Mentoring for growth – A Scottsdale business finds growth through a federal mentoring program.

Vickie Wessel understands the need to constantly hone her business skills and adapt to industry changes.

Yvette Armendariz
The Arizona Republic

Wessel started Scottsdale-based Spirit Electronics in 1979 as a distributor of computer peripherals such as monitors and printers. When computers took off and competition intensified, she changed her business to distribute radio frequency/microwave components such as amplifiers and mixers. Business kept changing, and Wessel kept adding new components, such as those used in circuit boards, and semiconductors to supply military and aerospace customers.

"We’ve made a market for ourselves," she said.

A few years ago, she started getting requests for value-added manufacturing services. Rather than making parts, value-added manufacturing is focused on improving those parts or combining them with other parts. So another company transformation began.

To develop those manufacturing skills, Wessel was selected in October to participate in the Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé Program http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/mentor_protege/ under the wings of Sypris Electronics in Tampa, a subsidiary of Louisville-based Sypris Solutions.

The government program began in 1990 to provide incentives to prime contractors to help small, disadvantaged companies develop technical skills. The program’s goal is to improve small-business skills so the mentored companies become more competitive in subcontracting with large defense contractors, said project coordinator Diane Wootton.

The prime contractor selects a small business and develops a training program, which must be approved by the Department of Defense. In turn, the contractor receives credit toward its subcontracting goals or gets a portion of its training expenses reimbursed. Most programs run one to three years.

Spirit is the only Arizona company currently active in the program, said Wootton. Altogether, 26 mentor businesses and 17 protégé companies have come from Arizona.

Recent protégé companies from the Valley include AIMCO Precision Inc., run by Maxine Jones, and K&L Manufacturing, run by Steve Macias and Jack Cuddihy.

Anne Steele, a business analyst with the Maricopa Community Colleges Small Business Development Center, says that a mentoring relationship can be very helpful to small companies seeking to grow. Corporate advisers can help guide decisions for growth.

But in getting involved in a program, small companies need to be ready for the pains of growth, such as added cash-flow requirements, hiring and equipment purchases, she said.

The two-year program with Sypris is all about preparing Spirit for growth. Wessel will learn about pricing products and value-added services; new technologies; and quality control.

Wessel didn’t seek out the training, though she has always surrounded herself with mentors.

"If you can graciously accept their help, it’s opened a lot of doors in terms of business," she said.

In this case, Sypris nominated Spirit for the mentor-protégé program two years ago. But they told Wessel it could be a long process and that not all nominations are accepted.

"Then all of a sudden it happened, " she said.

A few weeks into the program, she’s already seeing residuals.

"We’ve received an increase in sales for value-added work," she said.

The program isn’t all about serving Sypris and growing that contract, but building a stronger overall company within Spirit. And so far Wessel sees the groundwork forming as other customers seek those value-added services, too.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or (602) 444-4842.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/1201sbspirit01.html