BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Around 15 business leaders from the Starke-Keystone Heights-Lake Butler area attended a quarterly breakfast organized by the North Florida Regional Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, April 30, to discuss their top challenges in operating a small business.
Chamber President Pam Whittle led the discussion. North Florida Economic Development Corporation partner Amber Shepherd, CareerSource representative Resa Morris, and North Florida Technical College Director Keith Kirby also informed attendees about the resources available from their respective organizations.
When asked about their most pressing business needs, several attendees mentioned that promoting their establishments was challenging. They also emphasized the need for an all-inclusive calendar of events for the area, similar to the one the chamber now operates, but more expansive.
Hoping for tariff help
Chamber President Pam Whittle asked the 17 attendees of the breakfast about the impact of the economy on their businesses.
Lisa Sims, owner of It’s Your Day Bridal, said she hoped tariffs on China would enable her to compete more effectively with knock-off designer gowns made in Asia.
“For me,” she said, “it’s companies like Amazon and Shein that are going to put me out of business.”
Sims added that she cannot obtain the authentic products at wholesale for the same prices at which online businesses sell the knock-offs for at retail.
The bridal shop owner said her alterations service has kept her afloat while Bradford County brides who do buy from brick-and-mortar stores drive to Gainesville or Orange Park for their gowns.
“It’s kind of funny,” Sims said. “Everybody here goes to Gainesville and Orange Park, but Gainesville and Orange Park (customers) come to me. So, I do get the shoppers.”
Diversifying is key
Amber Shepherd, a strategic business partner of the North Florida Economic Development Corporation, provided attendees with a summary of her background.
She piggybacked off Sims’s comments on small business survival, stating that diversifying, like Sims is doing, is a key to thriving in rural markets.
She also responded to some attendees’ earlier complaints about the difficulty of marketing and promotion by telling business owners they must invest in marketing to attract customers.
“Your marketing really has to be about 25% of your expected revenue,” she said. “And so you have to create that marketing budget, and in that marketing budget, you have to create materials, you have to have a plan to get yourself out to the marketplace.”
Shepherd also said that, like Sims, Starke, Keystone Heights, and Lake Butler businesses should look to Gainesville and Jacksonville for customers. Shepherd said she has had success marketing the area through the social media platform, LinkedIn.
From minimum wage to $80,000 in 8 weeks
Keith Kirby, the director of the North Florida Technical College, also spoke at the breakfast. Whittle called the Weldon Street campus the biggest secret in Bradford County.
Kirby said he has students from the sixth grade through college age training for careers at the school. He said that in addition to commercial truck driving, welding, and advanced welding, the college offers training for LPN and CNA nursing certifications.
“Our LPN program is about to graduate, I believe, about 38 students,” he said, “which is one of the largest classes that we’ve had in a while.”
Kirby said his most critical needs are instructors, with two nursing teachers having recently left and a welding instructor who is nearing retirement.
Kirby said that for the time and money investment, his programs offer the most life-altering training in the area.
“Our (commercial vehicle driving) program is, if not the oldest, one of the oldest in the state,” he said. “We constantly have 13 to 15 students, four times a year, maybe five if we offer a summer class. In eight weeks, a person can go from a GED-level education to making 60, 70, $80,000 a year…and it only costs $4,000, roughly. That program, to me, is just mind-boggling that you can go from minimum wage to $80,000 a year in eight weeks.”
Kirby said that students who complete his school’s nine-month welding program can earn up to $200,000 if they are willing to travel and work in harsh environments, such as on oil rigs.
“I tell all the students,” he said, “Congratulations, in 10 months, you’ll be making more than me.”
After Kirby’s presentation, two audience members urged the administrator to expand the school’s offerings.
Lori Riley, owner of Nicky’s Beauty Bar, told Kirby there is an urgent need for cosmetology training in Bradford County.
“I’ve been 40 years in the beauty industry,” Riley told the administrator, “Ten percent of the girls that work in my salon make more than $100,000 a year. And I will tell you this is a growing business that will never go away.”
Chrissy Allen of the Downtown Grill, which hosted the breakfast, said culinary training is also needed.
109 applied for Wawa
Resa Morris, an employment security representative with CareerSource of North Central Florida, also addressed the attendees.
Whittle told the group that the workforce development agency could help small businesses with one of their most pressing needs: staffing.
She added that CareerSource, working with the chamber, processed 109 applicants for Starke’s Wawa and over 100 job seekers for the city’s new Zaxby’s.
Morris told the audience that her agency can host recruiting events, create flyers for employers, and advertise job openings.
“I email close to 200 (people) weekly with upcoming events for job fairs,” she said, adding that CareerSource is promoting a job fair for the City of Waldo in June.
Morris said it is essential for employers seeking help to reach out to her, because “we just don’t have the manpower to go door-to-door anymore.”
CareerSource also maintains a database of openings that job seekers can use to search for employment.
Morris said the onboarding process for employers is easy, adding that businesses can create an employer account with the agency and then post openings online.
The employment security representative stated that she also assists potential employees throughout the job-seeking process.
