(logo whooshing) - [Announcer One] Envista is pleased to support Working Capital, switch to empowered, switch to Envista.

Learn more at envistacu.com.

- [Announcer Two] Go Topeka's Entrepreneurial and Minority Business Development is proud to support working capital.

We share the vision to assist local entrepreneurs with growing their business.

- [Announcer Three] Additional funding is provided by The Friends of KTWU.

- Hello, and welcome to another season, and another episode of Working Capital.

As usual, we provide you with information, education, and resource professionals that can help you start sustain and grow your business.

In this program we are going to do just that.

We're going to introduce you to a program that was started in 2004, through the Kansas Economic Growth Act.

It's purpose is a pretty simple one, to help entrepreneurs succeed, and to help communities become more entrepreneurial with more than 500 partners, this organization is cultivating an entrepreneurial environment throughout Kansas.

Stay tuned, as we begin another season, it's all about business and this is Working Capital.

(upbeat music) One of the hardest things for entrepreneurs with great ideas is figuring out how to get started.

Once that happens though, they may quickly find that they need a network that offers education, expertise, and economic resources.

NetWork Kansas is that organization.

With more than 500 partners, NetWork Kansas can provide the expert connections, the educational resources, and the assistance with capital resources to meet the economic needs of your business.

Let's take a look.

(upbeat music) Amara Kniep and Tiffany Nixon, are NetWork Kansas representatives, and are here to fill us in, on how they can help entrepreneurs.

Welcome to Working Capital.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, nice to be here.

- It's a pleasure to have you guys here.

I met you all, I wanna say, it's probably been about, somewhere between eight and 10 months ago.

You guys were doing, I'll say it was a workshop, but you guys were talking to a number of community leaders, and some business leaders about some of the things that you all do at NetWork Kansas.

And I was just blown away because I didn't know any of that stuff at the time.

Can you tell me about the history of NetWork Kansas, if you will?

- Sure, I'll start.

NetWork Kansas was founded in 2004, by the Kansas Economic Growth Act, and began operations in 2005 with our referral center.

And so Tiffany is gonna talk more about the referral center in a little while.

She's the manager that oversees that, but in a nutshell, we help Kansas entrepreneurs there through a toll free hotline, email and chat service.

And in 2007, we began the E-community partnership, which is a deeper dive into partnership with select Kansas communities.

- All right, tell me about this growth act.

Why did that come into effect?

I mean, there had to be some kind of a background in history as to why people felt that was needed.

Can you guys tell me about that?

The Kansas legislators felt like, they wanted to offer more resources to entrepreneurs across our great State.

- You guys have some very specific titles that you hold, and Tiffany, I'm gonna start with you.

Tell me about your title, and what that means for entrepreneurs here in Kansas.

- Yeah, so I am the manager of referral center operations for NetWork Kansas.

I oversee our referral center.

Our referral center is where we talk to entrepreneurs every day and connect them with resources throughout the state.

We have three of us that strictly are referral coordinators.

We get to talk to the entrepreneurs and make sure that they are connected.

We have over 500 resource partners throughout the state of Kansas.

That range from funding resources, resources for business plans, marketing, an example might be like a local chamber office or economic development director, or another could be like a state agency.

So all of these are resource partners of ours and we kind of talk to the entrepreneur and then get them connected to these resources depending on what their need is.

- Okay, all right.

I wanna dig into that a little bit deeper, but not right now, we'll come back to it, okay?

- [Tiffany] Okay.

- [Tiffany] Okay.

- In just a little while, all right, so your title, if you will, Amara.

- I am the manager of E-Community programs.

So, we have a staff of about seven that works on our E-Community partnership.

And my job is we have a set of board certified programs which are programs that our board has approved for each E-Communities to use grant funds toward program costs.

And I oversee those programs, the implementation and development of those.

I also oversee pilot programs.

So, if a community has a new program that they've thought of that has the potential to maybe become a statewide program, I would help with the implementation of that.

And then I also oversee VentureDash which is a new product that network Kansas has, It's an online competition management system.

- Okay, all right, so you guys are doing a lot of different types of things?

- [Tiffany] Yes.

- [Amara] Yes.

- Now, now you're located in Wichita, why is that?

Is that just kind of natural?

- [Tiffany] Yeah.

- Tiffany] We think so, Eric Peterson is the vice president, Steve Radley is the president of NetWork Kansas.

- [Eugene] Okay.

- They are both based out of Andover, so that's kind of where the operations began when they were hired to run this organization.

