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Sanbusa never tasted better in southern Minnesota as Lul Ali seeks to establish her Somali food service business. With help from Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, Lul Ali (dba Sanbusa Service, Owatonna), is selling her Somalian sandwiches from county fairs to local grocery stores. "I deeply appreciate The Foundation's help in offering me assistance at this time," said Lul. "I needed someone to trust in my abilities and help me develop my business, and The Foundation did."

Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation's Business Success Program provides southern Minnesota businesses a range of finance and management assistance services to start and grow businesses. The Foundation's goal is stronger, more profitable businesses that create good jobs and nurture industry clusters in our communities. To learn more call Diane Lewis at 507-455-3215, or visit www.smifoundation.org/business.html. Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation is an equal opportunity lender.


September 2005
Business Success Journal
*"Strong businesses and good jobs are essential to a community's economic viability"*

Entrepreneurship - The "Can Do" Spirit One of the many fine legacies of our agricultural heritage in southern Minnesota is the tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship. Many communities honor the home grown businesses and entrepreneurs who trace their roots to necessities and opportunities found within the agricultural industry, producing both business expertise and resourcefulness in a variety of fields. This entrepreneurial "can do" spirit continues to be alive and well across southern Minnesota. Through our work with both startups and established "High Potential" companies, we encounter people with vision, courage, passion and hard work. Lul Ali is one of those people.
Sanbusa in Southern Minnesota Sanbusa never tasted better in southern Minnesota as Lul Ali seeks to establish her Somali food service business. With help from Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, Lul Ali (dba Sanbusa Service, Owatonna), is selling her Somalian sandwiches from county fairs to local grocery stores. "I deeply appreciate The Foundation's help in offering me assistance at this time," said Lul. "I needed someone to trust in my abilities and help me develop my business, and The Foundation did." Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation's Business Success Program provides southern Minnesota businesses a range of finance and management assistance services to start and grow businesses. The Foundation's goal is stronger, more profitable businesses that create good jobs and nurture industry clusters in our communities. To learn more call Diane Lewis at 507-455-3215, or visit www.smifoundation.org/business.html. Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation is an equal opportunity lender.	Lul Ali selling sanbusa at the Steele County Fair
New Foundation Business Partners: Loan Partners: Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation is pleased to assist the following businesses with financial capital for business start-ups and expansions: C & J Equities LLC, Le Center - To support start-up of a home healthcare business Chippewa Packaging Inc., St. Peter - To support start-up of a packaging company Faith Builders Christian Center Inc., Winona - To support start-up of an educational daycare Jorge Sifuentes (dba MAK-JG Trucking), Blue Earth - To support start-up of a trucking business Lul Ali (dba Sanbusa Service), Owatonna - To support start-up of a Somalian food service business Moments, Red Wing - To support expansion of a home decor business Repnet Inc., Waseca - To support expansion of a marking & protection plastic extrusion business RibbonLift Inc., Owatonna - To support expansion of a lift manufacturing business Super Six Wash & Lube LLC (dba One Stop CarCare), St Peter - To support improvements in an automotive facility Total Choice Shipping, Albert Lea - To support growth of a shipping business Waseca Family Chiropractic Clinic Inc., Waseca - To support purchase of building for a chiropractic business
Jorge & Clara Sifuentes with Tom Shea, Business Development Coordinator, at the closing of their MAK-JG Trucking loan
High Potential Business Partners: Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation is pleased to announce our partnership with the following "high potential - high return" companies that are committed to maintaining and growing their business in southern Minnesota: Advantage Cabinets, Inc., Owatonna - Manufacturer of high quality residential custom cabinets Danville Signal Processing, Inc., Cannon Falls - High tech electronics company specializing in digital signal processing Healthcare Development & Documentation, Inc., Henderson - Provider of medical education, technical documentation, and sales development to medical companies Northfield Automation Systems, Inc., Northfield - Design, Engineering and Fabrication of Automation Machinery To learn more about this business growth opportunity visit www.smifoundation.org/highpotential.html
Resources Available: Greater MN Business Development Grants Apply now for the 2005 Greater MN Business Development Public Infrastructure Grant from the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Applications are accepted at any time and awards will be made until all funds are committed. For the biennium DEED will award $10,000,000 in grants. During the first two years of the program, $2,000,000 must be used for grants to cities with less than 5,000 population; 20% of the amount available must be used for industrial park development grants. Application can be found at www.deed.state.mn.us under the "Community Development" link. If you have any questions, contact the Community Development Division at 651-297-1530 or 1-800-657-3858.
"Life Champion" Employers Awards Do you know local employers who honor family with their policies and practices? Here's your chance to spotlight them through this new recognition opportunity. The Minnesota "Work-Life Champion Awards" recognize employers who are flexible and supportive of those in their workforce by helping employees meet family and personal responsibilities and goals. Employers in four categories (based on the number of employees) will be recognized based on the following criteria: organizational culture and leadership work practices and flexibility health, wellness and benefits leave options personal and family issue support community involvement. Applications are available online at www.worklifechampions.org and are due by October 21, 2005. Award recipients will be announced in January, 2006. For information contact David Rodbourne at (651) 962-4122. Up-coming Training Opportunities: Financial Class for Non-Financial Managers Do you have financial management responsibilities and no formal accounting background? Do you want to brush-up on practical business recordkeeping? If you don't have accounting training but manage cash, receivables, payables, payroll or budgets - than this class is for you! The class will be delivered by the Business Development Coordinator of Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation in partnership with Owatonna Community Education. It will offer three 3-hour sessions beginning Monday, October 10th, and continuing on the 17th and 24th. Subjects covered include assets, liabilities, financial statements, trial balances, cash flow, budgeting, inventory and the time value of money. The class will include an exercise on "how to go broke while making a profit!" Registration will begin the week of September 5th when the fall catalogues are mailed out. Registrations can be mailed to Roosevelt School, 122 E McKinley St. Owatonna, MN 55060, or faxed to 507-444-7999. For online registration visit www.owatonnacommunityed.org, or call 507-444-7900.
Is Starting a Business Right for You? If you are thinking about starting your own business or purchasing an existing one, then this class is for you! Topics include: Is entrepreneurship right for you; registering a new business and writing a business plan; creating a marketing strategy; preparing to meet your lender; and much more. The two hour class is offered in partnership with Kasson-Manorville Schools on Monday, Nov. 21st at 6:30 pm in the Kasson-Manorville area (exact location to be announced). For information and registration contact Janelle Kirsch, Community Education Director, at j.kirsch@komets.k12.mn.us or call 507-634-4464. The instructor is Tom Shea, Business Development Coordinator, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. QuickBooks Class - Rochester, September 26th and 27th Rochester Community & Technical College, Region 10 Small Business Development Center presents a "Troubleshooting QuickBooks" class. Learn how to maintain loans, use asset tracking feature, advanced invoices techniques, paying taxes and much more. Call Troy Wing at 507-280-5503 to sign up. Tuition fee: $99.00. Dates: September 26th and 27th between 6:00 - 9:00 PM.	Tom Shea, Business Development Coordinator, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation
How Can You Support Business Success in Southern Minnesota? Help The Foundation connect to others who are interested in business success by forwarding this E-Journal on. We also invite you to support growing business success here in southern Minnesota by making a tax-deductible contribution to Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. To learn more about our giving opportunities, visit www.smifoundation.org/givingopp.html *Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation is an equal opportunity lender*. Please forward this message to anyone who may be interested in Business Success. If this message has been forwarded to you and you wish to receive the Business Success Journal, please email marciah@smifoundation.org.