By Pat Lawrence

Sharon Shaner knows quite a lot about foundations-in make-up, in garments and in business. Good foundations are the hallmark of her success.

Although it’s not quite a dynasty yet, Sharon is following in her mother’s footsteps. Twenty years ago, Sharon’s mother Peg Foley started a Merle Norman business in Zanesville, Ohio. In addition to the complete line of cosmetics and skin care products, her Merle Norman & More studio carried specialty products, including wigs, turbans and oversized scarves that were helpful for women who had experienced the side effects of chemotherapy. She also added special foundation garments and inserts for mastectomy patients.

Sharon, a stay-at-home, says, “Mom did most of the pioneering. She had never owned a business. She was a principal with a full time job when she decided to start a business.” Sharon, a stay at home Mom, started helping at the store. “Mom didn’t need full time help at first”, so Sharon started college, got her degree in Business administration in 1986 and worked as a job trainer for four years. But, “In 1992, I began full time at Merle Norman & More.”

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Entrepreneurs can take advantage of new, free online training and other resources offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration to assist them during this period of economic recovery.  The SBA offers a variety of online courses to assist small businesses in more effectively managing their firms in the current economy.

The new course topics, available directly at www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses, include revising business plans to reposition with current conditions, winning customers in a slowing economy, restructuring existing debt, and diversifying your customer base with federal contracts.

The most recently added course is “Downshifting in a Slowing Economy: A Business Planning Guide.” This course is designed to help business owners reorganize and streamline their business strategies. Other related business tools include a new automated business plan template, and an assessment and strategies guide for surviving in a slowing economy.

“The SBA is helping small businesses with the resources and tools they need in the current business cycle,” said Jeff Andrade, Associate Administrator for Entrepreneurial Development.  “In addition, SBA offers a variety of resources and referrals to small businesses uncertain about what to do in the current economy on its Web page on Economic Recovery at www.sba.gov/helpingmainstreet.”

Each free course is self-paced, and provides practical guidance on how to stay on top of economic conditions. These and other courses can be accessed from the SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov/training. To access them, click on “Free Online Courses,” then make a selection under the header “Surviving in a Down Economy.”

The SBA can also help to find local agency offices and lenders. Business owners can: talk with an SBA representative about financing options and identify local, participating SBA lenders; learn about SBA’s Loan Guaranty Program using an electronic guide with audio assistance and many targeted links; and train with expert counseling and mentoring services by talking with a Small Business Association representative or resource partner about management assistance.

For more information, visit www.sba.gov.

Judy K. Sheppard Receives WIPP "Member to Watch" Award for Advocating Women in Business

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – Judy Sheppard is a lot like the Energizer Bunny. As the president and CEO of Professional Services of America, Inc.  (PSA, Inc.), Sheppard is constantly on the go seeking business opportunities for her human resources and human resources development business headquartered in Parkersburg, W.Va.

She also is a strong advocate of women-owned and West Virginia businesses, two groups she relentlessly promotes throughout her travels around the country. “Each day I set a goal to do something that will make a positive impact on West Virginia’s business climate,” said Sheppard. “Making a difference in West Virginia and for West Virginia businesses is what keeps me going.”
Sheppard was recognized at the Women Impacting Public Policy’s national conference as the 2008 WIPP Member to Watch which demonstrates her commitment to the advancement of women-owned businesses.

PSA was incorporated in 1996 as a derivative from two companies established by Sheppard, Accumark Services, Inc.  and Plastic Source Alternatives. As a result of being situated in West Virginia’s Polymer Alliance Zone, much of PSA’s work was reliant on the chemical industry.  Sheppard felt even though PSA was doing well and growing, she needed to explore other avenues of growing the business.

That is when she looked into the U.S. Small Business Administration’s certification programs. “I knew in order to take the company to the next level, government contracting was the way to go,” stated Sheppard. “Being a Native-American, woman-owned small business fit SBA’s certification program criteria and provided the channel into the world of government contracting.”
“Two words come to mind when I hear the name Judy Sheppard; passionate and believer,” said Melissa Loder, Business Development Specialist for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s West Virginia District Office.

“She believes in West Virginia; in her fellow small business entrepreneurs; in doing her absolute best; and she believes all this with great passion. A person like this is always a pleasure to work with.” The U.S. government is the world’s largest buyer of goods and services –from spacecraft and advanced scientific research to paper clips and landscaping services. Federal agencies are required to establish contracting goals, with at least 23 percent of all government spending targeted to small business. The SBA’s certification programs are aimed at leveling the playing field to allow small businesses to obtain a fair share of these government contracts.

“The fact that PSA, Inc. is an 8(a), Small Disadvantaged Business and HUBZone certified company has helped my business achieve higher margins,” added Sheppard. “It really makes a difference when competing against larger companies.”

The 8(a) program is an essential instrument for helping socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs gain access to the economic mainstream of American society. The program provides access to sole-source federal government contracts. “So far, we have been able to obtain approximately a dozen government contracts through certification programs,” said Sheppard. 

