses, so like medium, large, uh, corporations mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Um, and that is a large, uh, difference. That's almost 30 extra percent of your dollars coming back into the community, fostering new businesses to start up helping create jobs, right. Helping create services.
Speaker 1:So when you, when you say small business or the backbone of the community, let's go back to, um, small business administration and the study that they did. Could you talk about that a little
Speaker 2:Bit? Yes, sure. Okay. So, uh, the small business administration SBA created a steady, I think either 2019 or 2020, I can't remember the year, uh, where they were talking about small businesses versus medium size large corporations or businesses. And, uh, they came to the conclusion that the data shows that 68% of the dollar spent, uh, with a small business trickles back into the communities, um, versus 46% from, uh, large, uh, businesses. And that is a, a huge difference. Yeah. That is money that comes back into the community, creating product services, screening jobs, helping foster an environment that is friendly to other small businesses and a community. Um, and I think that we ought to applaud that and we ought to support our small businesses. And in the same sense when we do that, we create a thriving small business community that will help attract others to our area.
Speaker 1:Definitely. Definitely. And I was gonna say, y you know, it almost sounds like a cliche because it's something you hear that small businesses are the backbone of the community, but the data shows that it's true, right? Yes. Like they are so vital to creating a good business atmosphere.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. And it is, uh, it's not just, um, the way that they operate. Uh, they also hire local. They buy local, they support local, uh, most of small businesses actually use local providers for services they need. Uh, and so that vendor list becomes so large, and then suddenly you have support businesses that are supporting that one small business that is created. So it is definitely, uh, um, a community fast, um, of small business.
Speaker 1:I, I love some of the, um, articles that you've been writing. I read a couple of them from the Business Times, and one of the, um, paragraphs that I really loved, I wanted to just read and get your comments on. Entrepreneurship thrives when economic development organizations and government policies work together to increase resources available to entrepreneurs, which in turn can help protect against economic slumps, supporting entrepreneurship drives innovation and creates jobs, which leads to stronger and more prosperous communities.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:It's all tied together.
Speaker 2:Yes. I absolutely believe that we can't do anything by ourselves. We have to collaborate, we have to do things together, uh, as a community, as a state, as a region, um, as a society. Uh, nobody exists in a vacuum. And policies have to feed into what the needs are. You know, small businesses can translate that into work. They, they work hard. They, they know what the struggle is that needs to also match the policies that are coming out. Uh, to support small businesses. It has to be something that matches the need. Uh, but also entrepreneurship as something that I believe we will see a huge influx in. Uh, we are headed towards a, a time, I mean, nobody knows Right. But
Speaker 1:We, but we're only a couple years out of the start of the pandemic. Really. Yes. I mean, there's so much that can happen and change Yes. Because of that the last few years.
Speaker 2:But we're also seeing large bills created by the government, by the federal government to support entrepreneurship and small businesses. We are defacto bringing back a lot of that to the us. Um, you know, be, be it the, um, infrastructure bill, be it the, um, the chips bill. There's a lot of manufacturing. There's a lot of small business support that is happening right now. And in the, in the face of de-globalization of a sort, we are focusing on our own resources. Uh, and I do believe that that creates and fosters a lot of opportunity for small businesses and entrepreneurs to, to thrive.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. So the business incubator is a really unique, um, organization, and we're so lucky to have it here in Grand Junction. Is it possible to have th that kind of organization in smaller communities? Or is it because of the size and we're the hub? Um, I mean, they ha they must have something similar in Denver, but I'm guessing they don't have it in a lot of the mountain towns. But it is really unique, wouldn't you say?
