By Dr. Scott Taylor, Small Business ManagementWhen a small rural town needs a boost and its businesses are looking for some answers they call Minnesota Mentors. Duane Hoversten, Dan Sprague, Scott Taylor and Chad Oudekerk spent an evening with 80 Watertown, MN business owners. Under the title “Minnesota Mentors Predicts” the four gave a two-hour presentation on what they see in store for small businesses in the next year and the skills they will need to take advantage of the opportunities. Their skit, using “Carnac the Magnificent” (ala Johnny Carson,) set the tone AND brought down the house.
Dan Sprague and Scott Taylor were invited by the Minnesota Department of Transportation to be a resource for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises during the public unveiling of a $45 million highway project designed to take advantage of the unique talents of our state’s DBEs.
Dan Sprague also received another request from Mn/DOT to create a special course for DBEs in their mentor/protégé program.
Scott Taylor was invited to make a presentation to Minnesota’s State Rehabilitation Board outlining how the Minnesota Mentors program might help the states disabled population become entrepreneurs.
Scott Taylor completed a six-month commitment to 20 mid-sized business owners as moderator for the Faribault Chamber’s program Executive Dialogue. Owners convened once a month to discuss topics of interest with regional and national experts.
The cover of the March issue of MN Valley Business magazine featured Scott Taylor’s article on how we are lucky to live in Minnesota. First, our luck stems from our unique business climate and its ability to rebound more quickly after the Great Recession and second, because we lead the nation with innovative and effective business mentoring programs. It was a shameless article promoting South Central College and Minnesota Mentors.
Chad Oudekerk and Scott Taylor spent a day calling on ALL the Main Street businesses in New Prague and Montgomery in an effort to drum up interest in their Jumpstart Your Business! class to be held in these communities. The theme is helping business recognize opportunities as we pull out of this recession. Much shoe leather was lost. The Blandin Foundation came in to support our students with a $300 scholarship per student.
