30 best cities for small business - includes related articles - Cover Story

Entrepreneur, Oct, 1996 by Karen Axelton, Janean Chun, Debra Phillips, Cynthia E. Griffin, Heather Page, Lynn Beresford, Holly Celeste Fisk

Annual sales of herbal and specialty tea products are expected to grow to more than $530 million by 1997, and Tazo is poised to drink in its share of the increased revenues. With 1996 sales projected at more than $4 million, Portland is clearly Smith's cup of tea.

Temp Time

It was a client's call for help that inspired Kerry Townsend to start his own temporary help service in Minneapolis in 1994.

Townsend had spent 10 years in the temporary help industry, but when a former client appealed to him for assistance in staffing his company, Townsend realized he had what it took to make it on his own. Today, his company, Timely Temporaries, specializes in light industrial and secretarial job placement and has 16 employees of its own. It'll bring in a cool $1.1 million in sales this year, and next year, Townsend expects revenues to soar to $3.2 million.

Townsend credits his location for much of that success. "The low unemployment fin Minneapolis] means there's a lot of [temp] business going on here," says the 31-year-old entrepreneur. And the city's solid manufacturing base, strong financial services industries and large number of Fortune 1000 companies provide plenty of placement opportunities for Townsend's temporary workers.

Even the cold Minnesota winters are a bonus, Townsend claims. "In the winters, people want to go to work," he explains.

Financial factors aren't the only reason the native Minnesotan is glad to do business here; Townsend says friendly people and a safe environment" also make the city a great place to have a business.

Still, Townsend believes his expertise will transfer well to any American city. That's why he recently completed a national franchise package, which should bring in sales that are anything but temporary.

Food For Thought

City fresh Caterers in Roxbury, Massachusetts, is nourishing the Boston area in more ways than one. The ethnic-food catering business grew out of a career development class that co-founder Glynn Lloyd, 28, taught at a local community center. While teaching the class, Lloyd recognized a need to create jobs and businesses in the community.

"When we were catering," says Lloyd, "we saw [ethnic food] as a niche to grow into" Lloyd founded the business with Jonathan Ruelas, 24, whom he met through community service work. A third partner, Earl West,23, contributed capital and handles delivery and accounts management. The partners now manage 17 employees.

"We've had a lot of support from the community," says Lloyd. The Empowerment Center in Boston, which assists small businesses in myriad ways, provided the start - up with technical advice and loans soon after the company was founded in 1994. In fact, the center led them to a finance company that lent them the capital to sign their first big deal: senior meal service Meals on Wheels.

Today, Meals on Wheels accounts for 75 percent of the company's business. The other 25 percent includes special - events catering, but Lloyd says they're beginning to pursue more corporate accounts to secure a more steady revenue stream. Cooking up 300 African - American, Spanish and Caribbean meals daily, City Fresh estimates sales of $500,000 for 1996.