It’s been a busy year for Reynolds Packaging: Growing its employment count from four to 15 workers, hosting a visit from the Small Business Administration director, launching new products and winning the 2020 Marketplace Governor’s Award in the woman-owned business category.

The Ashwaubenon business couldn’t have done it without the support of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

“We really relied on our consultant to help us in so many ways and help us find the necessary resources to not only survive but thrive,” said Reynolds Packaging CEO Lisa Reynolds, adding that then SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza visited last summer to see the steps they took to grow their business through the pandemic. “We were in the middle of a big order and things were a bit busy, but it was wonderful to have her here and be in the spotlight.”

“We really relied on our consultant to help us in so many ways and help us find the necessary resources to not only survive but thrive,” said Reynolds Packaging CEO Lisa Reynolds, adding that then SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza visited last summer to see the steps they took to grow their business through the pandemic. “We were in the middle of a big order and things were a bit busy, but it was wonderful to have her here and be in the spotlight.”

After the pandemic hit, Center Director Tara Carr said the SBDC collaborated with UW-Green Bay’s Continuing Education and Community Engagement (CECE) unit by “borrowing” three CECE employees for eight weeks to help the SBDC keep up with client demand during such unprecedented times.

“We created a unique strategy and that the most important thing was to help our community,” she said. “We took a chance we would still meet our metrics and we did.”

Located inside the Cofrin School of Business, the SBDC served 637 client businesses and 739 other businesses that didn’t formally ask for assistance in 2020. “We still doubled our metrics,” Carr said. “We normally serve 350 clients a year. We made a huge impact for a number of businesses.”

The SBDC needs to annually meet different metrics including the number of clients served, new startups and capital infusion. The UW-Green Bay SBDC leads the state in capital infusion.

From the Paycheck Protection Program to Restaurant Revitalization Act, the SBA developed multiple products to help small businesses get through the pandemic. The SBDC is there to help clients discern what programs may help them, Carr says.

The SBDC pushes out the information it receives from the SBA to clients using social media and the Wisconsin SBDC COVID-19 website. Clients have reached out about local, state or federal relief programs, Carr said. If a client is searching for a SBA loan, they are referred to SBA lenders although the office does help with any financial preparation needed for the loan application process.

Businesses can also tap into a one-stop shop website — https://wisconsinsbdc.org/ services/covid-19/ — which announces all of the latest relief packages and resources.

“The SBA is great at sharing information and we then do our part to make sure that information is shared with clients who can benefit from it,” Carr said.

Businesses helped by the SBDC range from startups to small manufacturers in communities across the region providing them with the necessary support to grow. Those businesses, in turn, help grow the local economy as they expand or get off the ground.

During the pandemic, the SBDC created a triage center and proactively reached out to former clients to see what help they needed, and also connected with area economic development organizations that passed on requests for help.

“We did a lot of disaster mitigation,” Carr said.

In a regular year, the SBDC’s workload is quite different as consultants work with businesses to look at expansions, different funding opportunities or improve the way they do business. The office also offers onsite professional development training that is customized specifically for the goals and strategic direction of the company.

“Our skill set is all about helping businesses grow, such as increasing sales from $2 million to $5 million,” Carr said. “Our staff is constantly sharpening their skills so they can help our clients.”

Now that most businesses have made it through the pandemic, Carr said the UW-Green Bay SBDC is working with clients to re-evaluate where they were and how to refocus on the future and what’s needed to get there.

“A lot of the discussion was based on what we can we do differently going forward … and we continued to service business owners seeking to expand and people wanting to launch businesses,” she said.

Beyond providing business consulting services and trainings, the SBDC also offers the Entrepreneurial Training Program, which assists upcoming entrepreneurs and current business owners in developing a feasible, strategic plan for a thriving, profitable business. The program reached out to high school students by offering an entrepreneurial class at Southern Door High School virtually once a week from September through January.

Like the businesses they served, the SBDC changed how it worked due to the pandemic. Instead of face-to-face meetings with clients, nearly everything went virtual, Carr said. “In some of our more rural areas where the (broadband) connection isn’t the best, we safely did some in person meetings to help our clients,” she said.

Research Sponsor

• Small Business Administration, Small Business Development Center, $159,110

SERVICE AREA

The Small Business Development Center at UW-Green Bay serves the following 12 counties in Northeast Wisconsin: Brown, Calumet, Door, Florence, Forest, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Shawano and Sheboygan.

SBDC AT UW-GREEN BAY

Wood Hall 202 | 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311 920-366-9065 | sbdc@uwgb.edu https://www.uwgb.edu/sbdc/