A service intended to fill a gap in information that small business owners need is in its second year.
“It’s a bridge between a company that’s got a question about doing business in Minnesota and a resource that can answer that question,” explained Bill Blazar, senior vice president of public affairs and business development, with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. “So we’re trying to make all of the resources that our state has available for helping a company’s success more readily available.”
Called BusinessConnection, the program allows companies to visit a Web site or speak to a representative on the phone to ask questions about business.
The program grew from what the Minnesota Chamber learned in the seven years it has offered Grow Minnesota!, a business retention economic development program. The International Falls Chamber is a partner in that effort.
“We discovered about four years ago that roughly one in 15 of our visits resulted in some kind of request for help — with a permit, with a zoning deal, with financing problems — soup to nuts, all sorts of stuff,” said Bill Blazar, senior vice president, public affairs and business development. “But we only see a fraction of the businesses every year. There are a hundred thousand businesses in the state, and statewide we might see a thousand of them through Grow Minnesota!. There are a whole lot of companies out there that we’ll never see that have a question or an issue about doing business in Minnesota.”
And Blazar said chamber officials wondered about the companies they did not get a chance to visit. “They probably have questions,” he said. “We’re never going to get around to see them all. So who helps them navigate state and local government to find answers to questions? And the answer was probably no one.”
Last year, that thought inspired the Minnesota Chamber to start BusinessConnection. With the help of the McKnight Foundation, the state Chamber’s Grow Minnesota! and the Department of Employment and Economic Development received a grant to create the service. It is free and open to all businesses regardless of Minnesota Chamber membership.
Blazar said he’s confident that many business owners are so busy during the day running the business that they don’t get around to asking the questions until off-hours.
“The fact that we’re on the Internet and available 24/7 — this is aimed specifically at those companies that don’t have the resources to answer the questions on their own,” he said.
The idea is to provide ways for business owners, even those doing business in places like Borderland — many miles from the Twin Cities and the more traditional avenues for business assistance — to find the help they need.
“They might think they don’t have access. But there’s a Small Business Development Center here, a great local chamber ... We’ve found that even here in Koochiching County, with these resources and access to the Internet, even though some people think of this as a remote location we can make these resources available and can answer the questions just as quickly in Koochiching County as in Hennepin County.”
Blazar said people shouldn’t assume there is no help because of Koochiching’s remote location. “Businesses should go to the Web site, ask the questions and see if we can’t help them,” he encouraged.
Blazar said he’s spoken with Jenny Dougherty of the local Small Business Development Center. He pointed to her program and other similar local programs as the type of contact that may be made during the BusinessConnection process.
“If this system works right, we will send more people that want to start a business to her. So we’ll get better utilization of the business assistance services that we have in our state,” he said.
The online system works in two ways. Visitors to the Web site can search for a keyword to find answers to frequently asked questions. If they do not find the answer they need, or have a specific question, they can contact a Minnesota Chamber employee, who will respond to their request.
“If we can answer the question immediately, we do. But we know that there are so many questions and there are so many things that state and local government can do and cannot do, that frequently we’re looking for help with one of our partners,” Blazar said.
Last year, the Chamber fielded many questions about the economic stimulus package and new Small Business Administration programs. Answers to those types of issues would be covered in the keyword search. But, other visitors have had more specific questions, such as the types of licenses needed to become a bounty hunter in Minnesota. Those, Blazar said, would be fielded in the e-mail format.
“Interestingly, we’ve had a lot of inquiries from people outside Minnesota asking about doing business in our state,” Blazar said.
The Web site has been receiving about 200 to 300 questions each week.
A toll-free telephone number, 1-888-MINN-BIZ (1-888-646-6249), is available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for those without Internet access, or who feel more comfortable using the telephone to ask questions. The Web site address is www.mnbizconnect.com.
