A sad fact in the American business culture is a numbing statistic that says eighty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years of operation. There are probably as many reasons as there are failures, but chief among them appears to be an overall lack of planning. In an effort to help reduce this alarming attrition rate, two central Illinois public libraries applied for and received a grant for business related materials, programming and speakers.
In the fall of 1998, the directors of the Mt. Zion Public Library District and the Marrowbone Public Library District of Bethany were awarded a federal Library Services Technology Act (LSTA) grant for $21,500 administered by the Illinois State Library.
The two libraries already had many of the tools needed such as microcomputers with scanners and printers, Internet access, web page construction and a knowledge of the existing business community. What they didn’t have the grant would provide in the form of expert speakers and access to the most current materials in print, electronic and audio-visual formats. A three-fold approach was designed to meet the needs of existing and prospective business ventures. These consisted of building a "resident expert" network, provide access to print media and on-line sources of information and, hosting a series of teaching sessions.
The core element of the project was the series of six small business seminars. The average attendance at each was in the mid-20s with a few reaching as high as 30 people. They included an overview of the Business Plan. This dealt with types of ownership, legal registration of a business, and a brief discussion of the executive summary and setting of goals and objectives. Others included insurance, both property and employee insurance, the myriad of tax issues, and a seminar called Human Resources that dealt with hiring, dismissal, evaluations and references. A Marketing seminar dealt with the essentials of having a marketing plan in place before financing can be secured. The sixth and final seminar dealt with finance, the forms essential to the process and an explanation of each. A Q and A session followed each seminar. The sessions were held every other Monday from February 1st through April 12th.
One of the speakers was William J. Wilkinson, Director of the Small Business Center in Decatur, a presenter and advisor who conducted the first seminar.
"I was very pleased with the turnout for the sessions and the enthusiasm of the attendees. I feel that those who were in business benefited from the information provided and those who were interested in starting a business were able to write a business plan or realize that they were not ready to go into business. We need more of these programs in order to help promote small businesses."
A letter to the two librarians, Jennie Alexander, Director of the Mt. Zion Public Library District who was also the Project Director for the grant, and Jane Hill, Director of the Marrowbone Public Library District at Bethany best sums up the success of the project.
"I have been reviewing the papers I got at the Small Business Seminar and I wanted to let you know that each session I attended was very helpful. We have been in business for seven years and I had never taken any classes before. The one on insurance made me review our policy and ask some questions. The one on taxes answered some questions and made me think and rethink some of my record keeping. All in all, the seminar was great. Thanks for having it. I am looking forward to using the materials at the library that you have purchased to go along with areas covered. Thanks!"
Another, whose husband is an electrician, said they had already planned on going into business for themselves, but the seminars were very helpful.
"We enjoyed the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) the best. It taught us a lot about the ins and outs of the financial end of the business. A lot of the fine points of financing were made clear," she said.
Some of the other positive results of the grant included an increase in Chamber of Commerce memberships in both communities, a 40 percent increase in Interlibrary Loan of business related materials (15 percent more than projected in the grant application) and an increase in library card applications and usage.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS GRANT CONTACT: MS. JENNIE ALEXANDER, MT. ZION PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT, 115 W. MAIN ST., MT ZION, IL 62549-0200 TELEPHONE 217-864-3622, FAX 864-5708 email jenniealexander@yahoo.com
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