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Press ReleaseEnergizing Tuscola's Economy Through Entrepreneurship Sirolli Program of Enterprise Facilitation ® Valuable information regarding the "Sirolli" Model of Enterprise Facilitation ® can now be viewed from the County Web Site www.tuscolacounty.org. This web site provides in-depth information concerning the current status of the Sirolli approach to rebuilding the economy of Tuscola County including: program description, program needs statement, program budget/timeline and partnerships/funding. James Wickman III is the Manager of the Village of Mayville and Chairperson of the County Entrepreneurship Task Force. He explained that "the Sirolli web site information is newly developed and was assembled to keep the community informed concerning program purpose, urgency, funding status and above all the need to increase partnerships for successful program implementation. He highly recommends that businesses and citizens utilize the information because they need to philosophically and financially support the program for it to be successfully accomplished." According to James McLoskey, Tuscola County Economic Development Director, "downsizing and restructuring of the automobile industry has had an overwhelming impact on business, industry and the lives of area residents. Unfortunately, the grim reality is that the end is not in sight with further reductions in the automobile industry projected over the next two years." Chairman of the Tuscola County Board of Commissioners, Gerald Peterson, explained that "we are at a critical juncture in reviving our economy because we must be willing to invest to turn this dramatic decline around. No one agency or individual is going to solve these problems for us. We must take responsibility and solve them together as a community." Caro Village President, Thomas Striffler, agrees stating that "we need to have a philosophy that investment in approaches to economic development such as the Sirolli Program to complement and enhance current approaches is essential. He also noted that inaction is not an option. We must work as partners to help ourselves and solve these problems." According to Michael Hoagland, County Controller/Administrator and member of the Entrepreneurship Task Force, "an initial partnership has been formed to stimulate entrepreneurship and economic development through the Sirolli Program. Some of Tuscola's local leaders, organizations, and agencies have come to the realization that a short window of opportunity exists to begin reversing these negative trends and have partnered together to accomplish this crucial objective. Currently agencies and organizations partnering together on the task force working on this initiative include: Tuscola County Board of Commissioners, Tuscola County Economic Development Corporation, Michigan State University Extension, Human Development Commission and Tuscola County Intermediate School District." Hoagland further explains, "that as of December 18, 2006, 34 partners have stepped forward and committed contributions of approximately $138,000."
Additional partners and financial support is needed to advance this program. In order to increase the chances of receiving a $99,900 Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA RD) for the Sirolli Program, an additional $44,000 needs to be pledged by mid-January. This is approximately $15,000 per year for the next three years. Hoagland explained that, "this added $44,000 is very important because it could make the difference whether we receive the RBEG grant or not. Without the grant, it is unlikely this program will be able to proceed." If the County receives the $99,900 RBEG grant, approximately $264,000 is needed from other sources to fund the three year program. Over half of this amount has already been raised, but additional funding partners are vital. A pledge sheet is available from the web site with instructions on how to become a partner. According to Wickman, "the Sirolli Program has demonstrated in other locales both in the United States and abroad that the Sirolli approach of Enterprise Facilitation ® creates jobs and stimulates economic development." Wickman further states, "there is no doubt that this project will not only create new jobs, but also incubate businesses increasing their chances for success. Enterprise Facilitation ® projects enjoy an average business success rate of approximately 80%, much higher than the usual 20% rate of sustainability." The Entrepreneurship Task Force expects that once the Enterprise Facilitation ® project is established, at least 25 new jobs will be created each year, with significant potential for even more job creation. With an average return on investment of about $3,000 per job, such a project working in tandem with the Tuscola County EDC would only serve to enhance our ongoing job creation/retention activities. Commissioners Letter Of SupportNovember 28, 2006 Dear Paula: Action must be taken and a commitment must be made to rebuild the state and county economy. Without question the top priority of the Tuscola County Board of Commissioners and many other community leaders is economic development. In 2005, Tuscola County