Posts Tagged ‘vermont’

Ted and I went to The Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) Advisory Board’s Celebration of Success of Small Business in Northwestern Vermont yesterday morning.  Ted was kindly invited to be the guest speaker and got to tell both his story and the story of USM.

The Story

Following a warm introduction from Janice St. Onge, who was a Peer-to-Peer mentor for USM,  Ted started by sharing the most recent chapter in USM history about how I recently joined the USM Team as Interactive Director. He then jumped back to where his entrepreneurial adventure began with his lemonade stand.  He explained how his mother’s attempted shut down of the stand due to a messy kitchen and underpaid siblings lead to the “incorporation” of Adler Family Enterprises with his father’s help and then his failed attempt at a hostile take over of his siblings shares in Adler Family Enterprises, which was blocked by his father, who also played the role of S.E.C.

After a lot of laughs, Ted discussed how USM evolved from creating sites at college campuses like Middkid.com, to developing web sites for Vermont businesses and then to specializing in websites for REALTORS.  Today, USM Interactive develops custom web sites for businesses & non-profits throughout the country.  USM’s Real Estate team develops innovative website tools and websites for REALTORS in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and most recently Maine.  In planning for the presentation, Ted & I pulled together a group of locally-interesting sites that USM Interactive has developed in the last six months.  The presentation’s show-and-tell included the following clients:

• Vermont Business Roundtable
• The Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation
• Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies
• Shelburne Vineyard
• The Crate Escape
• Green Street
• Bridging the Divide
• Stephen Kiernan
• Stowe Mercantile
• Top Hat Entertainment
• Brian M. Boardman, Burlington Realtor

A Celebration of Success of Small Business in Northwestern Vermont

Ted’s talk was followed by VtSBDC’s Award Presentations.  The winners were…

• Young Entrepreneur – Eric Lavigne and Dana Pontbriand, Vermont Meat & Seafood Market
• Social Responsibility – Janice Shade, Orange Mountain, Inc., dba, True Body Products
• Strategic Growth – Amy Johnston, Massage Envy
• Woman Owned Business – Sue Bette, BlueBird Tavern
• Community Involvement – John Perkins and Jay Kerch,  Phineas Swan Bed & Breakfast

Thank you to Linda Rossi, the VtSBDC Advisory Board and everyone who helped with and attended the celebration.  Over the last 10 years of personally and professionally knowing Ted, I’ve always respected Ted’s dedication to being an entrepreneur.  The morning was a true celebration of entrepreneurial spirit and the business service providers who support us.