Number of new businesses in Isabella County declining since 2006

The economy’s sudden downturn has left future entrepreneurs in counties statewide eager to take their business ventures elsewhere.

Isabella County is no exception to the trend, with 15 percent fewer business startups registered with the county clerk’s office over the last few years.

In 2009, 532 new business names were registered, down from 631 in 2006. Charles Fitzpatrick, director of Central Michigan University’s LaBelle Entrepreneurial Center, said the ripple effect caused by Michigan’s failed automotive industry has a lot to do with the recent struggles for business owners.

“Startups have been down, yes, and that’s obviously due to the recession,” Fitzpatrick said. “Michigan’s got the highest unemployment rate.”

He said the resources are not available in a lot of instances.

“The pool of money just has not been there for (entrepreneurs) and that, again, is tied to the economy,” Fitzpatrick said.

Ideas into reality

Though some resources are dwindling for those looking to open a local business, there are plenty of success stories for new entrepreneurs to consider.

For Mount Pleasant Mayor Jim Holton, a 1995 CMU alumnus, starting his first business was just an idea.

“I was scared as heck starting my business,” Holton said of downtown’s Mountain Town Station, 506 W. Broadway St., which he opened more than 13 years ago.

Debbie Huyett, owner of D. Huyett Photography, 629 S. Franklin St., said Mount Pleasant is a good atmosphere for her business.

In addition to running her photography studio, Huyett is a full-time teacher at Oasis High School. She graduated from CMU with a teaching degree in art and history, and had no experience running a business until she opened her own.

“I’ve been taking pictures since I was a child,” she said. “I really like digital photography. It took me a few years to get into it.”

Huyett said she first turned her hobby into a business as a way to help her students get their senior photos done. She is pleased with what D. Huyett Photography has become.

“For what I want it to be, it’s successful,” she said.

Building blocks

Holton considers Mount Pleasant “a great place to start a business,” but wishes some of the resources available for graduates today were available when he first opened Mountain Town, namely CMU’s LaBelle Entrepreneurial Center and other area business development agencies.

He said CMU’s Center for Applied Research and Technology helps people find the resources to “take care of the business aspect” of starting a business, especially creating a plan and methods of financing.

“They get you rolling so you can go off on your own, because it’s so obviously hard to start a business in this economy,” Holton said.

Though the number of registered business names in Isabella County has been steadily decreasing, Fitzpatrick said the decline might appear to be more drastic that it actually is.

“We’re not going to be seeing any of the corporations or limited liabilities,” he said, “and that’s a huge number.”