MontegoNet Solutions, a Portsmouth-based touch-screen kiosk manufacturer, has transitioned from a company growing in too many markets to one focused on establishing its presence in banking and financial services, thanks to Rhode Builder, a program that provides a business growth plan for companies in transition.
“No one, at least on a daily basis, was getting to the growing concern of companies that are in the growth and development stage; 80 percent of businesses in Rhode Island are in that phase,” said Robert D. Hamlin, state director of the R.I. Small Business Development Center at Bryant University, and one of three major partners that comprise Rhode Builder. “We asked how we as the SBDC could be more meaningful to companies, and Rhode Builder was it.”
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Rhode Builder launched in May 2004 with a pilot program that offered training, consultation and collaboration to six Rhode Island companies. This year, the program, which also includes the state Economic Development Corporation’s Every Company Counts program and the Rhode Island Commodores, hopes to provide services to another six companies.
“It’s around year seven that companies see their potential to either grow substantially or to slowly drop off,” said Bret Hall, program manager for Rhode Builder and an adjunct professor of management at Bryant. “We have a focus on how we can offer something different from all the other organizations and nonprofits. We have the premise that these people are overwhelmed with the day-to-day, the firefighting. It leaves precious little time for them to do any strategizing and planning.”
The program targets companies in their growth phase, not small startups. These companies generate $5 million to $25 million in annual revenues, have 10 to 500 employees, have been in business three or more years, and have a current business plan and financials.
Rhode Builder is also looking for a certain type of CEO, said Cheryl W. Snead, president and CEO of Banneker Industries Inc., a supply chain management services company in Lincoln.
“We’re targeting change agents – they know that where the business is today is not where it needs to be tomorrow,” she said. “They need to be vulnerable” and open to change and learning.
“It helped us focus our efforts on a particular vertical market,” said Tom Smith, president of MontegoNet Solutions. “Before, we’d be chasing any potential opportunity out there, regardless of whether it fit our plan or not. (With Rhode Builder) we were able to focus on what we do best – provide products to the banking and credit industry.”
Rhode Builder might not be for everyone, however, Hall and Hamlin stressed.
“If you’re not looking at the big picture and you’ve got the same problems popping up over and over again … and you say you don’t need help, it’s going to be a waste of your time and economic resources,” Hamlin said. “Turning a mom and pop into a corporation is no small task,” Hall added. “If a company is willing to let strategy become everyone’s day job, they’ll see lots of change.”
The program provides a framework for companies to think about the future, and EDC and SBDC officials and R.I. Commodores act as advisors to give coaching and mentoring. Change in the end, however, is up to the growing company, Hall said.
“This program has real legs, a real ability to make a difference helping companies, and that has to relate to jobs,” he said. “We’re providing an environment for cross-fertilization of ideas.”
For Snead, the opportunity to work with Rhode Builder as a company head and as a member of the Commodores’ board of governors presented a chance to share her experiences with her own company with others. Snead introduced a similar program at Banneker and served on the Lieutenant Governor’s Small Business Advocacy Council.
“Having gone through the experience myself, and still going through it, I wanted to get involved,” she said. “You have to have that road map. Not only are you building your success, but you’re learning from other companies.”
Companies who enroll in Rhode Builder will pay $10,500 for a year of workshops, training, consultation and networking within the program. Upon completion of the training – which includes seven modules spread over a year – companies are eligible for an Employee Investment grant through the R.I. Human Resource Investment Council for 50 percent of the cost. According to Hamlin, the true cost per company for the program is $21,000, but hopefully banks and other organizations will pick up the rest of the tab.
Companies can send three to five employees to participate, and once they complete the first module, an introduction to Rhode Builder, the on-site consulting is free (although the company must continue the modules to keep the free consultation). Each company is entitled to 18, two-hour sessions. Modules cover topics like finance, innovation and ethics and participants work together on case studies throughout the year.
This focus on companies stuck in the middle – not startups but not yet corporations – will hopefully create jobs that the state needs, the officials said.
“If we have six companies go through this year, and if they not only grow but want to give back, through listening to presentations or bringing other companies in, within five years we could have 100 to 200 companies strategically thinking about growing businesses,” Snead said.
And as state budgets become more restricted, it will be increasingly important to focus on growing what the state already has, according to Louis Soares, small-business services manager for the EDC and manager of Every Company Counts.