But we do have several field offices across Kansas and other cities.

We have regional managers for Kansas that oversee that E-Community partnership.

So we've got two people in Western Kansas, someone in central and as another person out in Eastern Kansas.

And then we also have a couple other staff members that are across the state.

- Okay, all right, all right.

So when someone contacts NetWork Kansas, or goes onto the website and starts looking at everything they may find that you guys are located in Wichita, but you're a statewide organization, correct?

- Yes, right.

- Yeah, yeah, tell me about some of your entrepreneurs.

Where does most of the entrepreneurial spirit in Kansas kind of come from?

You know, people who call you guys for services?

- It really varies, it kind of depends on what's going on.

I feel like since we're in Wichita and we might, if we go to an event or something, if we go to a local event, we'll get a lot of people calling us directly from events.

Or if we go out to the bigger cities, obviously, we have more happening there, but we have a lot going on with our E-Communities, where we're touching them at a more local level, so, we kind of touch so many places that it like helps us grow in different ways and help entrepreneurs in different ways, by being so present in other areas.

- Well, I know I met you guys here in Topeka, and I was pleasantly surprised because like I said, I didn't know a whole bunch about the organization at the time, you guys gave such a wonderful presentation and stuff.

And so it was nice to have you guys come up and talk with some of the business interests that are here in Topeka, - Oh, yeah.

- In this area and stuff.

Yeah, yeah, I wanna dig into a whole bunch of other things but right now we're gonna take a break.

Okay, all right.

- So it's time for our very first break.

When we come back, we'll continue our discussion with Amara and Tiffany of NetWork Kansas, we'll be right back, you're watching, Working Capital.

(upbeat music) Welcome back, Amara Kniep and Tiffany Nixon, our managers for NetWork Kansas, they create products and services that assist entrepreneurs and communities throughout Kansas.

Let's talk more about entrepreneurs.

What are some of the, I guess, more interesting or basic things that entrepreneurs call you for?

What do they need?

- Yeah, so the main thing that we see entrepreneurs needing when they call in, is really knowing what they need to set up their business legally within the State of Kansas.

A lot of them are unsure like what licensing they need, or if they should set up maybe as an LLC, versus a sole proprietorship for more protection, or they don't even know where to start with a business plan.

- Right.

- So that's kind of what we're there for, is to direct them to someone that can help them.

We'll line out exactly what they'll need to set up legally in Kansas, and then get them paired with a resource that can help them locally as well.

Another need that we see a lot of the time is funding.

So- - I can imagine.

- Yes, so, a lot of times they'll call in needing funding but they don't even really even know exactly how much they need, so they really needing that kind of assistance, getting ready for the financing piece.

Like having their business plan and feasibility study before they get going into the banker.

So, that's what we see a lot of the time.

- But now you guys don't actually do business plans and feasibility studies, right?

- No, we do mot.

- Yeah, so how does that work?

You just put them in contact with someone who does?

- Yes, we do our research and get them connected depending on their location on a local resource in their area that can work with them.

We have a lot of different types of resources, so they have option to connect with resource partners on online as well, if that works better for them.

- Okay, all right.

So Amara let's talk about some of these resource partners and I'm gonna click on connections while you talk about some of this.

But tell me about some of the folks that you kind of utilize on a regular basis to assist entrepreneurs, if you will.

- Sure, I'd be happy to.

So, all of our resource partners are either government or nonprofit organizations, and they're all across the state, so for example, things like the small business development center, all of those locations, we could refer an entrepreneur to their local office.

Also local like chambers of commerce or economic development directors, the SBA, basically any business building service that you can think of that is government or nonprofit.

All of our referrals are either free or low cost.

So that's something that's very important to us as well.

- Now, what I did was I clicked on connections on you guys's website, and it shows this thing here, where you can kind of put in the information, I guess, and kind of figure out - [Amara] Yeah.

What type of resource you're looking for.

- Yes, that's correct.

- Is that how it works?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- You can find your own resource here, and we also do have an app as well that you can download Kansas E-Ship app, that you can search through the resources as well and call them through.

But yeah, or you can just call us and we'll direct you as well.

- Now I like this little function right here, It says, chat with us now.

- [Tiffany] Yes.

- [Eugene] Tell me about that.

- You can chat with us.

- Yeah, so we have a chat system.

So you can chat with us during the day from eight to five, Monday through Friday.

And we're there live.

A lot of people are so excited when that happens, but, - A real person to talk to?

- Yes, it's pretty handy.

