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by Stephen Parezo

Representing Fiducial at the National Small Business Week festivities in Washington, D.C., were, from left, James Layton, director of systems support and development, Bill Morice, director of field operations and Tom Schnaidt, franchise business advisor.

April 17, 2006—Fiducial representatives came away from the company’s first ever co-sponsorship of National Small Business Week events in Washington, D.C. with a sense that they’re laying the groundwork now for building future success.

The exposure generated at last week’s two-day conference, sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration, will go a long way towards furthering its name recognition in small business circles, according to James Layton, Fiducial’s director of systems support and development.

“We had an opportunity to explain to people what Fiducial does,” said Layton. “It was a chance to interact with government officials and small business award winners from all over the country.”

Fiducial benefited from gaining increased exposure for having its logo emblazoned on a general registration bag for attendees as well as a full page advertisement in the event’s program guide. The Fiducial logo was also prominently displayed on the SBA’s homepage where visitors could click on it and be taken to www.fiducial.com where they will receive a free gift (mouse pad or Frisbee) by filling out an information form.

President George W. Bush, who holds an MBA, spoke at the Phoenix Awards Small Business Disaster Recovery ceremony on April 13. Layton noted that President Bush is very interested in small businesses and understands how much small business contributes to the national economy.

“Nine out of 10 jobs are created by small businesses,” Layton said. “They are the job creators and 50% of all payrolls are created by small businesses.”

‘Explorers of the modern era’

In his speech in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center’s Atrium Hall, Bush told the assemblage that “the great thing about the entrepreneur in the small business sector of our economy is that you provide great steam and strength to the growth of our economy.”

Describing the economy as strong, the President said, “It’s a good time to be a small business owner in America.” Borrowing a line from Ronald Reagan, Bush said entrepreneurs are the “explorers of the modern era” with small businesses seen as vital to building a more hopeful future for the country.

“When you open up a shop or lease a factory or offer a new service, you take a risk,” Bush said. “Risk-taking takes vision and risk-taking takes courage.” He added that it’s the risk-takers who “help define the vibrancy of the economy.”

The conference focused on small business accomplishments and concentrated on the disaster victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

The rest of the Fiducial contingent included Bill Morice, director of field operations and franchise business advisor Tom Schnaidt who joined Layton in a post-event meeting where major emphasis was put on how to help small business recover from a disaster. A major discussion revolved around a business’ need to back up their business records. Many small enterprises were not able to resurrect their operations because they had lost all of their business records when Katrina struck.

“Disasters are a big problem for small businesses,” Layton said. “Businesses aren’t able to come back because they don’t have any records left. Business records should be backed up on a regular basis with the back-ups stored off-site.”

Getting the President’s autograph

Joining in the discussion were executives from companies that help small businesses along with officials from The White House and Homeland Security plus SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto.

“They wanted us to participate,” Layton said. “It was really a positive experience for Fiducial.”

Fiducial reps even managed to secure autographs from President Bush following his speech. Schnaidt admitted the opportunity was “kind of a surprise” but he grabbed his SBA program guide and started flipping pages to get the chief executive’s signature. Before he knew it, Bush came walking towards him.

“I looked him straight in the eyes and handed him the brochure and he signed G.W. Bush,” said Schnaidt. “We really didn’t get a chance to chat but it seemed like he was at ease. You can’t get better than having the President show up at your event.”

The Fiducial group agreed that they collectively made a lot of good contacts which should pay off down the road. They met some SBA insiders such as Jack Bienko, deputy associate administrator, who works in the office of strategic alliances and is helping them connect with the resource partners program.

“They always have a need for people to do training and counseling for small businesses,” he said. “Fiducial could potentially play a part in that.”

Asked to gauge the progress of the small business sector, Schnaidt says it’s been growing significantly.

“For a major portion of the businesses in the U.S., it’s almost like small business is the farm team to big business,” he said. “You’ve got to go through very small business stages before you become the Microsofts of the world. That’s why the government backs the SBA. They know that small business is the incubator.”

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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