Signs of local business success in Lake County
Local business owner Randy Rice first approached the Small Business Development and International Trade Center (SBDC/ITC) at College of Lake County (CLC) to get advice on buying a franchise.
Since the SBDC/ITC was such a helpful resource when he wanted to grow his sign business, Rice also reached out for resources to stay afloat during the pandemic.
Prior to COVID-19, the SBDC/ITC helped Rice by answering questions about things like forming a legal entity, the best approaches to marketing, financial management and more. However, since the pandemic, the SBDC/ITC has focused on helping small businesses with disaster funding. Rice applied for and received assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Lake County Small Business Assistance grant.
"On Oct. 23 I received a check from the Lake County Board to help my business recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 emergency," Rice said. "This Business Assistance Grant is absolutely critical to keeping our doors open so we can serve our community during the pandemic. Thank you, SBDC/ITC, for your support and encouragement during this tough time."
The SBDC/ITC has also benefitted from recent COVID-19 assistance opportunities. Using funding from the CARES Act, the center provides the Lake County business community with no cost advising and training on a wide variety of topics designed to assist in recovery from interruptions caused by COVID-19 and, beyond that, to growth opportunities. The center also provides small businesses with digital platforms to enable increased connectivity to local success resources and access to employee training and development programs.
The center's assistance goes beyond business-oriented programs. Even more meaningful to Rice were the consistent check-ins by SBDC/ITC staff to see how things were going. They offered encouragement and passed along additional opportunities to grow his business. Rice is involved with the combined Green Oaks, Libertyville, Mundelein, Vernon Hills Chamber of Commerce, the Waukegan Chamber of Commerce and Business Networking International.
The SBDC/ITC salutes Rice's entrepreneurial spirit and drive to succeed and are honored to include him among the many businesses they can help. Rice credits his mother, Shirley, for the inspiration to start his own business: Surely Signs. He remembers tagging along with her as a kid while she created works of art by hand as a sign painter.
Today, Rice makes signs using technology, creating traditional interior and exterior signage, window graphics, vehicle wraps, trade show displays, banners, yard signs, stickers and more.