Document text
Opportunity Knocks expands into valley By GREG STILES Rogue Valley small business owners unable to overcome logistical or strategic challenges have a new ally on the way. Opportunity Knocks of soon will expand its reach to Southern Oregon with an eye on getting small business proprietors to help solve one another's problems. "Primarily small businesses encounter two problems," says Jim Schell, co-author of "Small Business for Dummies" and founder of Opportunity Knocks. "They're either employee-related or marketing-related. "You put 13 people together, and someone will have dealt with that issue before. You get the right answer and you get the experience that will bring it out." The 64-year-old Schell founded four successful small businesses, the last growing to a $25 million concern with 200 employees. He also wrote: "The Brass Tacks Entrepreneur," "Small Business Management Guide" and "The Small Business Answer Book." Opportunity Knocks isn't another business venture for Schell as much as a venue for sharing his knowledge. "Besides being in small business for 25 years and writing about it for 10 years, small business has been a passion all my life," Schell says. "Some people volunteer at hospitals, and this is what I do." Schell is an Iowa native and was stationed at Kingsley Air Force Base from 1959 to 1961. After spending much of his entrepreneurial career in Minnesota and San Diego, he moved to Bend in 1994. He began Opportunity Knocks in 1996. Schell says the template for Opportunity Knocks was developed by The Executive Committee, a consulting firm now headquartered in San Diego, in the 1980s. "They focus on companies with $5 million or more in sales and charge $8,700 a year and his facilitators get paid," Schell says. "We charge $99, and we're a volunteer organization." The definition of what constitutes a small business varies. The Small Business Administration says it's a company with fewer than 500 employees. Gov. John Kitzhaber's 11-member small business council targets firms with 50 or fewer employees. "From our standpoint," Schell says, "I would say we're looking at businesses with less than 100 employees." Opportunity Knocks has grown to include 230 businesses with 21 teams and now receives some funding from the Oregon Lottery because of its potential impact on outlying communities. There are chapters in Coos Bay, Klamath Falls and Salem, with Medford and La Grande the next to be added. "It's a program that offers an ongoing means to help businesses to grow and retain existing business," says Liz Shelby of SOU's Small Business Development Center. Of the 21 teams in Central Oregon, 16 are basic service providers or manufacturers, four are small or home offices working on computers and one is for directors of nonprofit groups. Competitors are not placed in the same cluster. Ellie Chambers, local economic development manager for Avista Utilities, is the Medford chapter's chair. Each group has two facilitators, trained in consensus making, to make sure suggestions are the right ones. "The facilitators are the key to the success of the group," Schell says. "Most facilitators are either retired or currently successful in business and are used to facilitating Chamber or Rotary meetings. Schell says the ultimate vision for his organization is to have a presence in every community with a population of 10,000 in Oregon. To register for the event, call Shelby at 772-3478. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.