A lot of people do like to utilize the chat just cause we'll notice that they might be doing something else and maybe they'll disappear for a little bit and then they'll come back as they're chatting with us, but, yeah.

- It's definitely a good tool.

- So this one right here tells me, that I can become a resource partner, what does that mean?

- We do have a survey that you can fill out to become a part of our resource network.

Like Amara was talking about earlier, a lot of our services are all nonprofit or government oriented, low cost types of resources.

So if you fit that business building criteria and it seems that it will be a fit, then we'll accept it and you will go live on that resource network that you had pulled up.

So then they'll have access to basically, there'll be included on our 500 plus resource partners.

And they also have access to like post statewide classes to the calendar.

We have access to a calendar of all of our resource partners classes and events that they hold as well.

So, it's really a cool thing.

And then we have that relationship with them.

So we have that for our entrepreneur to be able to utilize them as a a resource for our entrepreneurs.

- Okay, well, I'm just about out of time in this segment.

So what I'm gonna do is, in the next segment we want to talk about those classes.

- [Amara] Okay.

- [Tiffany] All right.

- I wanna hear more about those and how that actually works.

It's time for another short break, stay tuned, you're watching, Working Capital.

(upbeat music) Welcome back, we are visiting with representatives from NetWork Kansas.

They support the entrepreneurial culture that exists in Kansas.

And when we were ending the last segment, I mentioned to you that I wanted to talk a little bit about the classes that you guys offer to entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs.

Let's talk about some of those if you don't mind.

- Anytime a resource partner has a class or event, like Tiffany mentioned, they can upload it directly onto our calendar.

And so that could be really anything that they've got going on in their community.

It could also be one of our board certified programs.

So NetWork Kansas does have a set of educational programs that we offer through E-Communities to entrepreneurs, and those are also on the statewide calendar as well.

- Do you require entrepreneurs to go through that set of certified courses that you have, or is that just kind of suggested?

- No, it's definitely not required.

It's just there as an option for the E-Communities if they want to offer that to their entrepreneurs, but nobody is required to do it.

- Okay, all right.

'Cause I know that in some instances, especially when they're working with like chambers of commerce and you know, other, you know, kind of entities that prepare you for owning and operating your own business, they kind of require you to go through certain steps and things like that.

- Yes, yeah, we've definitely heard of that before with other organizations, but that's just not the case in this particular instance.

- Okay, let's talk about money, all right?

'Cause that's one of the things that entrepreneurs are constantly looking for ways to actually fund their ideas and fund their businesses.

Talk about the loan programs that you guys have.

- Yeah, so we have various gap financing products.

So there- - Now just for the sake of definition, okay.

- Yes.

- Let's define gap because a lot of people won't understand that, I don't think.

- Yes, so it's a matching loan fund.

So there has to be other private capital in the deal to begin with.

Either a bank or a certified development company.

So we partner with like SBA loans, so, if you don't have funding already, you couldn't access NetWork Kansas gap financing.

A lot of times are like it says gap financing, are there to come in and fill the gap.

A lot of times it is used as working capital of additional of what they may be starting up with.

So, maybe the bank doesn't wanna loan the full amount.

So that's what we're there to come in with.

- Right, we often say that it's the last piece of the puzzle for some of these deals.

- I hear bank say that too.

(all laughing) - Is there a limit, is there a ceiling on what it is that you can offer depending upon the industry and all that type of stuff?

- Yeah, it just depends on the loan product as well.

We have a startup Kansas product that starts at 45,000 is the max, but we match up to 150% of the deal.

And then that's for startups in rural and distressed areas.

And then we have an E-Community program that's the same, that's offered strictly to our 66 E-Communities.

And then we also have a capital multiplier product.

That's has a higher, you're able to have higher amount of fund funds access to it.

We also have a women minority fund that's a part of that, but it starts out lower a minimum of 25,000 to get into the deal.

So, and those are offered for urban distress and more of statewide as well and rural.

So, it really varies depending on your location and the whole project need as well.

- That's a pretty broad array of products that you're offering there.

- [Tiffany] Yes.

- I mean, I don't think I would quite know how to get started.

I mean, I would have to self-define, is that the way that that works?

Whether I am a rural distressed, what minority.

- Yeah, so really the best way to get connected with our programs, all of our programs, we use our partner network.

So if you're going to be using an E-Community product, you would go to your E-Community point contact.

If you're going to be using startup Kansas for example, you would use one of our certified development companies.

So all of our programs are through our partner network.

