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Tough times inspire Utah entrepreneurs

As it turns out, getting laid off isn’t always a bad thing.

Evelyn and George Fannin discovered as much after George lost his job at a credit card company amid tough economic times.

By Lisa Carricaburu The Salt Lake Tribune

The layoff ended up being just the nudge the American Fork man needed to pursue a dream he and Evelyn long had shared. A year ago, they formed Actual Learning, a provider of reusable workbooks and other instructional materials to improve math skills.

The product line evolved from a method Evelyn developed during decades of teaching children math. Endorsed by the Utah State Board of Education, it now is making its way into Utah schools as a supplement to state curriculum.

"We never would have thought so at the time, but getting laid off turned out to be the nicest thing that ever happened to us," George says.

A number of Utahns apparently feel the same.

New census numbers examining businesses with no paid employees — home-based businesses, mom-and-pop operations, independent contractors and the like — support the long-observed phenomenon that a lackluster economy often breeds entrepreneurship.

From 2000 to 2001, the number of such businesses in Utah increased 2.3 percent to 138,928, a growth rate that jumped from just less than 1 percent from 1999 to 2000, census data shows.

Nationwide, the increase in the number of nonemployer businesses from 2000 to 2001 was even more pronounced, growing 2.7 percent to nearly 17 million. Georgia led the nation with a growth rate of 5.2 percent, followed by Nevada at 4.8 percent.

Nancy Mitchell believes the entrepreneurial trend has continued beyond the years for which census data is available.

As executive director of the Salt Lake Chamber’s Women’s Business Center, she still hustles to keep up with demand for her center’s business start-up advisory services.

"Managerial consulting, training, public relations, graphic artists — all are represented among those we see starting businesses out of their homes," Mitchell says. They make up a vital component of Utah business and "their contribution should not be underestimated."

The census report notes that nationwide, businesses with no paid employees make up 70 percent of all enterprises. It puts their contribution in 2001 at nearly $730 billion in sales, a 2.9 percent increase from a year earlier.

In Utah, sales by businesses with no paid employees topped $5.8 billion in 2001, also representing a 2.9 percent increase over 2000.

More importantly, such businesses often do not remain small. Most aspire to hire employees as they grow. Once they add workers, they become even more of an economic force.

Funeraria Latina hopes to become one such company.

The Salt Lake City-based business started out this summer offering funeral services tailored to the cultural and language needs of mostly Spanish-speaking customers, director Richard Velez says.

Already, the business formed under the auspices of a national funeral services company has established a niche helping customers statewide transport deceased loved ones to native lands for burial as is customary in some cultures.

"Demand for our services has been high enough that we expect to do well enough to expand," Velez says.

Actual Learning’s George Fannin shares his ambition.
Like all small-business owners, he and his wife know they face challenges securing necessary financing, branding their product and gaining new markets, "but people who try our product like it. There’s a need for what we do, even nationally and internationally," he says.

That’s entrepreneurial spirit for you. It’s alive and well in Utah.

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© Copyright 2003, The Salt Lake Tribune.

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Sep/09212003/business/94256.asp

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