Fountain Small Businesses getting more support in promoting themselves

By Jennie Keller
           
Small business has been on the increase in the Fountain Valley area. As people transition into the community and as others are searching for new career paths, more people seem to be taking the initiative to start out on their own. Mom and Pop stores are becoming more and more obvious.
According to Brenda Swartz, who recently organized a Fountain Small Business group, Fountain has over 900 small business licenses. “270 of those belong to people who both live and work in the 80817 zipcode,” states Swartz.
For some time though, resources to assist small businesses on limited budgets with efforts like promoting themselves were limited. Beyond word-of-mouth advertising, there weren’t a lot of options. 
For decades, this newspaper, founded in 1958, was the only local media source businesses could turn to when seeking to reach local residents. And while the newspaper has grown with the community, management remains committed to supporting the small business owner, evidenced by the fact advertising rates have not seen an increase in 16 years. The staff has worked hard to ensure advertising in the community’s oldest “hometown” paper remains an affordable option to local businesses, because they realize that by helping other businesses be successful, it also helps the community as a whole become more successful.
The community also now has its own “business-focused” publication, the Southside Business News operated by local resident Ed Duffy; not to mention Macvan Publishing’s 1 Source Fountain Valley Gold Book  (soon to be releasing their 4th annual telephone directory.)   
The Fountain Valley Chamber of Commerce, which just celebrated its 40th anniversary, has continued to offer more promotional and networking opportunities to its members and is working to offer more on its website. As well, additional networking groups have arisen, including Swartz’s Fountain Small Business Group.
Still, there wasn’t much focus from sources like City Hall to assist small businesses with efforts like promoting themselves. However, during the past few months there has been a change….small business has become one of the priorities in the Fountain Valley.
Though supporting local businesses of all sizes has always been important to members of Fountain’s Economic Development Committee and Lisa Cochrun, Economic Development Director for Fountain, making that actually happen has been challenging.
However, there is new promise on the horizon. Cochrun is now working with Swartz to help smaller businesses get the word out.
“We have to let people know what is here – otherwise they don’t know.  People need to know what their options are,” stated Cochrun. “The EDC always pushes for the big anchors to grow the town. But the heartbeat of America is the small businesses.  We are streamlining the codes and processes for small business start ups.  Entrepreneurship is a big priority to support.”
  Swartz, who owns her own small business Any Place Admin, started the Fountain Small Business group in order to help the small business owner.
“We will talk about ways to promote your own business, ways to use social media, and how to link all of the small businesses in the area so that we can all benefit from the local market,” explains Swartz.  “Working in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce, Fountain Urban Renewal Authority, and the City of Fountain – small business in the area have a wealth of resources at their fingertips.”
  Cochrun notes that recently the City has developed a shopper’s guide for new arrivals to the Fountain area. “We created this directory of local businesses that we distribute to hotels, restaurants, and realtors. Plus we distribute it through the Welcome Center on Fort Carson so that incoming families can see what Fountain has to offer.”

  One tip that both Cochrun and Swartz have to offer…have an online presence. “If you aren’t online, you don’t exist,” said Cochrun. “Even a simple webpage is better than no webpage. The Internet is where people go to look for local services now.”
  On that note, Swartz is working to create a website that will list Fountain small businesses. “This website will include local mom and pops with actual storefronts to the start up businesses that are located in homes throughout Fountain. If you have a business license, the opportunity to list your business on this website will be offered. “
  Brian Riggins has been stationed at Fort Carson since 2003. He and his family plan on retiring in Fountain. “I wanted something to do after my military service that I would enjoy and would keep me out of the rat race. I want to be my own boss and we really wanted to stay in Fountain. So I thought about what I like to do and combined a few ideas.” Riggins is the owner of Crawl Gear, an embroidery and screen print shop that he currently runs from his home.  Crawl Gear specializes in t-shirts for 4-wheel fanatics, but also does embroidery and screen-printing for individuals as well.
  “Marketing for us involves a lot of word of mouth. We also go to many meetings around town to network with others. Of course, we have a website as well,” stated Riggins.
  Swartz offers a monthly networking meeting for small business. The second Tuesday of each month about 25 small business owners gather at Coke’s Diner in Fountain. Each month they are able to collaborate in ideas and marketing topics. Swartz has a topic each month that they discuss and share ideas about. This past month, they discussed social media marketing such as Facebook and Twitter. “Getting this information out to small businesses is so important. Social media is the wave of the future,”Swartz concluded.

  For more information on the Fountain Small Business group, email Swartz at fountainsmallbusiness@gmail.com or search for her Facebook group under FOUNTAIN SMALL BUSINESS.