Small businesses big news in Serbia

Colorado Springs' small-business scene took to the international stage Wednesday with a visit from a Serbian news crew.

Vesna Damjanic, a business reporter with Radio-Television of Serbia, and cameraman Branko Sreckovic were in the Springs to learn about the local chapter of SCORE - a nonprofit, volunteer group of active and retired executives who provide free, confidential counseling to both new and established business owners. In the morning, Damjanic interviewed Ric Denton, chairman of the SCORE chapter, and Dave Csintyan, president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.

Denton spoke about the role of SCORE and the challenges facing small businesses.

Csintyan talked about the importance of small businesses to the economy.

Damjanic, who speaks English, asked them several questions about the impact of the economic crisis, including whether it's tougher to get funding to start a business.

"It is always a challenge to find money, whether in good times or bad times," Denton said. He acknowledged it's "a little bit more of a problem" these days but also pointed to some government efforts to help small businesses.

In the afternoon, Damjanic and Sreckovic - accompanied by Joan Storck of the U.S. State Department - visited Companion Cottage, a home-based adult day care center in the heart of Colorado Springs. SCORE counselors offered the business as a success story for the news crew.

Owner Patricia Mennit talked about adult day care, which gives caregivers a respite by providing care and companionship for seniors who need supervision during the day.

Mennit, who opened Companion Cottage last summer, also talked about the challenges of starting a business and how SCORE helped her.

Damjanic ended the interview by asking Mennit what advice she had for people in Serbia who might want to start a similar business.

"I think the main thing they need to think about in the beginning is whether there is a need for it," Mennit said. "They have to look around their community or their village and see if this kind of thing would be helpful."

While there is a state agency in Serbia that helps businesses with things such as planning, there is no organization such as SCORE in her country, Damjanic said.

"There is no such volunteering spirit in Serbia," she said. Similarly, adult day care is a new concept.

"That's why we are here," she said. "For me to see some new ideas and pass them on to Serbia. Maybe they will get an idea how to start some of these businesses that are here in America."

Serbia, once part of the former Yugoslavia, is a country of roughly 10 million people in southeastern Europe. The global economic crisis has engulfed her country, too, Damjanic said, hurting everything from small businesses to large exporters struggling with a decline in international trade.

"We don't have a market anymore," she said.

Today, Damjanic and Sreckovic will visit the Colorado Springs Technology Incubator before leaving.

The Springs is the last stop for the two, whose mission in the United States has been twofold - preparing one report on small-business development in America and another on corporate social responsibility.

Previous stops included San Francisco, Memphis, Tenn., and Corinth, Miss.

The material they're producing will air on the prime-time news program entitled, "Dnevnik," and a weekly economics program, "Oko."

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Contact the writer at 636-0272.

MORE ONLINE

• Colorado Springs' SCORE chapter, www.coloradospringsscore.org
• Companion Cottage, www.companioncottage.com