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.”

Some overflows, streaming onto the floor as blackberry ale is packaged for resale.

Foam fills the head of the bottlenecks as six men sit drinking in a circle, slapping purple labels onto each.

Stories are exchanged and laughs are thrown around with witty — and raunchy — humor is exchanged on each side of the bar and in the back room, where the hop is fermenting.

Welcome to the Mount Pleasant Brewing Company.

“It’s simply not just the poor beer you get at the store, and if people want a quality taste at a good price, this is their new hidden gem,” said Jim Holton, Mount Pleasant mayor and owner of the new brewing company and Mountain Town Station. “Hopefully, one day we will be able to distribute it throughout the state, or maybe we could even be a name throughout the Midwest.”

The brews are already distributed to Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Alpena.

Open for one week, the company has already seen success in individual pint sales. Every bartender spouts the statistics in shock to newcomers. The company wanted to sell 100 pints in their first day of business. They sold 300.

The tap room offers eight different microbrews, all available for taste testing: Gambler’s Golden Ale, Second Wind Wheat, Railyard Razzberry Wheat, Cowcatcher Red Ale, Hobo’s Breath Brown Ale, Coal Stoker’s Blackberry, Steam Engine Stout and Iron Horse IPA, which packs the most alcohol content of any of their beers at 6.6 percent. Customers can even come in to buy a six-pack for $9, with a create-your-own, mix and match motif.

The company has been around for two years, formerly housed in Warehouse No. 3 in the Commerce Center.

“Then we only had a garage door and tanks. It was nothing special, that’s for sure,” said Erik Bliss, MPBC general manager. “This was built fast. … If you’ve ever felt like you need something different, come here. We’re not downtown, instead off of the beaten path. The beer has a handcrafted taste. It’s a real open atmosphere. It’s the same owner, the same brewer, just a new business.”

Building a brewery

Beal City resident Brad Bellinger, left, and Mount Pleasant resident Colin Mckenney empty wheat and barley into a wagon on Thursday at the Mount Pleasant Brewing Company. A local farmer picks up the grains to feed to his cows. (Neil Blake/Staff Photographer)

About three months ago, blueprints were drawn up for the project’s development. Holton was in discussions with Rick McGuirk about a slip of property, at 614 W. Pickard St., that McGuirk would like Holton to build on. McGuirk knew Holton wanted to expand the business into more than a garage band brewery, so McGuirk offered up a solution.

“He wanted to build it for me,” Holton said. “After all was said and done, we moved in. He built it to the exact specifications I wanted. It’s beautiful. When we moved into the first location it took three weeks. This move took three days. The learning curve was exponential.”

It doesn’t look like every other bar from the outside, said bartender Chad Carpenter, a 25-year-old Traverse City senior. A white building with a little blue awning above the door. A garage filled with windows sits to the left of the entrance, but this brewery should not be judged on the simplicity of its store front.

The interior may be the cleanest bar Mount Pleasant has seen in years, Carpenter said.

With wooden furniture spread atop its floor and essential bar stools, its a cozy place for beer enthusiasts, Bliss said, to come enjoy a board game or just be in the company of other beer connoisseurs.

“Not being downtown, this location, it brings people who will enjoy the beer, not who come to get drunk,” said Karina Chouinard, a 21-year-old bartender and Traverse City junior.

Carpenter described his favorite beer, the Hobo’s Breath Brown Ale, as a sweet, malty flavor with a crisp finishing taste, slightly sweet.

Mount Pleasant resident Chris Venegas rode his bicycle up and down the street one night this week looking for the brewery. He couldn’t find it at night, but successful in his next attempt Thursday afternoon, he had his first pint of Indian Pale Ale. It is his favorite beer.

“Support local, that’s what this is about,” Venegas said. “We need to stop importing beers from Belgium when we can embrace this brewery only a few miles down the road. And it helps that all these bartenders are cool. The beer is pristine.”

What’s next

The one bar essential the Mount Pleasant Brewing Company does not have, Bliss said, is food. He said many customers have already voiced their opinion and food is a must.

Bliss said food will be served by Oct. 1. He said there won’t be an extensive menu, but it will include pizza, panini sandwiches and soups, alongside the already free popcorn and peanuts.

The Mount Pleasant Brewing Company will have a ceremonial grand opening Sept. 11, where customers can view a ribbon cutting and have discounted drinks.

The business hours for the company are noon to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon to midnight Friday and Saturday. It is closed on Sundays.

“When we get this place filled with customers, oh, I even get goosebumps saying that,” Bliss said, rubbing his arm. “That will be a good day.”