The Venture Center

Wisconsin Public Radio
October 4, 2010

The economic structure of the Fox River Valley is morphing away from its traditional model of manufacturing. A Technical College program is helping start-up businesses become employers. Patty Murray reports.

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Corporate Report
June 2010

Booming enrollments
Fox City colleges are also experiencing an upswing as the unemployed retool their skills to make them more employable and the employed add skills to keep their jobs, says Dr. Susan May, Fox Valley Technical College president.

“Our enrollment skyrocketed this year, unlike we’ve ever seen in our history,” she says. “We had roughly a 15-percent increase in student enrollment in our core occupational programs, on top of a 6-percent increase in 2008. When we’re having a good year, in a typical time, we’d see about a 4-percent increase.”

The college began offering some classes almost around the clock to meet increased demand. The addition of night and weekend shifts for welder training, with courses running from 9 p.m. to 2 p.m., is one example. They also offered more class sections in high-demand course areas and hired additional faculty to handle the increased course loads.

In recent years, Fox Valley Technical College also added initiatives designed to help budding entrepreneurs launch new businesses. The college’s Fabrication Lab, opened two years ago, helps early-stage entrepreneurs fabricate product prototypes.

“Oftentimes people do not have access to these types of services,” May says. The Fab Lab maintains the software, tools and experts to help inventors fabricate new products. To date, the lab has made more than 150 prototypes.

The college’s Venture Center offers short-targeted programs for businesses in various stages of development. They help business owners write business plans, navigate financing issues and more. One of the program’s successful ventures brought HuHot Mongolian Grills to Wisconsin.

In times of trouble, it’s easy to duck your head in the sand and wait for it to pass. But sometimes the silver lining is one you need to look for. The Fox Cities region looked for its silver lining and found it in new businesses and initiatives that have left the area well poised for future growth.

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WFRV News
September 30, 2010

Post Crescent
Septemeber 28, 2010


Venture Center evolving to aid growth of small businesses

Lori Thiel knew she'd one day be in business for herself, though she never thought it also would tie in her love of motorcycles.

"Riding was a hobby that I wanted to get into … plus it's great recreation and a wonderful social network," said Thiel, who for the past 3½ years has co-owned Open Road Harley-Davidson in Fond du Lac with fiance, Pete Johnson.

"I always aspired to own my own business, but at one time, wasn't sure what it would be or if it would happen," Thiel said.

That changed after she met Amy Pietsch, director of the Venture Center at Fox Valley Technical College. Among the center's missions is to help people determine whether they should start a business.

Pietsch had given a presentation about the Venture Center to a business organization Thiel had been involved with while she was still working for Northwestern Mutual in Appleton in 2006.

"Amy and I talked and she suggested I consider enrolling in the E-Seed program," Thiel said. E-Seed is the Venture Center's program designed to help people considering starting a business.

Between September and December 2006, Thiel learned various facets about running a business, from cash flow management and marketing strategy, as well as some of the basics to get a company organized.

"One session an attorney came in and talked about the legal side of running a business," she said.

Thiel said she knew long hours would be involved in running a business because her parents ran their own company.

"I knew it would be a lot of work to manage your own company, but the E-Seed program offered a lot of mentoring and prepared me for other things that I hadn't thought about," she said. Managing employees and how to provide good customer service were just some of the skills enhanced through the program.

"You find yourself leaning on your business plan a lot," Thiel said. "When you're running your own business, you're responsible for a lot of things from the employees to keeping up with industry trends … your learning never ends."

Pietsch said the Venture Center has evolved since its doors opened five years ago.

She recalled in the early days having minimal staff and a few volunteers.

"I was the primary instructor in the beginning," she said.

The situation is much different today. Through the years, as word spread of the knowledge learned by would-be entrepreneurs, community executives and business owners began donating their time and expertise to the program.

Pietsch now has a staff of about a dozen people, several adjunct faculty members with varied business backgrounds and numerous volunteers to work with entrepreneurs through the E-Seed and other programs offered through the Venture Center. One of its programs is for existing business owners who want to grow, while another is designed to help companies looking for new innovations.

Pietsch said the focus of the Venture Center still is to help entrepreneurs launch a successful business, which will create between one and 10 new jobs or more. She estimates the program has helped launch more than 200 businesses, which have created more than 500 jobs in the greater Fox Cities area.

"We want to be able to help people make informed decisions about whether or not to start a business," Pietsch said. "We're not saying we are the silver bullet to make people successful, but what I will say is that for the ones that didn't make it, they won't be out on the street … they'll have the skills to rebuild."

Thiel is enjoying being her own boss and is confident about the future.

"I wouldn't have gotten into this if I didn't believe in what we were doing to make it a success," she said.