Solving a problem can be the key to success for a small business in any economy. Here’s a story from Marian Accadi of The Huntsville Times about two startups that are doing just that.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Dan Montgomery and Shannon Folgmann launched Strategic Defense Solutions in November 2009, just months after the official end of the recession.
The following July came their first contract, providing support to Northrop Grumman to train and deploy contractors to operate the Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) systems in a combat zone. In the meantime, the firm performed consulting work for income. As other opportunities followed, the company has grown to nearly 30 employees
“We hope to be at 34 (employees) by the end of September,” said SDS’ CEO Montgomery, a retired brigadier general with 32 years in the Army who retired as Northrop Grumman’s corporate lead executive in Huntsville just before starting the business. Folgmann, the company’s president, is also the vice president at Accurate Machine & Tool in Madison.
SDS’ story illustrates that “you can start a small business – and be successful – in any economy,” said Joanne Randolph of the Women’s Business Center of North Alabama.
The economic slump hasn’t seemed to slow the entrepreneurial spirit here, she said.
“The spike in FY 2009 indicates an increased demand for our services and suggests that more individuals were looking to start businesses during the recession,” Randolph said, adding that 57 percent of clients that year were ‘nascent’ entrepreneurs, individuals who had taken one or more active steps to form a business.
Gary Tauss, the CEO of BizTech, Huntsville’s high-tech business incubator, said it takes a startup a year or two to launch a product and get it into the market. “So, if you wait until everything is perfect with the economy, it’ll take you too long to get into the market, and you’ll miss the next upturn.”
Small businesses form the “backbone” of the national and local economy, Randolph said, and she believes their growth will help pull the country out of the economic downturn.
“A tough economy forces people to think outside the box and become more entrepreneurial-minded,” said Dr. Teresa Merriweather Orok, of Alabama A&M University’s Small Business Development Center. She’s also looking for small business growth to be a key driver in restoring the economy.
One technology-related segment in particular seems to be attractive right now for Orok’s clients. “I’m working with three separate entities that deal with ‘green’ energy concepts,” she said.
Recent startup Gardens On Air LLC consulted with Orok about the company that will grow organic aeroponic produce, starting with herbs. The business was founded a year ago by brothers Lee and Tim Harrison, and partners now include Tommy Wood, the CEO; Wood’s wife, Katrina; Blake Peek, and Brendt Wood.
They’ve pooled their own money to move from the research and development phase, with construction starting last week on the first 100-foot by 35-foot greenhouse, which will initially house 1,500 plant “sites.” The greenhouse has a capacity of 3,000 production sites and another 1,000 starter sites.
This greenhouse “farm” is using “some pretty space-age” technology, Tommy Wood said, from a computerized shade system with sensors to maintain a steady amount of light to ultraviolet bio filters that kill any biological pathogens in the water.
Both Gardens On Air and Strategic Defense Solutions have taken advantage of local resources for small businesses.
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