capitalized on the extensive economic development expertise of staff at Michigan State University in assisting with the development of a Community Assessment Team (CAT) Report. Numerous important recommendations were made from the CAT economic development strategy to strengthen and rebuild the local economy. Probably the most important recommendation identified was the need to develop a comprehensive entrepreneurship program. As of November 28, 2006 approximately $40,000 has been raised from local public and private sector entities demonstrating the local desire to move forward with the entrepreneurship program. The county has done the necessary economic development planning and has a well reasoned strategy. What needs to be done now is implementation. Simply stated, what is needed is a partnership and financial commitment from our federal government so this area can recover from the ravages of economic decline. Approval of the RBEG is imperative to Tuscola County moving forward with rebuilding the local economy through entrepreneurship. Thank you for considering this matter of critical importance to the wellbeing of Tuscola County citizens and businesses. Sincerely, Sirolli Letter To Local Units Of GovernmentTo: Municipal and Township Government Officials in Tuscola County Help from your local government unit is needed now in our efforts with rebuilding our local economy. A strong partnership between the public and private sectors is a must in order for us to accomplish this critical task. Economic Development and stimulating entrepreneurship is a top priority of the Tuscola County Board of Commissioners, Tuscola County Economic Development Corporation, Michigan State University-Extension, Human Development Commission and the Tuscola County Intermediate School District. These entities and many other public and private leaders have partnered to accomplish this important objective. Over 100,000 automotive manufacturing jobs were lost between 2003 and 2005 having a devastating impacting on our local, county and state economies. Statewide, it is predicted the worst is not over with as many or more manufacturing job losses over the next three years. Downsizing and restructuring of the automobile industry has had an overwhelming impact on the lives of Tuscola County residents and the end is not in sight. Unfortunately, according to the November 19, 2006 issue of the Saginaw News our local, county and state economies are experiencing problems of a magnitude that has not been encountered since the Great Depression nearly 75 years ago. In 2005-06, Tuscola County was fortunate to have capitalized on the extensive economic development expertise of Michigan State University in assisting with the development of a Community Assessment Team (CAT) Report. One of the most important CAT recommendations was the need to rebuild our local economy through the implementation of a comprehensive entrepreneurship program. Approximately a year ago the Entrepreneurship Task Force was formed to recommend a program of entrepreneurship. Several different entrepreneurship programs were researched by the Task Force. Because of the success of the Sirolli program in not only the United States, but other parts of the world, it was recommended as the most highly personalized method of working with local entrepreneurs on a one-on-one basis to encourage small business development. Attachment A describes the Sirolli program in brief. For additional information, you may go to the Sirolli web site at http://www.sirolli.com. The cost is $133,000 per year for three years. This includes $58,000 in Enterprise Facilitator training costs and $75,000 in operational costs. After the initial three-year pilot period, it is projected annual costs will drop to approximately $75,000 for operations. The county applied for a $99,900 Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to pay for training costs of the facilitator with the Sirolli Institute. Simply stated, our chances of receiving the $99,900 RBEG grant are greatly improved if we are able to put together the financial package from both public and private funding sources. Results of this grant request should be known by the spring of 2007. Commitments of financial support have been tremendous but more support is needed for this program to be implemented. Over $136,000 in local financial commitments from both public and private sources has been made as of December 12, 2006. Please review Attachment B for the list of partners to date. The table below shows commitments made by local governmental entities as of December 12, 2006:
Substantial progress has been made toward funding this crucial program; however we need your help in two important ways as follows:
