MBA Board of Directors
Small business owners are feeling embattled and adrift in these difficult days, observes Nick Lehr, assistant director of the Moorhead Business Association. “Sometimes it feels like you’re totally alone. You’re facing challenges you’ve never seen before. You need information, support … and sometimes just someone to talk to.”
That’s where the MBA comes in. For many of the 244 Moorhead businesses who belong, from one-person shops to larger, long-established firms, the 10-year-old organization offers a chance to promote their services, get answers to thorny questions, and simply celebrate being part of a community that has come together to make their shared future brighter.
Since the pandemic reached Moorhead in March, Nick and his boss, executive director Sheri Larson, have been helping members rise to their challenges during the most unprecedented days in anyone’s experience. The two outgoing, dynamic advocates spend their working hours as the voice of Moorhead businesses.
Sometimes that voice celebrates achievements. Sometimes it offers education and links local entrepreneurs to their representatives in the public sector. And at other times, like right now, it’s bringing answers to individuals in a time they need it most.
“We’re doing referrals all the time,” says Sheri, who became the full-time director in April 2018. “We try to bring businesses together for their mutual benefit.” She cites the water damage restoration company Pro Solutions, whom she introduced to another member that provides systems that can provide early warning of future leaks, Signature Home Technology; or Next Generation Gaming, a purveyor of pull tabs, that’s getting connected to the MBA-sponsored Moorhead Alliance of Nonprofits.
The roadblocks and relief programs linked to Covid-19 have kept the two MBA staffers running. In addition to regular contacts with their board of directors and members, they have played an active role in helping businesses take advantage of opportunities and understand the changing regulations instituted by the state of Minnesota.
When the city’s Moorhead CARES program offered relief grants in August and September, the MBA played an active part in getting the word out to its members. Those with fewer than 20 employees were eligible for $10,000 grants. Sole proprietorships could receive $3,500 to help weather the crisis, and nonprofits could also apply for relief. “Some of our members are down to one-man shows, given what’s going on, and hadn’t had time to read about it,” says Nick, who joined the staff in April.
“Those grants were literally life-changing for some of our members. I talked to several people in tears. They made the difference between one guy hanging on and being able to keep staff and pay bills.” He and Sheri note that with federal relief funds drying up at the end of the year, members and all residents need to contact their congressional delegation to urge continued relief.
The city program, funded by the state of Minnesota, eventually disbursed 193 grants: 17 to nonprofits, 42 to sole proprietorships, 48 to women-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses, and 86 to other businesses with fewer than 20 employees, for a total of about $1.7 million. Larger businesses and care facilities later could apply for similar grants through Clay County. The MBA also shared information on the US SBA Paycheck Protection Program.
As restaurants and bars have faced changing limitations and closures, the tech-savvy MBA team has turned to social media for relentless promotion of changing hours, specials, take-out and deliveries, always with the message to residents to do their part to help save Moorhead’s hospitality sector. “Keep It Local” signs will soon be going out to other businesses as well.
The two are working on an MBA Holiday Guide – a program in which MBA members can promote special offers over coming weeks. “We’re especially big on gift cards,” Sheri points out, both for take-out meals and for merchandise and services from other companies.
Another development: the Support Moorhead Passport. “It’s going to be open to any business in Moorhead, including those who aren’t members – yet,” Sheri explains. For more information on either program, potential participants may email nick@mhdmba.org.
“When you join MBA, you are getting Nick and Sheri on your side,” she says. “Whatever you need to get plugged into … whatever research you need to get things done here in Moorhead … we’re here for you. We can save you a lot of time and research.” That can take some unexpected twists, from locating reflective vests for a charity run to helping a restaurant upgrade its website. It’s all in a day’s work, Sheri asserts: “If you need answers, we’ll find them.”
She adds, “We’re not here to take our members’ money. We want to help you grow – to bring people together. You can feel the energy in Moorhead right now. If we’re facing difficult times, bringing the community together is really the key.”
2021 officers named
James Hand has been elected president of the MBA for 2021. Other officers include Cassie Temple, vice president; Brady Helmer, secretary; Amber Solum, treasurer; and board members Scott Gulke, Randy Farwell, Cindy Cole Softing, Mark Lundberg, Jim Steen, Bruce Johnson, Chad Johnson, and Kim Schlotfeld.
– Nancy Edmonds Hanson