How we are doing it on our Main Street
For the last few months all eyes have been on the government bail out of Wall Street and Main Street. Yet, as we are proving in Menomonee Falls, we can rescue ourselves.
John Harbor’s Main Street Coffee House (http://www.johnharbors.com) started like many small businesses, severely undercapitalized. In light of hard economic times the owners, Jeremy & Erin Kuhlenbeck, found themselves running out of options. In spite of the situation, they knew that fundamentally they had a good business doing much for the community.
As I worked with Jeremy to come up with a solution, we stumbled on it by accident. Purely out of desperation, we discovered that we needed the community to become co-owners in the business.
By Saturday afternoon, we knew that we were quickly running out of time. We crammed through the night to put together a special event where we would ask for the neighborhood to become involved. The next morning we were told that area churches heard about our need and were now praying for John Harbor’s Coffee House.
By late afternoon, people started coming. Many came out to give words of encouragement and insight. Many also contributed money or enquired about becoming part owners. J.P. Fernandes, a business lawyer, volunteered his services to draft the necessary documents, and soon we reached the critical mass necessary to move forward.
John Harbor’s is improving the financial situation by bringing in additional owners. More importantly, John Harbor’s now has a ready pool of people who will work to build up the business without drawing salaries, because they now have an equity stake in the business. As a result, John Harbor’s will be better positioned to serve the community through special events, and continue to be the gathering place that everyone has come to love.
It is time for Main Street to rethink itself in terms of once again being owners of our own businesses. Rather than working as hirelings in the businesses owned by our own 401k plans, we can work together for business equity. It is time to stop looking to government, Wall Street and the banks for answers. Instead it is time to work hard to create value for everyone by working together. That is what is happening at John Harbor’s Main Street Coffee House, and while it is too early to tell if we will succeed, now we hold our destiny in our hands.
If a business like John Harbor’s can go from being forced to shut down, to having a fighting chance in less than 48 hours, your business may be able to do the same. If you cannot get a job right now, work with your neighbors to create value, and work together to build equity in your common business. It is hard work, but it is worth it.
— This article is written by Oleg Tumarkin, a business professor at Concordia and Lakeland Universities and now a part owner of John Harbor’s Main Street Coffee Shop. To read about the continued development of the story see my blog at http://www.e-m8.org