So, they would be working with them to make sure of what's the best loan product for this business.

And they're not gonna steer you in the wrong direction.

That's why we have have the partner network that we do is they're there to make sure that these entrepreneurs are getting what's best for them.

- Okay, all right, all right, all right.

I wanna talk some more about this whole idea of setting up entrepreneurial communities as well because I think that's a real important thing as it relates to what it is that you guys do.

But we'll do that in the next segment, all right.

- Okay, okay.

- It's time for another break.

There's a lot more to come, so we'll be right back.

(upbeat music) Welcome back, Amara and Tiffany have been telling us about the programs and resources available to entrepreneurs through NetWork Kansas.

One of the things that was really intriguing to me to find out about how you guys operate, is that you have this concept called, entrepreneurial communities.

Tell me about how that concept came about, what is the ideology behind it?

What does it meant to do for Kansas?

- So we have currently 66 E-Communities, and this was a program that started in 2007 when we wanted to take a deeper dive with individual communities and figure out how we could really dig in, and help them build a strong, local entrepreneurship ecosystem in their community.

So the communities, or cities, or counties, or sometimes a group of cities within a county, it's really up to those individual communities what they consider to be their community.

And they assemble a leadership team and a financial review board that helps them implement things like loan programs, and educational programs through NetWork Kansas.

So these leadership teams they're very well connected in the communities.

They know the movers and shakers, they know the businesses, so they're well-equipped to lead this effort.

And then we also have NetWork Kansas, what we call coaches.

So there are four regional managers for a Western, central and Eastern Kansas, where they coach the communities one-on-one, and they'll go to the meetings, and they'll have a seat at the table, and that'll kind of help them think through strategy and things that they can do to continue to grow their local ecosystem.

- So this is truly a network then.

- Yes, yes.

- Do you find that a lot of and I'll use that term distressed and rural communities, are utilizing this idiology to help themselves become more economically developed or friendly in that particular area?

- Yes, I definitely think so.

A lot of our communities are very rural.

We've also got a handful of communities that are urban distressed, that are using our loans and resources to really help build their ecosystem and bring everyone to the table and strengthen the ecosystem that they have and continue to build on that and continue to build out the entrepreneurial mindset in that community.

- Yeah, the other thing that you guys mentioned a moment ago was that you do special or you do programs for women and minorities.

How does that work and what are some of those programs?

- Yeah, so we have specifically a gap financing program that's specific to minority and women that they can access at a lower amount.

And then we also, it's not our specific program, but we help Christina Long with the Create Campaign, she holds events and classes and we have worked with her to talk to the entrepreneurs that go through them, and make sure that they have access to the resources that they need as well.

Her whole Create Campaign is a nonprofit that's geared towards minority and urban entrepreneurs.

She's based out of Wichita, Kansas, but she's held events in Wichita and Kansas City.

- Yeah, so we do a lot of work with the create campaign and then on the women and minority loan program, this as Tiffany was saying, there's a less of a barrier to entry to access that program, because with the other multiplier program, they have to have a certain level of capital to access our program, but that's lowered for the women and minority community so that they can get their foot in the door a lot easier.

- Very quickly, your network is so vast, what are some of your future plans?

- Yeah, so currently another thing that we have been working with lately is learning more about community foundations.

We've partnered with the Kansas Health Foundation on a new fund called the Kansas Community Investment Fund where it's all geared towards healthy behaviors, civic engagement, education attainment, that's something new that we're really working towards the future on learning more about, and working with these community foundations as well to make that impact of investment on a local level.

- Well, I am so happy that I was able to get you two here in Topeka and on Working Capital to talk about some of the things that you do.

Thank you so much for being here.

- Thank you so much for having us.

- That's our show for now Tiffany and Amara, I'd really like to thank you for appearing on the show and talking about the culture of entrepreneurship that NetWork Kansas is helped to foster throughout the state.

For more information, or to contact these young ladies just go networkkansas.com.

And as always, if you know of a unique business, or unique management technique, we wanna hear from you, so give us a call or drop us an email.

We look forward to seeing you next time, so please tune in.

It's all about business, and you've been watching Working Capital.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer One] Envista is pleased to support Working Capital.

Switched to empowered, switched to Envista.

Learn more and envistacu.com.

- [Announcer Two] Go Topeka Entrepreneurial and Minority Business Development is proud to support Working Capital.

We share the vision to assist local entrepreneurs with growing their business.

- [Announcer Three] Additional funding is provided by The Friends of KTWU.