Speaker 2:Um, I, I would say that the uniqueness is the way that our programs are seamlessly working together and having businesses actually on board where we are. Uh, so it, the model is not new. It exists elsewhere. And I believe that we are a network of, uh, multiple business training support, um, incubators. Um, but the, the Business incubator center is the oldest incubator in Colorado. Uh, I don't know about the only or the first, but it is the, the oldest 37 years, um, multiple programs we have right now, seven. There, there's a lot of breadth. And, and with, within the programs, there's a lot of knowledge. Um, and these programs are here to support our community at low to no cost. Uh, and the, which is
Speaker 1:Absolutely incredible. It's
Speaker 2:A huge resource. It is. And I think that we throughout the years have seen majority of the businesses that, uh, that we help at the incubator continue thriving and growing. Uh, there we have, um, collected data throughout the years, and we have a rate of 80% of success after five years. So any business that goes through the incubator centers, programs or business trainings, um, uh, and, and actually absorbs that. Right. So, so goes through the training, um, has a, uh, a success rate, uh, and stays in business after five years. Uh, five years is usually the, the first five years of a business is usually the most vulnerable ones. Uh, and you are a small business yourself, so you probably relate a lot to that. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a lot. And I was a small business, uh, owner myself, so I know how many hurdles, uh, one faces the first years. Uh, there are so many things to learn. There's so many things to do. Uh, and it all kind of like comes at you like you have to, you have to perform, you have to, you have to hire, you have to make sure that you're, uh, paying bills. You have to make sure that you're, it's a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Well, a lot of people, and, and I love an entrepreneurial spirit, but a lot of people say, well, I like to cook, or I like to garden and I like to do this. I'm gonna turn it into a business. And it's, it takes a whole lot Yes. To do that. And so a resource like the business incubator is so important to help these people make that leap.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. So, um, an interesting note is that we see a lot of already existing businesses come through the business incubator center, uh, not just startups, uh, the, the, uh, businesses that have already started. They're facing a hurdle of a sword or they're kind of restructuring or they want to scale up, or they're thinking about, uh, to pivot their model into something else. Uh, usually come to us and, and we have a network of consultants and coaches that are subject matter experts that can help them put their feet under them and know exactly what to do next and how to guide them and lead them into the right direction. And I think that it is such a, such an invaluable resource to small businesses to have someone that, you know, is by your side, that knows, um, how to go about growing a business and, and teaches this business acumen, um, that otherwise, you know, businesses charged for, uh, and you can get it. And then, uh, the payback is community. You know, you create community, you root here, you create support businesses, you help, uh, grow your business. You hire people, you retain your employees. It is great.
Speaker 1:So fantastic. I love your energy and your enthusiasm for the businesses here. And, and do you love living here? I do.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I love Grand Junction<laugh>. I think that my husband and I have been, um, back and forth talking a lot during, uh, the pandemic about moving back. Uh, and it didn't really work out. Um, but, um, I'm so happy it happened. He, uh, he's from here. Yeah. Uh, he was born at St. Mary's. He grew up in Afghanistan. Uh, he studied at, um, cmu, uh, I think it was, uh, a college before it became a university, yes, mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Uh, and, uh, at the time then he, he got his first job in Grand Junction. Uh, I mean, there's a lot of history that his family has here. Uh, we have so much family all the way from Afghanistan, ure, um, you know, Ridgeway, Montrose, they're all over the place.<laugh>. Oh, no fun. Yes.
Speaker 1:Well, circling back to, um, the businesses that are currently in the incubator or businesses that you've seen over the last year, I, I love looking on your website and seeing the variety of businesses and all the logos. It just gets me really excited. Yes. Um, would you say that there is one category that kind of dominates the, the businesses that come through? Or is it super diverse as far as what kind of businesses?
