School is in session at Appleseed Trust

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Sep 10, 2004 by Dickinson, Casey J

SYRACUSE - School is in session at Appleseed Trust. On Sept. 8, the grantfunded, non-profit - which provides business-skills training to help Syracuse-area entrepreneurs to start their own businesses - rolled out its latest nine-week class.

Since 1997, the program has provided business-skills training to 350 people. Of those, 58 graduates are currently operating 52 small businesses in the Syracuse area. The businesses are evenly split between retail sales and service-based businesses.

Graduates started 10 new businesses last year alone, says Stephen Butler, interim executive director for Appleseed Trust. Peter Zawko, who directed the program for four years, resigned the post last month to take a position with the City of Rome. Appleseed's board is currently reviewing applications for a new director to head the program. Appleseed Trust is headquartered at the Cornell Cooperative Extension offices at 220 Herald Place in Syracuse.

Most of the businesses started by Appleseed graduates are homebased, sole proprietorships. The program sometimes refers to the ventures as "micro-businesses" because they start out so small. Graduate-founded businesses generated an average of about $5,000 in sales in 2003, according to Appleseed's data. The average number of people employed by Appleseed Trust graduate-run companies is 1.16 per business, says Butler.

Many of the proprietors were underemployed or on some form of public assistance before starting their own business, so the selfemployment provided by a micro-business is an asset to the community, says Butler.

Last year, approximately 85 percent of Appleseed's clients were city residents, and the vast majority met the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines for low-to-moderate income, says Butler. Nearly half the client base was composed of female entrepreneurs, most also serving as head of their household.

Appleseed Trust provided 360 hours of technical assistance during 2003 and helped graduates write or update 35 business plans.

The most recent nine-week Appleseed program, beginning on Sept. 8, attracted about 12 to 15 students, who each paid a $35 fee to cover the cost of the class. The program's annual $100,000 budget, says Butler, comes from a combination of state and federal grant funds as well as private funding provided by area banks. Appleseed Trust is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization.

Theardis Martino, field operations manager for Appleseed Trust, serves as instructor for the nine-week program. Martino, who also serves as director of operations for the Southwest Community, Center, has been involved with the program since it began. A discussion about economic opportunity in the city prompted members of the Onondaga Citizens League to start Appleseed in 1996, and the first classroom teaching began the following year, says Martino.

"The program teaches the essentials of operating a business," he explains.

Initially the course ran for 12 weeks, but Martino refined the curriculum down to the current nine-week format. The number of participants typically falls as Martino explains what it takes to succeed in business. The course offers a simplified version of how to run a business.

"I play Devil's Advocate," he explains, "there are a lot of things people don't think about."

Martino starts the session by finding out students' motivations for wanting to start their own business. "Being my own boss" and "setting my own hours" are two common responses that help Martino segue into the reality of a business owner's long hours and hard work.

"I ask them about issues such as how to pay for health care," Martino explains, and if their own health ,ood enough to keep up."

Sometimes Martino sees a successful business owner come through the program who has no idea about business basics, yet is still successful.

"I'm amazed by them," be says, "I tell them to keep doing what they're doing and add in some important things."

Martino sees many of the same business ideas class after class. Students often have dreams of running a restaurant, working in the music business, or starting a computer business.

Tommy Jackson, a recent Appleseed Trust graduate, launched his St. Louis' Finest Catering service last month. Jackson provides Southernstyle catering service for up to 200 guests at a time. His company uses space at the Southwest Community Center's Business Incubator. The center provides space for new businesses until they can find a permanent location in the community.

"The city heeds a program like this," says Martino.