unleashing
national impact
igniting local
transformation
The 2016 and 2018 grape harvests in Washington were massive, the largest in the history of the state, and other grape-growing regions saw similar increases. The pressure to find additional markets was intense. When COVID hit in 2020, sales of wine at restaurants, tasting rooms, wine bars, or nightclubs plummeted. That's when the Washington SBDC submitted a successful SBA Portable Assistance Program grant application to introduce adult beverage producers in Washington—breweries, cideries, wineries, and distilleries—to foreign buyers through virtual trade missions.
When SBDC advisor Allan Peterson first started meeting with Ryan Hill and Brandon Rice of Milbrandt Wines in 2016, one of the items on their massive to-do list was to increase their potential customer base by exporting wine overseas. One strategy, which they tested in Amsterdam, was to send a shipment of bulk wine to an in-country processing facility where the wine would be bottled and labeled according to the specifications of the foreign buyer. Another strategy, they discussed with Peterson and his then-colleague Vern Jenkins was to raise the profile of Washington wines to increase the export market for the growing number of their own labels.
"I do believe the investment was worth it. We were very well received and it looks like the potential is very high."
In 2021, Jerry Milbrandt and Brandon Rice became co-owners of RM Wineries, managing and distributing more than a dozen premium labels, including Alki, Caliche, Rhody and Slope. RM Wineries participated in the SBDC-sponsored virtual trade missions to Mexico and Hong Kong.
Then, once travel opened up again, they participated in an outbound trade mission to Taiwan and Hong Kong in April of 2023. RM Wineries introduced different product brands to various Asian experts, including alcohol beverage buyers, social media influencers, magazine publishers, and an industry association. The mission included business-to-business meetings, in-country market visits, a briefing with the US-Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Hong Kong, and a networking event.
In late 2024, RM Wineries, with the help of a consultant they met through the SBDC, opened a tasting room in Busan, a large port on the southwest coast of Korea. Information gathered during the outbound trade mission and in subsequent discussions resulted in the strategic decision to open a RM-branded tasting room in the country's second largest city to promote wines from Washington state. At the RM Wineries tasting room, people in the alcoholic beverage industry can learn more about Washington wines and even create their own private labels based on a blend of offerings from RM Wineries that best meet the tastes or preferences of their own target market.
Trang Nguyen, owner of Taste To Go Bahn Mi at the Great Wall Shopping Mall in Kent, was surprised earlier this year when Phon Sivongxay, the SBDC business advisor at Highline College StartZone, walked into her Vietnamese sandwich shop, handed over her business card and asked how she was doing.
Trang opened her shop in January 2020, just weeks before Washington Gov. Jay Inslee ordered all non-essential businesses to close because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She'd kept the business going through grit and perseverance, but no one had ever asked how she was doing or if she needed help.
Suddenly, in 2024, there was Phon, explaining that the Washington State Department of Commerce was offering low-interest loans that became grants to small businesses still impacted by the pandemic. Sivongxay said applicants needed to work through organizations that Commerce has identified as Small Business Resiliency Network partners, but it seemed that Trang was a good fit for the loan.
That first meeting was on April 8, and the deadline for applications was April 15. There was a lot to do, not the least of which was registering for a UEI (unique entity identifier) with the federal government and getting an EIN letter (employer identification number) from the IRS. They also needed to compile a binder's worth of financial documents, which they did.
It was a lot of work to do in just a few days, but Trang got it done with Phon at her side every step of the way. So, it was a crushing blow when the organization she had applied to turned her down. "Don't give up," Phon said, "we'll try again."
"I truly appreciate your hard work in helping us, a woman-owned small business, to keep our heads above the water."
During the next application period, Phon researched other non-profit organizations that might be a better fit to support Trang's application. After multiple phone calls and discussions with different resource partners, Trang submitted her materials to the Federal Way Black Collective, which approved her application and forwarded it to the Washington Department of Commerce, and she got her loan for $15,000.
"I never got any aid from the government until I met Phon," Trang said, but the funding she got with Phon's assistance has made a big difference for her business. Trang was able to use the additional funding to improve her cash flow management and purchase new kitchen equipment. Trang credits Phon with helping her step-by-step throughout the process and keeping in touch with her until the day she received the funding. "I truly appreciate your hard work in helping us, a woman-owned small business, to keep our heads above the water." Trang wrote in a note of appreciation.
When Shannon Grover and her husband moved to Lakewood, Wash., adjacent to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in 2017, they knew it would be her husband's final duty station before his retirement in 2020. Fortunately, it was only an hour from where Shannon had grown up, so it felt like coming home. After 20+ years of being a military family, Shannon knew she wanted to put down roots in the community and help build that community. The only problem? Lakewood had no independent bookstore, and in Shannon's opinion, bookstores are at the heart of community. "I missed being able to go to a nearby independent bookstore," she said, "and I realized that I could keep missing it, or I could open one."
As Shannon explained to SBDC advisor Ann Zimmerman, "I am familiar and comfortable with hard work, finding balance and wearing many hats. I am adaptable, I am hardworking, and I am a lifelong learner." One thing she wasn't was an experienced small business owner, and she had certainly never considered all the steps to owning an independent bookstore. Thankfully, she could turn to her SBDC advisor to talk through myriad issues.
"She kept me sane," Shannon said about her work with Ann. "I cannot begin to properly articulate how much she did to help me get started."
"She [my SBDC advisor] kept me sane. I cannot begin to properly articulate how much she did to help me get started."
Shannon said she talked with Ann about everything from financial projections and inventory to cash flow management and tenant improvements. "She brought a language and words I didn't have, and also a cool head." Shannon said her husband was always affirming and positive about what she was doing, which was greatly appreciated. Still, she also needed a knowledgeable and neutral third party who would be a reality check for blue-sky thinking and help her keep moving forward.
Shannon opened the door on The Lakewood Bookstore of Feb. 29, 2024. "It really was a leap of faith," Shannon said. From the beginning, she intended to create a bookstore that reflected her community and offered a place for her community to connect. Along with the more than 10,000 new and used titles lining the shelves of her 1,647 sq ft bookstore, she made space on the second floor of her store for people to gather and relax. It's a quiet place to study, play board games, have a book club meeting, or settle in with a good book on a rainy afternoon. "It's a third space," said Grover. "It's a place for people to gather that is away from work or home, where people can connect and build community." Which is exactly what they are doing. Shannon said her customers often tell her how happy they are that her shop is part of their community.