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Neil Abeles
Texarkana Gazette
Cass County’s new economic development consortium, now in its sixth month of meetings, heard last week from Tim Wilson of the Northeast Texas Small Business Development Center.
Wilson’s message in simplicity is that the SBDC helps mom and pop business ventures secure the resources they need to succeed.
The more formal definition is that development centers provide counseling and training to small businesses, including working with the Small Business Administration itself, to develop and provide informational tools to support business start-ups and existing business expansion.
“Our goal is really about helping people achieve their dreams,” Wilson said. “Our normal goal is helping small business be successful, and its entrepreneurs achieve their goals.”
Tim is a homegrown person, having grown up between Linden and Hughes Springs. He likes to say, “My heart is well embedded in Cass County and anything that involves Cass County hopefully involves me, too.”
A Hughes Springs Mustang and graduate of Texas A&M University, Tim in mid-life returned to college to earn a master’s degree at A&M University — Texarkana.
Since then, he has been working with the Small Business Development Centers, which is a national organization of centers — more than 1,000 across the country — all grant-funded primarily through the United States Small Business Administration.
Other funding comes from such partners including the state of Texas which, Wilson said, provides more support than other states do.
“And we also partner with local entities, especially educational ones. Our Northeast Texas Center, for example, of which I am director, partners with Northeast Texas Community College and covers six counties.”
The Northeast Texas center has offices in Mt. Pleasant, Texarkana and Atlanta.
“The idea of having an office at Atlanta was proposed by the Atlanta Economic Development Corporation and the Atlanta City Development Corporation. We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Atlanta City Hall and have been successful not just with Atlanta businesses but others as well.”
Wilson said Small Business Development Centers are often a little -known asset available to entrepreneurs, start-ups and established small businesses. They are especially helpful because they are tailored to their local community, he said.
“What we do, centrally, is provide businesses with information and advising to discover and plug into the resources they’ll need to be successful. We’ve seen it all. We know the questions to ask. Often this involves helping the proposed business become fundable. That is, capable of receiving some kind of financing. This is what it boils down to in most cases.”
Wilson, in another seminar, had told his audience, “We know the importance of this endeavor. It’s one’s life, career, future and dream. The person may have a long goal and just doesn’t know how to get there. If they hesitate, we break the unknown down and give valuable information. We make it less frightening.”
Wilson offered 10 marketing strategies for rural business owners. These suggestions are ones found to have worked in rural areas:
1. Post your messages consistently and regularly.
2. Share your business’s story. People will care.
3. Involve the community in your work. Feature other businesses, people and charities.
4. Talk with the language your audience uses.
5. Tell the deeper “Why?” you began and continue your business. People buy from people they know, like and trust.
6. Get personal. Be authentic. Recruit community leaders to tell your story. Then, return the favor for them.
7. Be the local “expert” in your business field. It builds trust.
8. Focus your messages on densely populated towns around you as well.
9. Help solve problems at the local level. Rural communities are tightly knit. Everyone will know if you’ve helped solve a problem.
10. Continue to market with traditional ways by ads, flyers, coupons and in physical ways by being around.
Lunch is finished in Linden, but members of the Cass County Economic Development Consortium are ready to listen and learn. From left are Travis Ransom, Danica Porter, Tim Wilson and Shawn Larson. (Photo by Neil Abeles)
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