Local success stories may help brighten the mood

Louisa Castellanos, creator of Pock-it Palz

Even for contrarians who relish a bit of bleak news, 2009 has been quite the biz-beat downer.

Yes, the stock markets regained a pulse and the recession was declared finis, but we’ve basically been dominated by doom-and-gloom reports about jobs, real estate, corporate bankruptcy and financial malaise.

With little more than two weeks left in our year of discontent, you might want to start planning how you’ll report the hoped-for recovery of 2010. Setting up some proactive standing “success stories” features, executive interviews, maybe even a long-range multi-media study of an area business or three will give your reporting consistency, immediacy and continuity that will draw readers back for the next installment.

The usual statistics will abound as the quarters cycle round and round. But as you know, telling the story through the nitty-gritty details of real companies and real people is the best way to grip your audience.

Small business has been in the news lately, with President Obama promising just last week to come up with tax credits and other support for the nation’s small employers.

Are the vaguely outlined plans what independent businesses need to survive, thrive and continue to create jobs?

Consider a roundtable or Q&A feature – maybe even more than one, and multimedia at that – in which you allow local CEOs to relate how they’ve made it this far and what sort of help they need to continue. You might even set up a sort of Feedback Panel for 2010 of go-to entrepreneurs who can evaluate government proposals, describe the actual execution and sound off about red tape.

One great way to locate start-up firms, visionary entrepreneurs and workers enjoying solid white-collar, tech and manufacturing jobs is by following them right from the cradle.

Many local economic development groups, chambers of commerce and other support organizations have set up “business incubators” – complexes that smooth the way through various financial and logistical efforts – for young businesses. Some fail, some flourish: I heard today about a Midwestern nanotech firm that started a couple of years ago with one person and now generates $75 million a year in sales, bringing well-paid white collar and manufacturing jobs to an area that had lost several old-style electronics plants in recent years.

The National Business Incubation Association is an international clearinghouse for information on these initiatives; its site also includes a searchable database for finding incubators in your region, and links to state associations.

They’re often near or within university campuses, to leverage research and workforce availability, but not always. Getting to know the incubator directors can give you entre?e to start-ups that could well become your area’s economic recovery poster-children and its flagship employers in future years.

Similar sources include the federal Small Business Administration’s www.sba.gov Small Business Development Centers and Women’s Business Centers. While their aim and scope is somewhat different from that of incubators, they still can direct you to entrepreneurs who have managed to gain a toehold despite tough economic times.

Photo at the top is of Louisa Castellanos who created Pock-it Palz. She is posing at a Whole Foods store where she sells the plus pieces of art.