On today’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Matt Baxter, a VIP member of SBAM and the CEO of video interviewing platform Wedge, a more efficient and effective way of evaluating job candidates. “We are a one way video interviewing tool with a preset of pre-recorded questions that candidates respond to,” Baxter says. “They'll respond to those oftentimes in the earliest stages of the hiring process. A lot of times it’s used as a phone screen replacement, or sort of a preliminary interview replacement. So we sell that software to companies around the world, but really heavy, heavy focus on the U.S. and we love our Michigan clients as well.”

The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.

Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own. 

Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!

(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)

On today’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Lisa Cooper, Chief People Officer for the Cooper People Group. “As we came out of the pandemic, we saw organizations really understand the value of HR,” she says. “HR sort of led the charge during the pandemic, in terms of culture, communication, health and safety, COBRA and unemployment, and all the things that many of us have dealt with. We really leveraged ourselves as strategic partners within the business units that we have the pleasure of serving, and for organizations that are perhaps too small to have their own dedicated HR resource.”

The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.

Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own. 

Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!

(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)

On today’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with John Patry, an Elite member of the Small Business Association of Michigan and the CEO and owner of Team UIS in Dexter. “What we do is keep power controls safe, reliable and compliant for places where downtime is not an option,” he says. “Those places are hospitals, data centers, water and wastewater plants, big commercial buildings like the Renaissance building in downtown Detroit, big shopping malls or universities and stuff like that all over Michigan and Ohio.”

The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.

Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own. 

Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!

(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)

On today’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Elite SBAM Member Sonja Skerbeck, owner of Holland-based Skerbeck Entertainment Group. With over 160 years of experience in America and Europe, this family-owned firm was awarded the prestigious Circle of Excellence by the Outdoor Amusement Business Association and provides a wide range of entertainment services, event planning and marketing.

The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.

Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own. 

Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!

(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)

On today’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Jim Mitte, president of Turtlehut Internet Marketing in Brighton. “We focus really on that small business, one to $5 million company,” he says. “They got to some spot they're at and don't really understand the best places to spend their dollars effectively to generate the leads they need to grow. We've made major inroads into our franchise system. We built out a web platform that helps franchise owners deliver a consistent message and consistent leads for service-based franchisees.” 

The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.

Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own. 

Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!

(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)

On today’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Elite SBAM member Heather Isch, CEO and President of LKF Marketing in Kalamazoo. One of the things this 35-year-old company does for its customers is help them make sense of a confusing world of social media marketing. “We’ve been working with our clients in the social media realm for quite some time and I think what we do at the beginning is sit down with them and figure out what their goals and objectives are, who they’re trying to reach, and then we make a determination of what platforms we’re going to use and what the messaging should be on those platforms,” she says.

The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.

Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own. 

Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!

(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)

On today’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with SBAM Elite Member Dave Rosenberg, owner of Asphalt Sealcoating Services LLC, serving the Bay Midland Saginaw County areas. “The way I always put it is if there’s two stores next to each other that sell the same thing, one has a cracked parking lot, they don’t take care of the building, the other one has a beautiful parking lot, the building’s taken care of, you’re probably going to go that business instead, right?” he says.

The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.

Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own. 

Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!

(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)

On today’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Sara Moylan, founder of a great Michigan small business success story: SHEFIT, based in Hudsonville. “I believe some of the best products are born out of one's desire to solve a problem and that was me,” she says. “I never had any intention of starting a company, I was just a frustrated fed up consumer who decided to take matters into her own hands, because every sports bra I wore was not doing what I needed. And that's really how SHEFIT was born. It was really truly born out of a desire to change what wasn't working.”

The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.

Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own. 

Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!

(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)

On today’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Blake Ratcliffe, the principal and founder of contract furniture company TMC, also known as The Makers Creative. “Being a small company that we started at at our kitchen table and in Ann Arbor, and then working on the back of our suppliers to get rolling to bootstrap, we really had to be good at spotting trends,” Ratcliffe says. 

The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.

Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own. 

Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!

(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)

On today’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Kristine Kletke, president of PMSI Marketing Group, celebrating 25 years of business in 2024. “We wear so many hats as entrepreneurs and the way that we're doing business, depending on your thought process, marketing can take a kind of a backseat to some of the other things that we're doing,” she says. “So I think that one of the things that small businesses don't realize is that there are a lot of opportunities out there and the people who can help them aren't as expensive as you think.”

The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We’re located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol.

Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own. 

Our 32,000 members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it!

(music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)