Speaker 2:So, that's a great question. It it is diverse because of the nature of the programs. So some of the programs are outward facing, like tax credits. It is really not just for businesses that are on board at the incubator. Uh, it is for any business in the community. Uh, so the enterprise zone tax credit is a, is an incentive that everyone should, uh, utilize. Uh, and it's for both non-profits and for-profits. So there's a lot of, a lot of, um, uh, good things there. Uh, uh, some of the businesses are more inward facing, like sbdc, it is, uh, coaching, consulting for any business that comes through. Uh, I think the industry that we're seeing, uh, we, we saw a lot of, um, uh, healthcare, um, uh, you know, takeoff, um, uh, behavioral health businesses, but we're also seeing aerospace manufacturing. Uh, I think we're heavy on the manufacturing side, uh, than the service side. But I mean, right now we are seeing, uh, amazing businesses. And I can just give one of the examples, and this is not too, you know, businesses that are sustainable, like the earrings I'm wearing today by Confluence, um, that wood, uh, he creates, um, furniture items from, uh, uh, reclaimed wood from Colorado. So he goes, picks it up, you know, creates furniture with the leftover wood, the scraps. He creates coasters with the leftover scraps, he creates jewelry. So it is, you know, a very sustainable model. Um, and it's very environmentally friendly. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Uh, and then, uh, and so this is one of the businesses. Then we have amazing food service businesses. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> like food trucks, like CTOs, Arabic food, uh, you know, uh, Kona Ice, uh, you know, then we have, um, um, uh, valry recovery systems recovering. Um, so parachutes, recovering rockets, so, you know. Wow. Is that what that is?<laugh>? Yes. So it is, it is. The variety is so huge. And so the, there's, uh, it's almost, I'm almost safe to say that we have seen every type of business mm-hmm.<affirmative>, uh, just in the past year, we have seen every industry. Wow. Uh, so everything from tech to services to retail, to manufacturing, to uh, to construction, to food. Yep. You name, it's awesome<laugh>.
Speaker 1:So what would you say are the biggest challenges facing your organization
Speaker 2:In the
Speaker 1:Next couple of years?
Speaker 2:Um, so I guess there's, that's a great question. I guess, um, challenges facing the community overall. We are rural, right? And we have to maintain, uh, the services and the support that we have to small businesses because entrepreneurship thrives in areas that have a lot of resources and community support. Um, I think, think that we are also in a place where we should start looking at, um, how do we help, um, fill the, uh, 4,000, um, uh, slots for, for missing, you know, daycare spots, uh, so that we can help workforce come back, uh, or encourage workforce to come back. Um, I think we are several organizations, uh, thinking and, and discussing about training and, and, uh, technical training and services done. And N w CCC does a great job at that. Uh, but there's a lot of, a lot of challenges to our community of small businesses overall. Uh, and one of them could be, you know, something as simple as we need to build more, um, uh, buildings for businesses so businesses can actually, uh, lease or, or buy buildings and, and run their business out of there. Um, aside from that housing, you know, there's, it's, it's all connected. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, it's, um, you know, daycare spots, uh, attracting workforce, uh, retaining workforce, training for workforce. So there, it's a lot, but it's, it all comes together. And I think that we are, we have to be nimble. All of the organizations thinking about the solutions, we're all talking, and it feels that we are, we have that going for us because we have those communication lines open. We can actually, we can sit and talk about things that are challenging mm-hmm.<affirmative>, uh, openly and frankly, and be able to approach solutions from, um, different ways. Uh, I think we may have a chance at it.
Speaker 1:And it seems like there's more collaboration than ever going on between the different organizations in Mesa County. Would you say that's true?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think so. I mean, I can't compare because I wasn't here before. So,<laugh>, sorry. Yeah. Um, I think from, from my point of view since I started, I feel very comfortable, you know, reaching out to any organization and be able to meet and discuss and, and be able to, to talk about what we have, um, uh, what challenges or, or, or ideas or collaborate on things. So I definitely agree that there is a lot of collaboration happening. Good.
Speaker 1:And so if you're, if there's somebody watching or listening that has a business and they're thinking, I might wanna expand, I might wanna, um, start a new business, I need some help, how do they get the process started?
Speaker 2:Um, well reach out to us, email, write on our website. We have a, uh, a lot of kinda like notes. Write, leave a note and we can reach out to you or call our front desk, and, uh, we will get you scheduled in to meet with someone, or we will meet with you on Zoom, or we will come out to you and meet with you. Uh, my team is amazing in that sense. We find ways that work for the small businesses, uh, and, uh, we have a lot of resources. And I think that it is important that we tell everyone, like we tell our friends that these resources are here for the community. Uh, we exist with this mission, uh, to promote economic development. And so we want businesses to thrive. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative>. And if you said that you have a lot of collaborators and people with different expertise, do you take volunteers that are willing to help in certain sectors?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. So we have a community of volunteers volunteering at the Business incubator center. Uh, they're subject matter experts. We have engineers, we have IT people, we have, uh, lawyers, we have, um, marketing experts. Uh, they come in and they consult one-on-one with small businesses. Uh, they lead workshops, they lead training. Uh, we have carpenters, welders, you name it. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Do you find that some people are reluctant to ask for help? They think it's, I don't know, a sign of weakness? Or, or do you, do people come in and, and really realize like, I can't do this on my own?
