Most people do not enjoy waking up early to get to work. Rick Schneider is not one of them. The owner and sole employee of Isanti Spirits, located in Bradford Township, Schneider views every day as another opportunity to do something he loves to do: home brew. (TRW client)

For many, the beginning of a new year can be a time to re-evaluate. For small business managers, finding practical information to help make changes can be challenge. Often business books such as “Good to Great” are written with information that mostly applies to large corporation.

It started with an idea, a dream. For some new business owners, a snag in the planning process can kill the dream of owning one’s own business. And for others, they are able to make the dream a reality through help from programs like the Small Business Development Center.

Alicia Overby, President of Baby Elephant Ears, Inc. based in Cambridge, has been named the Small Business Exporter of the Year for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Minnesota District Office, the upper Midwest Region, and the Nation.

The North Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center (SBDC) recently shared results for 2012 during which it provided business consulting to 415 clients and helped them access over $15 million in business financing. “This is great news for businesses in our region” stated Greg Bergman, North Central SBDC Regional Director, “that is twice as much financing as our clients received in 2011.” In addition, the center assisted in the development of 29 new businesses in 2012.