Getting people working again – for themselves

GETTING STARTED: Bernie Lane, owner of It Starts Here Fitness in Warwick, speaks with Arianna Pafume. After spending 28 years in sales, Lane spent a year unemployed before starting his own business. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
GETTING STARTED: Bernie Lane, owner of It Starts Here Fitness in Warwick, speaks with Arianna Pafume. After spending 28 years in sales, Lane spent a year unemployed before starting his own business. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

When finding a job is difficult – or seems nearly impossible – one option is to hire yourself by starting a business.
The operators of four new businesses resulting from Rhode Island’s Self-Employment Assistance Program did just that. The program is intended to put unemployed state residents back to work by the power of their own experience, skill, talent, vision and entrepreneurial legwork.
After being on the books – but sitting on the shelf – since the mid-1990s, the program was revived in March 2013 with a $159,700 federal grant to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training.
The first group began the 10-week business-plan development and mentoring program in August 2013. The sixth group of unemployed, would-be entrepreneurs is currently in the program.
So far, the program has produced 48 graduates with a viable business plan, including the four new Rhode Island business owners, said Connie Parks, DLT’s chief of labor and training operations.
“It’s a very large commitment with layers of interviewing to make sure they’re serious about it,” said Parks. “We start with a ‘Reality Check’ session at one of the NetworkRI offices that’s an overview of the program. Then they meet one-on-one with a counselor and we look for a viable business idea.”
So far, 57 people have been accepted into the program. Nine withdrew and decided to look for work instead.
It’s not a program for those with a vague, “I’d like to be my own boss” or “one day I’ll open my own business” outlook. It’s an intensive program with a specific goal – developing a business plan that leads to launching a business.
“Some of the feedback we’ve had so far from the folks in the program is how shocked they were at how much time and effort it takes to produce a business plan,” said Parks. “But in the end, you can take it to the bank.”
Bernie Lane went to the bank, not for a business loan but to take some of his 401(k) and home-equity money to launch It Starts Here Fitness in Warwick on Feb. 3.
Unemployed for about a year, after 28 years in sales, including work with Metropolitan Life and a payroll company, as well as extensive experience managing restaurants, Lane took a hard look at his options and, although employers wouldn’t say it directly, he figured, “I was 66 years old. Nobody’s going to hire a 66-year-old.” Lane’s 32-year-old son, Brad Lane, a coach and personal trainer, who had been working in sales for a medical-equipment company, was also unemployed at the time.
They decided to take a shot at opening a fitness center together.
While the father qualified for the Self-Employment Assistance Program, the son did not, so they shared training information. DLT provides the training through the Center for Women & Enterprise in Providence. “This program really opened my eyes to different things,” said the elder Lane. “The details about budgeting and marketing were very helpful. We did a feasibility study with demographics and competition and location and that was really important.”
Lane, now 67, laughs at the fitness part – that’s for his son. The father’s role is in administration and his workout is mostly manning the front desk.
The business plan put the target market in focus.
“Since Brad works with students in high school, an important part of our market is athletes,” said Lane. “Then we have other people who just want to work out and stay in shape.”
So far, the marketing plan is proving accurate – the fitness center has 23 clients, with walk-ins stopping by on a regular basis.
“My goal is to present a healthy lifestyle and work with clients on sports conditioning, losing weight or staying toned,” said Brad Lane, who begins with one-on-one or small group training and when the client reaches a desired fitness level, has them work out on their own, if they choose to, with a membership at the fitness center.
“It’s a fun atmosphere and the point is to make our clients self-sufficient so they don’t have to rely on a trainer,” he said. The fitness center opens at 6 a.m. Monday through Saturday and closes at 8 p.m. weekdays and 2 p.m. on Saturday. “I always had the goal of opening my own business, but before this, circumstances didn’t allow it to happen,” said Bernie Lane. “When my sons were younger, I thought I’d open a restaurant. Now the opportunity came up to start a business with Brad. He had the expertise as a personal trainer and the certifications.”
Some participants in the Self-Employment Assistance Program have businesses that can start off with $10,000 or $20,000 and some have more expansive plans that require bigger investments. The latter are referred to the Small Business Administration or other funding sources, said Carmen Diaz-Jusino, senior program manager for the Center for Women & Enterprise, who is leading the training program for DLT.
One of the program graduates is taking necessary courses to open a property-management business later this spring, said Parks.
Program graduate Alfred Renaud of Lincoln is seasoned in his specialty. After 23 years in the cleaning business, some of those in his own company, a medical concern pushed him into establishing Green Pro Services, a cleaning service, initially focusing on medical facilities, utilizing eco-friendly products.
Renaud had six clients before he finished the DLT program March 13.
“I never smoked, so the doctor thinks the spot on my lung may be from the harsh cleaning chemicals,” said Renaud. “Now I’m green-certified and I’m using green products that are healthy for the people who clean and my clients and their clients.”
Mike Keup of Douglas, Mass., near Smithfield, worked as a sales manager for Coca-Cola in Providence for 24 years. After he was laid-off in a major corporate downsizing, he was accepted into the Self-Employment Assistance Program.
He’s launched his CASTnTRACKS fishing-and-hunting guide service after becoming a registered guide in Maine, where he has a house on a lake, and getting a commercial boating license.
“I’ve already got four fishing trips booked, beginning in May,” said Keup, who will lead trips throughout New England. “Now … I’m in the tourism and recreation business.” •

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