“Though each contract is a bit different, they all have been well worth the effort.  I would encourage anyone remotely interested in government contracting to take the initiative and see if they qualify for any of the certification programs. I am certainly glad I did.”
Sheppard was recently recognized for her outstanding business achievements by West Virginia University at Parkersburg.  She received an honorary degree at the institution’s graduation ceremony this past December.

If you are interested in learning more about government contracting, contact Melissa Loder at SBA’s West Virginia District Office at (304) 623-5631 extension 224 (email: melissa.loder@sba.gov), or visit the SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov and select Contracting Opportunities under the Services heading.

The mission of the SBA is to aid, counsel, assist and promote the interests of small businesses by providing financial, procurement and business development assistance and advocating on their behalf within the government.

All SBA programs are extended to the public on a non-discriminatory basis.

There are many people who go searching for their perfect career.  Some people browse through online advertisements, post resumes on the Internet, and maybe even consult the horoscopes. But for Robin Alawat, the perfect career found her.

Before 2006 Robin made a living selling Mercedes at the Astorg dealership in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Robin was exceptional at customer service. So exceptional in fact, that on two separate occasions customers asked if she ever thought about getting into insurance.  Robin said she didn’t think about selling insurance until she was confronted by her own car customers. “The one person who told me to get into insurance was a branch manager for West Virginia.  His mom came in to buy and car and he was with her,” Robin said. “He thought I would be good at it because he thought I had a good way of explaining things to people.”

It took two years before Robin made the decision to leave the car dealership and start her own insurance agency.  Robin said the deciding factor for the career change was her son Caleb, who was only one year old at the time. “The car business involves a lot of hours and at that time I missed out on a lot of his life,” she said.

Robin determined that she wanted to be more involved in Caleb’s life and decided that owning her own agency would allow her to do that, she said. In 2006 Robin became appointed as an Erie Insurance Agent and started her own business later that year.

Robin said she is glad she made the decision to own her own agency.  “At the time my husband Anthony and I decided we were going to run [the agency] together as a family business,” she said. Unfortunately, Anthony passed away four months after opening the agency. “At one point I thought I was going to close,” Robin said.

But the thought of her son Caleb kept her motivated. “I knew in the long run I had to keep on with my agency and try to learn how to be a single parent,” she said.  Robin also said that keeping busy with the business helped her overcome the difficulty of losing her husband.

It took some hard work and trying times, but Robin was able to build her agency from scratch.

“I built my book of business from the ground up,” she said. “I had to go out and get those customers.”

Robin did her own marketing and convinced her friends and family to switch insurance providers. “I’ve always worked in customer-service related jobs, so it’s kind of my niche,” she said. Robin holds licensing in Property and Casualty and Life insurance.

Now remarried, Robin envisions her son eventually taking over the family business after he graduates from college.

Alawat Insurance is located at 3205 Grand Central Avenue, Vienna, West Virginia. For more information, call (304) 865-2434.

By Pat Lawrence

Patty Hager was a nurse, a teacher, and for seventeen years, a single mom struggling to take care of her family. Life was complicated and often difficult.

Today, she is the Wisteria Lady, proprietress of a charming country boutique, surrounded by the quilts and candles, flowers and furnishings she loves in a place that has become far more than her home. Life is still complicated, and often, still difficult. But, Patty has a place that is uniquely her own, one that gladdens more hearts than her own.

September will mark her twelfth year in the decorative business of what she calls “country good stuff!”. How she got there still surprises her.

Although she had intended to pursue a degree in art and hoped to teach it, Patty says, “I was divorced, had two children, 3 and 7, and needed a way to support my children.” She put herself through nursing school in 1977. “We moved in with my parents in Richmond, VA. I was so grateful to them!”

By 1985, she was able to try school again. “We moved to Fairmont, to a three room house that had been my grandparents’. The house had electricity, but no running water, no indoor plumbing. My Dad built us an outhouse – with wall to wall carpeting. It was one of the best times in our lives!” In May of 1990, she graduated from Fairmont State with a teaching degree. “I worked that summer as a nurse to raise the money to move to Hurricane.” But, full time teaching jobs were hard to come by. She did substitute teaching as often as it was offered, “They would call at 5am that morning and I’d jump up and go.” She augmented her income with part time nursing. In 1992, Patty married again. She kept teaching, when the calls came, until 1994.

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By Pat Lawrence

Shari Brown and Billie McClelland didn’t like how they were doing business when they worked for someone else. So, they went into business themselves. Shari says, “We wanted to have a company that treated its employees differently and treated customers differently.” The company they built is Polymer Services of Ohio.

The two former stay-at-home moms might seem like unlikely entrepreneurs. Shari is from Marietta. Her father worked in polymers and she remembers going to work with him on career days. She worked at a construction warehouse before marrying and staying home to raise her daughter. Billie is from Athens County and stayed home to raise her children until 1991. The two met when they took a job with the same company.

They learned the business on the job, Billie worked mostly in the plant, Shari handled the office and talked with customers.

Most unhappy employees just move on. Shari and Billie just wanted to do things right. They contacted the Small Business development Center for help. They needed to prepare a three year business plan. Shari quit her job to begin the research. She says, “It took a year and a half to prepare.” Billie kept working, helping when and where she could. She says, “The business plan had to cover everything – how much money we would need, how much we would spend, how much we would take in, garbage pickup, advertising, insurance – everything!”