USDA has given us a brief window of opportunity from now up through approximately January 15, 2007 to add to our local support base and thereby increase our point total with the RBEG grant review process. If at all possible, please let us know the level of commitment your local government unit will be able to make by this date. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your County Commissioner, myself at (989) 550-8846, or Michael Hoagland, County Controller/Administrator at (989) 672-3700. Thank you for considering this matter of utmost importance to strengthening the economy and creating the jobs that are desperately needed by the residents of Tuscola County. Sirolli News ArticleBy Mary Drier CARO - Some Tuscola County leaders feel it is better to be proactive than reactive to a situation. The entire state's economy has been down, especially in the Saginaw Bay area. General Motors restructured its finances, and the Ford Motor Company offered thousands of employees early buyouts as a cost cutting measure. Some state economists projected it will get worse before things turn around. Commissioners decided something had to be done because over 100,000 automotive manufacturing jobs were lost between 2003 and 2005, and the number continues to grow daily. Commissioners realize the county needs to help itself with economic development. For over a year, Tuscola County Commissioners and others have studied ways to strengthen the local economy. From that, the Economic Development Corporation Entrepreneurship Task Force was formed to "Rebuild Tuscola County's Economy," which is a grassroots panel of commissioners, business owners, municipal leaders and residents, was formed to study area needs and assets, and which economic program would be the best for the area. The task force selected the "Sirolli" program of developing entrepreneurship with a cost of $133,000/year for three years. This includes $58,000 in training costs of the Enterprise Facilitator and $75,000 in operational costs. After the initial three-year pilot period, it is projected annual costs will drop to approximately $75,000 for operations. To help offset the expense, the county applied for a Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) from the United States Department of Agriculture to pay for training costs of the facilitator with the Sirolli Institute. Commitments of financial support are coming in daily. "The RBEG we applied for is for $99,900," said County Controller Mike Hoagland. "We won't know until the spring if we are successful or not. "We do know that rebuilding the local economy is critical." By the time a decision was made which economic plan to go with, there was only about a month to put the RBEG application together, to gather all of the necessary information to meet the Dec. 1, 2006 deadline. With only about a month to work on the application, it took a lot of work to meet this deadline to submit the application requesting funds to implement the Sirolli program of entrepreneurship. Also, applications will be made to local foundations for financial support. "Now that the RBEG application is turned in, we have a brief window of opportunity to obtain additional financial commitments and letters of support from private, public, and foundation partners. As of December 5, we have $124,760 in financial commitments," said Hoagland. This is tremendous support. It shows there is strong local commitment for the plan so we realized we are headed in the right direction with support for economic development. "MSU Extension at the state level has agreed to be an important partner providing $25,000/year for three years and their expertise towards evaluating this important project," said Hoagland. "The community response is tremendous and the momentum is growing." "Sirolli is a proven plan. It has worked in many communities in the U.S. and in other countries," said Hoagland "noting a key aspect is choosing the right enterprise (economic) facilitator, and the task force's commitment to introducing the facilitator and building a network of contacts." Dr. Ernesto Sirolli will work hand-in-hand with the person who is hired as the facilitator. With his plan, a facilitator works one on one with prospective entrepreneurs in helping develop plans, working with regulations, finding financial backing, and in cooperation with the 50-member board of management. Because the county is a "bedroom" community for those working at manufacturing jobs in the cities, the hit the Big Three auto makers have taken is felt harder here. "Unemployment is higher in the county than the state and nation. Closure of area businesses and industries has a crippling impact. The county has consistently had a higher unemployment rate than the state and nation," Hoagland explained in his county activity report. "In 2005 the county unemployment rate was 7.9 percent, compared to 6.8 percent for the state and 5.1 percent for the nation. "Recent data shows that county unemployment spiked at 9.9 percent, while the state was 7.5 and the nation 4.8 percent." In addition, the unemployment numbers don't include those who have exhausted their benefits, or the number of residents who left the area to find work. Included in Hoagland's report is information from Dr. George Fulton, an economist with the University of Michigan. Fulton predicts the auto industry will continue to decline at least over the next two years with projected losses of about 40,000 auto manufacturing jobs for this year, about 30,000 next year, and about 24,000 more jobs lost in 2008. If Fulton's projections are correct, over 200,000 auto manufacturing jobs will have been lost over a six year period. Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com. |
