Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik speaks with Carlton McLellan, owner of Vibe Coffehouse & Cafe at his business Thursday morning.
LIMA — At a long table with the smell of coffee wafting about, small business owners, members of the Rhodes State College Small Business Development Center and a team from Ohio’s Department of Development discussed how the state can better help small businesses grow and develop at Vibe Coffehouse & Cafe Thursday afternoon.
Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik listened as small business owners Neli Metzger and Carlton McLellan shared their stories, along with their thoughts on how the state could better assist them in their businesses.
Small businesses make up 99.6% of the state’s businesses and 44.6% of jobs, according to a 2021 report from the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy.
Metzger, who runs a European bakery called Touch of Europe out of her home, said she received a grant from the state to open her business, and she is very grateful. However, she said she is struggling with rising prices for ingredients and equipment required to make her not-too-sweet desserts, and she plans to open a brick-and-mortar shop by Valentine’s Day in 2023.
“But we are committed, determined,” Metzger said. “We will do it.”
Metzger has received certifications from the state to teach her about contracts, construction and more — all to promote the success of her business that she’s run for about five years.
Carlton McLellan, who opened Black-owned coffee shop Vibe about a year ago, said he partners with the Department of Development to employ juveniles, people with developmental disabilities and more for a set period of time to gain work experience. He said one of his current employees was hired on permanently after doing the program for over a year.
“I think a lot of people don’t think coffee or a cup of coffee is a big deal — it’s a $450 billion industry,” McLellan said. “There’s a lot of money and economic development that happens through coffee and all that, so that’s what we’re working on.”
McLellan, who, like many small business owners, has taken out loans for his cafe, said he sees the value in engaging in the community and teaching others about the field and believes a program with the state to forgive some loans for this kind of community engagement would help the economy.
“That’s what most of us do anyway, but it would encourage that even more,” McLellan said.
Kathy Keller, Director of Rhodes State College’s Small Business Development Center, said while the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced some small businesses to close their doors, it also showed a strong desire for many to open their own businesses when given the opportunity through government loans.
Mihalik said one of her department’s biggest goals is to create an environment conducive to small business ownership and success.
“[Small businesses] are literally the backbone of our economy as a state,” Mihalik said. “We’ve got really large businesses like Intel that we love to celebrate, and that’s incredible and it’s been huge for the future. But most of our employees, most of the jobs that are created in our state and maintained are small businesses.”
Mihalik said the department has made strides in ease of access to business-oriented certifications, but still has improvements to make. She said this is why roundtable discussions with small business owners and mentors are important.
“There are some great resources; Rhodes State SBDC is an incredible opportunity for you, and if there are folks out there looking to build their own version of the American dream and to go after maybe something that they’ve been thinking about for a while in terms of their own small business, then this is a great place to go for those resources,” Mihalik said.
Reach Jessica Orozco at 567-242-0398, by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @JessicaCOrozco.
