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October 3, 2005Business consultant pitches inHe will help business owners in Gulf CoastByRecord-Eagle business editor TRAVERSE CITY - Chris Wendel watched the destruction created by Hurricane Katrina and wondered what he'd have done if a natural disaster had wiped out a small shop he once owned in Leland. "I can empathize, being a former business owner, as to how serious these things can be," said Wendel, who decided to do what he could to help business owners in the Gulf Coast who lost their livelihoods in the killer storm. Wendel is a consultant for the Michigan Small Business and Technology Center, a business assistance agency funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration. When the center starting looking for volunteers to go to the Gulf Coast to help small business owners re-establish their shops and companies, Wendel wanted to be there. "You kind of look at everything down there and see all the devastation, and you want to do something," he said. "To me, there really wasn't much hesitation - you want to help people." Wendel will join two other advisors from the Grand Rapids area as part of a 25-member team who will spend the next two weeks in Biloxi, Miss., helping business owners file for disaster loans through the SBA. The SBA will make available low-interest loans up to $1.5 million to replace real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other losses cause by the hurricane. If a business is a major employer, more money can be authorized. The team will work out of a bank building in Biloxi that withstood the hurricane. Wendel's group will be among the first to work with people in that region needing business assistance, and he expects to encounter several people who are just returning to see for the first time the storm's damage to their homes and businesses. "People are showing up and they don't have anything," he said "It's overwhelming." Wendel originally was scheduled to go south in November but his trip was moved up because federal agencies are anxious to get relief money flowing to the region. He attended a recent training session in Baltimore and leaves Sunday for Mississippi, where he expects some long and hectic days. "I work every day, 12 hours a day," he said. "I'm living in an RV, so it's going to be an adventure."
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