Speaker 2:Um, it's really both ways, right? I think the, the group of people that feel that it is tough to, uh, to find or, or to ask for help, uh, usually it's twofold, right? Either they, they're afraid to seem like they need to ask someone, or that they may think that there's a catch. Uh, do I have to pay for these services? Or, or, or is there something, or do I, am I safe here? I mean, there a lot of times we request very sensitive financial information, right? And is it safe? Of course. I mean, this is, everything stays confidential. We sign, uh, confidentiality agreements every year. Everyone that joins our organization does. All our board does. So, uh, I think that the people who ask realize, oh my gosh, there's so much resources that we can get and we can help others receive the same type of, uh, help. Um, but it, it's not just that. I think that when you, when you have a, a tough time, it is usually we, human beings, we tend to enter a tunnel vision, uh, and we tend to not see the resources and the help that is out there. Uh, and I think we oughta as a community help one another find the methods to reach the, the businesses that are struggling the most and help guide them to the help and resources that there is.
Speaker 1:And I'm hopeful through this conversation that if there's anybody watching that is, um, either struggling or wanting to grow, or some other transition in their business that they reach out because maybe they didn't know, or they're, I, I think there are a lot of people that are afraid to ask,
Speaker 2:You know? Yes, absolutely. I
Speaker 1:Think so. In the real estate world, you know, I, I'm, I believe in coaching, so I have a real estate coach, and I, I wouldn't be where I am today without that person and that whole team of coaches. But what I find is, you know, every once in a while, sometimes one of the realtors in the group will get vulnerable and say, you know what? I'm not making any money. Like, I'm working my off and I'm not making any money. And they're afraid to, to put that out there or to ask for help, or to admit that their business is not going as well as they're, you
Speaker 2:Know? Yeah, absolutely. And, and I think, I mean, we are here, the Business Incubator center, as an economic development organization, we're here to see businesses grow and, and, you know, not just launch, but grow and thrive, because we want people to create that personal wealth. We want more money in our community. We want that comfort. We want want jobs created. We want jobs to be retained. We want businesses to grow. Um, and, and when you face hurdles, a lot of times you either ought to pivot the model if it's not working and you've tried everything, or it is really about business acumen. You need the people who know how to run a business. If you have the passion for, you know, cooking or construction or, or you know, the know-how of how to do things or the services that you're offering within your business. We're not all experts in all matters, right? So, so, you know, what, what may be working for, uh, for you, the, in the service, uh, you may need more kind, support and marketing, or you may need support in, um, uh, filing taxes or projecting your, your cash flow or, um, or, uh, utilizing capital, um, uh, you know, formation, how to form capital in a, in a, uh, in a way that is sustainable for the growth of your business and how to invest. And I, and I think that a lot of businesses feel that they have to know it all. And I'm here to say, you don't, you can learn at all. Yeah. Yeah. And so, uh, I, I truly believe that coaching consulting is something that is extremely essential for small businesses.
Speaker 1:I agree. So if people wanna get in touch, what's the website?
Speaker 2:It's, uh, g incubator.org.
Speaker 1:Okay. And, um, easy to find information online if you wanna reach out, if you wanna volunteer your services, if you have expertise in a, in a business sphere and you would like to contribute to helping, uh, businesses in our community grow and thrive, that would be awesome. As well as reach out for these free services, which are so amazingly offered in our community. Dali, it, I, I, again, I'd like to say I just, I love the energy you bring to this position, and I can tell you're passionate about helping people and, and seeing our community better itself and keep growing and thriving. It's awesome.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, Chris. Yeah,
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. Continued success with the incubator, and we look forward to watching your growth in the position and seeing the continued success of the businesses that you foster there. Thank you,
Speaker 2:Christie.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, uh, reach out to the business incubator and, uh, it's been a pleasure to have Dali on our show today, and we'll see you next time on the Full Circle podcast. Thanks. Thanks for listening. This is Christie Reese signing out from the Full Circle Podcast.