Many workers undergoing occupation alterations

YAKIMA, WASH. -- Matt O'Neal is no stranger to small business.

For nearly two decades, he ran an irrigation business. A decade ago, he left the business for the health and retirement benefits that came with working for someone else.

Two layoffs later, O'Neal is a small business owner again.

Last month, he opened Kool Water Irrigation, which offers services such as sprinkler maintenance and repair and custom irrigation system installation.

"I see people struggling because they work for someone else," he said. "I got a flexible schedule. I can do the work I enjoy doing and not be stressed out."

As companies keep cutting expenses in tough economic times, more unemployed workers have hopes that developing their own business will provide better control of their job situation.

Nearly 12,000 Yakima County residents were without jobs in April, according to figures from the state Employment Security Department.

Concurrently, local economic development officials believe that entrepreneurship will play a more prominent role in creating new jobs and increasing economic activity in the Valley.

******

There's not a lot of hard data that indicates a greatly increased level of small business activity in the state.

As of May 1, there were 16,355 registered businesses, compared to 16,150 a year ago, according to data from the state Department of Revenue.

But anecdotal evidence shows at least more interest in small business.

Linda Johnson, a certified business adviser for the Yakima Small Business Development Center, estimates that she's received about 20 percent more inquires about starting or buying a new business.

In past years, the Business and Economic Development Center at the University of Washington would have just four or five students for the six-week small business certificate course it holds in the Yakima Valley.

This spring, the course had 15 students.

And about 17 new and existing business owners attended a workshop organized by the Small Business Administration and Small Business Development Center in Yakima. The workshop covered the different aspects of building a business, from securing financing to marketing the new business.

Nationally, a study from the Kauffman Foundation, a entrepreneurship education organization based in Kansas City, Mo., shows that an average of 0.32 percent of adults nationwide created a new business each month in 2008, generating about 530,000 new businesses a month. That rate was 0.30 percent in 2007.

"As companies downsize and people lose their jobs and nobody is hiring, folks are forced to think about how they generate income for their families, so they look to start businesses," said Michael Verchot, director of the Business and Economic Development Center.

******

Starting a business, whether for an interim period or more permanently, will also benefit unemployed workers if they ultimately decide to find a job, said Debra Yergen, a Yakima author who has written extensively about job hunting.

"If you're ready to go back, or you come across or are offered the ideal job for you, you still have your skills sharp enough to jump back into that job," she said.

Ali Macias had her dream job doing fund development and external and internal communications for Children's Village.

In April, she learned that her position was being eliminated as part of the organization's budget cuts.

After being laid off, Macias, 31, evaluated her situation.

Eventually, she decided to pursue her own business.

She's in the developing stages of the process, talking to contacts and brainstorming business ideas.

Macias has considered offering a language translation service. She is also thinking about offering grant writing or marketing services for nonprofit organizations.

"For me, it opened my mind. I really need to think outside the box," she said. "If there isn't the right job for me in Yakima, maybe I need to create that."

Economic development organizations here and across the nation are beginning to find more value in emerging businesses and the entrepreneurs who run them.

Jack Schultz, a writer and speaker on economic development issues, spoke in Yakima earlier this year on the merits of entrepreneurship.

There are only about 200 projects that involve companies expanding to new locations and about 35,000 groups vying for those projects. That equals about four projects for each state, he said.

Economic development officials instead should target local small businesses that show potential for growth, and in turn, new jobs, Schultz said.

"The other part of this is that if a company starts in your community, it's likely to stay there," he said. "It's not likely to go to more greener pastures."

New Vision, the county's economic development arm, has certainly embraced these principles. It has helped create the Yakima Valley Entrepreneur Network, a partnership of several business organizations designed to help new and existing business owners develop their businesses through networking events.

There are about 41 individuals who are part of the network, said Tammy Everts, business development director for New Vision.

"To me this adds a third leg (in economic development)," said Dave McFadden, president of New Vision. "We're going to take care of prospective business, take care of established business and we'll take care of the emerging businesses that are trying to take off in the Yakima Valley."

********

A new business owner has a lot of work to do. New and prospective business owners have found that it takes a lot more than a good idea to run a business.

Many times, new business owners are faced with tasks they didn't deal with when they worked for someone else -- such as keeping track of the business financials or marketing services and products.

Last month, O'Neal attended a seminar where he learned the importance of developing a solid business plan.

A plan, he learned, would help him visualize things he could do to be the most effective in his business in the short and long term.

Kimberly Lunning has a great passion for serving the elderly community.

After the 35-year-old Yakima resident was laid off from her state social worker job, she decided to develop a counseling service that specializes in serving the elderly and their families.

Developing the business has become a full-time job of sorts for Lunning as she's spent time trying to finance her venture without credit cards and driving to the University of Washington to take classes for her geriatric mental health certification.

She's hoping the investment she makes now will pay off in the end.

"I figured that now is the time. Take advantage of the time you have and start it yourself," she said. "Hopefully, in three to five years when the economy picks up, the business will be good and solid."

The trend toward entrepreneurship is unlikely to end when the economy picks up, Verchot said. Rather, this is the beginning of a fundamental shift in how people will develop their careers and their source of income.

Unlike their parents and grandparents, who may have worked for one or two employers in a lifetime before retiring, the current generation believes they can't depend on continuous employment from a big company, said Verchot of the Business and Economic Development Center at the University of Washington.

"Companies are going to look at ways to push nonessential functions outside the company," he said. "It's going to allow more people to sustain their businesses."

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 577-7685 or mhoang@yakimaherald.com.