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Resilience

AI: The New Frontier for Small Businesses

Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be all over the news these days. Since the arrival of ChatGPT, more and more companies are touting the use of AI. With this increase in attention to AI, there have also been some concerns from policymakers, advocates, and others around job displacement, disinformation, and data security. While skepticism of…

Small Business Profile: Beddy’s

Betsy Mikesell and Angie White used to be jogging partners. Today, they run one of Utah’s fastest-growing small companies. The path that took them there is anything but typical—which of course, for most small businesses, is typical.  Here’s the Beddy’s story: Betsy was desperate for a way to motivate her twin boys to do a…

Small Business Profile: Peninsula Party Rentals

As Feliciano Zavala writes in the San Francisco Chronicle, he is amazed that his Palo Alto-based party rental business is going so strong nearly a year after COVID-19 almost knocked it out. Following a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and loan and a revised focus on smaller events, Peninsula Party Rentals is finally getting back to…

Small Business Profile: Akorbi

Akorbi helps organizations connect with employees, vendors, and customers in over 170 languages. Digital tools have long been critical to the success of this translation, workforce solutions, and technology business. “It’s what allowed us to compete with the big boys,” CEO Claudia Mirza says. Akorbi utilized social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and marketing…

Small Business Resilience: The Tiny Tassel

Mimi Striplin always seems happy, no matter the circumstance. It’s a good thing she decided to start a company dedicated to bringing a similar sense of joy to others. Mimi’s business, The Tiny Tassel, started as an Etsy shop, and has since grown a lot bigger. Today, The Tiny Tassel offers handmade tassel jewelry, clothing, and a full line of party decor. It h

Small Business Resilience: Beddy’s

Betsy Mikesell’s twin boys’ bunk beds were a source of continued irritation. Making the beds was a chore. The boys didn’t want to do it. She didn’t either. What if there were a way....

Cataloging the Success of One Small Business

Parker Garlitz still remembers the first sale he made online. It was a refurbished laser printer sold over dial-up to a customer in Portugal. He believed at the time that he was glimpsing the future of American commerce—and he was. Today, the digital tools and markets that once seemed beyond imagining have become cornerstones for…

A Bedtime Story Washington Needs to Hear

On the night before Christmas — and every other night — Betsy Mikesell and Angie White have visions of children nestled all snug in their Beddy’s. Parents can join the fun, too, in their own adult-sized Beddy’s, the zippered bedding that Mikesell and White created. As often is the case, the Utah duo’s innovation sprung…

Sunrise Coffee: Serving Up Coffee, Community and Connectivity During COVID-19

For Juanny Romeo, coffee has always been brewed with a little bit of hardship and a whole lot of community. A former barista, Juanny opened her first coffee shop on the first day of the Great Recession in 2008. Now, she owns three (soon to be four!) Sunrise Coffee cafes and couldn’t think of anything…

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