Six business
owners in Cook County are members of a unique business
membership group focused on strengthening their businesses and
their roles as entrepreneurs.
The
Greenstone Group, launched in January 2008, is an initiative
that brings together business owners for group-based learning,
peer support, and access to a variety of business services.
They are guided by a business coach who assists them in
strategizing for growth and entrepreneurial development.
The
Greenstone Group, an initiative of the Northeast Entrepreneur
Fund, is based in Duluth and serves business owners throughout
northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. It currently has
40 business owners participating in five separate “Growth
Groups.”
Greenstone
Group members in Cook County include:
Mary
Ellen Ashcroft,
Windcradle Retreat Center, Grand Marais
Boyd
“Bump” Blomberg,
Caribou Cabin Service, Lutsen
Tom
Christiansen,
Last Chance Fabricating, Lutsen
Maureen
Hayes,
Hayes Surveying & Mapping, Grand Marais
Amber
Pratt/Shawn Perich,
Northern Wilds Media, Grand Marais
Steve
Surbaugh,
Cascade Vacation Rentals, LLC, Tofte
“I have
found the Greenstone Group experience invaluable in expanding my
business knowledge,” says Tom Christiansen, owner of Last Chance
Fabricating. “The business coach is the best thing that has
happened for my business since building my own studio.”
“The
Greenstone Group sessions have given me a better understanding
of the technical side of being in business,” says Maureen Hayes,
owner of Hayes Surveying & Mapping. “Meeting with other
small-business owners has helped me think about all the facets
of running a business that we have in common. It has helped me
be a better business person as well as a land surveyor.”
Christiansen, Hayes and the others are actually participants in
three distinct “Growth Groups” that meet individually and
collectively with their coaches on a regular basis. Group
members share information and ideas, help others deal with
business challenges, and together develop their entrepreneurship
skills.
According to
Greenstone Group founder Mary Mathews (president of the
Northeast Entrepreneur Fund), Cook County represents an
entrepreneurial “hot spot” that attracts small businesses with a
spark for entrepreneurial energy and innovation. “The fact that
we are supporting six Greenstone Group members in Cook County
alone during our first year is a testament to the
entrepreneurial culture in that area,” she notes.
For more
information about the Greenstone Group, visit
www.greenstonegroup.org, or contact Chelle Bakke, Greenstone
Group business coach, 218-940-2469, chelleb@greenstonegroup.org.
About the
Northeast Entrepreneur Fund
The Northeast
Entrepreneur Fund helps people start and grow successful small
businesses. It provides training, consulting and financing to
emerging and small businesses in northeast Minnesota and
northwest Wisconsin.
Since 1989, NEF
has helped start, stabilize or expand more than 1,000
businesses; helped create or retain more than 2,500 jobs;
provided $7.5 million in loans to nearly 500 businesses; and
served 9,000 people through its training, consulting and lending
programs. More than 85% of business owners who receive
assistance from NEF are still in business two years later.
The Greenstone
Group, a new 10-year initiative of NEF, seeks to foster a
culture of entrepreneurship and strengthen entrepreneurs through
group-based learning, peer support and access to a variety of
business services.
To learn more,
visit
www.entrepreneurfund.org.