Gina Thorsen testimonial
There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. SBAM board member Gina Thorsen is the president of iconic hat maker Stormy Kromer. “It's 100% the ability to sit down with other business owners from across the state and to pick their brains, to hear about their successes, their challenges, bounce ideas off of them.” That owner-to-owner connectivity is particularly valuable when you’re a company like Stormy Kromer that’s located in Michigan’s far western Upper Peninsula. “I think it's particularly helpful given our geography. You know, we are far away from other bigger communities. There’s obviously other businesses here, but to get that more rich and diverse opinions and outlooks of other business owners, it's been fantastic and it's well worth the time I spend in a car to get to Lansing or other places where some of these meetings are. The people are phenomenal, they've helped me tremendously and once you've made these connections with them at some of the in-person events, you're able to get this whole roster of folks that you can pick up the phone or shoot an email to say, hi, have you ever dealt with this before, I'm struggling. And to a person they've all been incredibly willing to offer their advice and their assistance and that's just a huge value. I think business owners, we often feel alone or like we’re the first person to have dealt with this challenge or that everyone else is super successful and I'm the only one with this challenge. And so to have that reality with other folks is hugely helpful.” Leverage the value of your involvement with the Small Business Association of Michigan. Learn more by calling today at 800-362-5461.