At just 19 years old, Chloe Genske has already celebrated one year of owning the coffee shop where she used to be an employee during high school.

When the owner of The Daily Drip in Shawano decided to sell the business, Chloe jumped at the chance to own her own business.  

“I couldn't stop thinking about it,” said Chloe. “I was 18, fresh out of high school, it was a scary thought, and it was a big risk, but risks are worth taking. I had always wanted to be a business owner. I just didn't know what that would look like for me.”

That all changed when Chloe started working with the Community Education Initiative, Inc. (CEI) “Business Startup in Rural Wisconsin” program.

During weekly mentoring sessions with CEI, Chloe learned the ins and outs of business planning and more. Mentoring covered topics such as these:

• Hiring an employee and identifying tasks the employee can cover to help free up time for business matters owners need to address.
• Developing standard policies and procedures for employees.
• Establishing consulting arrangements with an accountant and a financial advisor.
• Reinvesting in the business and herself.

“My experience working with CEI has been phenomenal,” said Chloe. “CEI encourages me to think beyond my original thought. I throw ideas and concerns out and CEI comes back with solid advice and resources. CEI works with my crazy timeline, and as a small business owner that is a wonderful thing. It has been nothing but helpful.”

CEI is looking ahead to potentially working with more businesses in the other counties the project serves, which are Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Florence, Forest, Jackson, Juneau, Langlade, Lincoln, Menominee, Oneida, Polk, Shawano, Sawyer, and Vilas counties.

Businesses can work with CEI in one of these many varied areas that mentors cover:  

• Development of business concept and mission.
• Feasibility studies.
• Refinement of service or product to identify a unique market niche to answer unmeant needs in the market.
• Development of a comprehensive business marketing plan including the use of traditional and digital marketing.
• Identification of business financial needs and development of a 3-year comprehensive business financial plan (personal financial statement, profit and loss projections, etc.).
• Assistance identifying business funding opportunities such as traditional business loans, regional loan funds, and regional grant opportunities.
• Identification of physical business location and/or development of online presence.
• Identification of employment needs and assistance hiring if applicable and launch and opening of business.

USDA Rural Development invested in the CEI project through the Rural Business Development Grants program.

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