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By Pat Lawrence

Every window offers a frame of reference for interior designer Stephanie Diehl, owner of Room with a View. The Charleston native moved to Teays Valley three years ago and in 2005, began designing window treatments for clients from her home. Clients liked what they saw through her eyes, in their homes and offices. In 2006, Stephanie opened a shop in Hurricane’s downtown historic district. Stephanie says, “It’s nice to have a show room where people can see things for themselves. Plus, we needed space for all the fabrics, books and samples we use!”

Stephanie knew in high school that interior design was her field and it was her major at WVU and later, University of Charleston. She married and had children, and worked in her husband’s family business for a while. “But, when my youngest hit kindergarten, I thought ‘The timing is right.’” She started Room with a View LLC in my living room.”
Now she works “full time and then some-more hours than I would like!” She works with residential and commercial clients, choosing blinds, shutters, curtains, fabrics, window trim and drapery hardware.

“Plantation shutters and blinds are our biggest sellers. We do the installation at no charge and are glad to provide complimentary temporary window coverings for new homeowners, if they need it.” The showroom is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10-5, but she also spends time on appointments after hours.

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By Pat Lawrence

Gail Hutchinson always had clever fingers and an eye for color. Needlepoint and crocheting were customary pastimes, and painting was an important part of her life. But, on vacation in 1985, she visited Cherokee Village and “watched the Indian ladies weave. It was fascinating.” When she came home, she sat down with a friend who was making baskets. “I thought maybe I could support my painting habit by making a few baskets! I couldn’t even finish one that day.”

But, she didn’t give it up. “I bought instructions, and taught myself.” She took her first basket weaving class in 1990, but by then, she was already selling baskets and teaching the craft herself. She began showing her work at local arts and crafts shows, first at the Rhododendron on the Capital Complex grounds, then at Mountain State in Ripley and Jackson’s Mill. By 1994, she was designing her own patterns and by 1995, she was on the road, traveling across the Mid Atlantic and Eastern Coast, selling her basket designs, rather than baskets and teaching other basket weavers her techniques.

“I had attended a weaving conference, and took the opportunity to propose to teach at the following year’s conference. They accepted.” Gail began submitting proposals to teach at conferences all over. “You an choose which events you want to propose a class to. At first, I chose everything! In the beginning, I’d make about 300 baskets for a show. I’d make them in the kitchen and stack them in the living room from floor to ceiling-and we have a small house!”

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By Pat Lawrence

Angelita Nixon is a health professional that still makes makes house calls. A mid wife and well-woman health care provider, Anglelita often provides her services in the comfort and privacy of her patient’s own home. “My pregnant clients all want to deliver at home. And, for many women, time, location or arranging for child care makes a clinic visit so problematic, they don’t go.”

Originally from Indiana, Angelita got a bachelors degree in psychology and intended to go to medical school, but when a friend chose a midwife over a traditional hospital delivery, she was intrigued. “Of course, when she told me midwifery was still considered illegal in some places, it piqued my interest even more. I decided that was for me!” With a master’s degree in nursing from Case Western Reserve University, and certified by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), Angeltia is licensed to practice in both Ohio and West Virginia.

She says. “Birth is a normal process, and a healthy event. Pregnancy is an exciting time, for learning and for change. My role is to teach and to serve, and to safeguard the health of both mother and child.”

Though she came to West Virginia specifically for a position as a midwife with the Birth Center in Scott Dept, after five years her interest in home birth delivery led to opening her own practice. She has participated in over 400 births, over 80 of them outside the hospital. Her first solo birth was in December of 2003. In 2004, she had thirteen, in 2005, 21. This year she has already participated in nineteen home births and is anticipating eight more.

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By Pat Lawrence

Decades of research has confirmed young children benefit from early education experiences in a caring environment. As teachers, Sara Dean and Sara Steortz had seen the positive impact of that exposure on a child’s later success in school and life. Long before they met, both had dreamed of a prekindergarten program that was really a school, not just daily baby sitting.

Sara Steortz had been teaching kindergarten in Kanawha and Putnam County for twelve years when she stopped by the house her contractor husband was building and met Sara Dean. The two Sara’s became friends and found they shared much more than a name. Sara Dean was teaching Early Growth and Human Development part time, at Marshall University. With a degree in elementary education and a Master’s in Learning Disability, she had taught high school as well as K-3rd grade in Cabell County, but had left full time teaching to raise her children.

Sara Steortz says, “We were just talking one day and I mentioned I’d always intended to run my own day care center. Sara was so surprised; she’d been thinking about the same thing for years.”

It took no time at all for the two to decide to pursue their dream together. But it took two years to complete their plans, formalize the curriculum, and make all the decisions about the building and furnishings for Stepping Stones Academy.

Sara Steortz says, “We started talking in 2004. We both have two kids, so we’d meet two or three times a week to discuss

things. I quit my job, forfeited my insurance and my retirement, and we just did it!”

Hurricane’s newest prekindergarten opened in August with 3500 square feet, three classrooms and thirty registrants.

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