SBA NEWS RELEASE           

Release Date:  June 10, 2009

Contact:  Kate Herrington, 802-828-4422, ext. 221

SBPY 2009/15 E-mail Address: kathleen.herrington@sba.gov

STEPHEN PADDOCK SELECTED VT HOME-BASED BUSINESS CHAMPION OF THE YEAR

MIDDLEBURY -  Many people dream of combining their life interests with a home-based business.  Of those who can make it happen, some trace their start to pure luck or outright necessity.  In Stephen Paddock’s case, it was a goal achieved by design.  As a young adult, he built his career around his keenest interest, home and family.  For over 35 years, he and his wife successfully operated a number of home-based businesses.  In 2002, Paddock was selected by the Vt Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) to help develop a program to serve agri-businesses in Vermont.  For the past seven years, Paddock has worked individually and in collaboration with other agricultural assistance providers to help agriculture-based families, and others, grow their businesses.  For his unwavering support of home-based business, the U.S. Small Business Administration has selected Stephen Paddock, Assistant State Director and Coordinator for the VtSBDC Agricultural Program, as the 2009 Home-Based Business Champion of the Year. 

As a VtSBDC advisor, Paddock helps clients solve business challenges in the areas of financial and business planning, as well as operation.  In the context of agri-business, which accounts for half his time and is his specialty, Paddock coordinates VtSBDC services with other providers around the state, including the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board’s Farm Viability Enhancement Program, UVM Extension, the Intervale Center, Northeast Organic Farming Association, and the Vt Agency of Agriculture.  “Our focus is on the business side of farming rather than production,” Paddock said.  “And that’s where partnering with production-oriented providers has been a good match for the VtSBDC.” 

Paddock says the economic downturn is a hot issue for small firms with reduced sales and insufficient cash reserves.  When business owners turn to their lenders for a new loan or an extended credit line, he says the first thing the lender asks is “What’s your plan to work through this?” 

“What the lenders are looking for is a well-prepared client,” Paddock explained.  “And that’s a client who not only tells their story in an oral presentation, but provides paper documentation as well, which is precisely what we can help them do.”  According to Paddock, his client volume from Jan. - March, 2009, has increased by 50% over last year.   

“I get a lot of satisfaction from helping people take advantage of their opportunities and solve their problems,” Paddock said.  “If you can help them find a better place to be, where they have confidence and feel better about what they’re doing, that’s just a huge thing for me.”    

Paddock knows first-hand the challenges and joys of a business based at home, and yet his story unfolds like that of a bold adventurer.  He grew up on a cattle ranch in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, where his family raised purebred and commercial Charolais cattle for beef production and breeding stock.

After completing college, he went into business with his father.  During that time, they imported pure-bred Charolais cattle from Sweden and Japan, and helped improve the gene pool of U.S. cattle.  “No new, purebred stock had been brought into the U.S. since the 1940s, so that was a pretty exciting thing to be part of,” Paddock said.  

In 1976, Paddock and his wife purchased a farm and started a poultry and hay production business.  When they sold the farm in 1980, they decided to take some time off and try something new.  Paddock and his family moved to New Hampshire to work and live at a small, Quaker boarding school.  Paddock managed the farm and taught both algebra and Spanish, while his wife, Micki, worked as a bookkeeper, and they shared their home with 5 teen-aged students. 

A year later, they saw an ad for “innkeepers wanted” in a resort on the coast of Maine.  It was a completely different venue, but it met their interests for a home-based business.  They applied, they were accepted, and there they stayed for a year.  When the owner wished to sell, they were sorry they couldn’t purchase, but, undaunted, they looked all over New England for a similar opportunity.  They finally found and purchased a motel in Middlebury, where they both lived and worked in yet another home-based business.  Over the course of the next 25 years, they owned and operated several lodging properties in Middlebury, ultimately purchasing and renovating a 200-year-old home on the Middlebury Green, out of which they created an elegant, eleven-room inn.  “Being able to create a career that allowed me to have this kind of time with my wife and children has always been important to me,” Paddock said.

But he knows how entrepreneurs feel, whether it’s farming or any other endeavor, if they try to deal with difficulties by themselves.  Having faced a number of business challenges when no outside assistance was available, Paddock realized the need for affordable business counseling and shifted his career in that direction.

He returned to school and earned an MBA degree at the Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal.  Following graduation, he sought the opportunity to serve other businesses and was hired by the Vt Small Business Development Center at the University of Vermont. 

Paddock said he felt honored to receive the Home-Based Business award but wanted to share it with his colleagues as well.  “I see this award as representing all the other folks who are working day in and day out with farmers across Vermont, who go in and sit at the kitchen table with a family and try to help them work on plans to improve their farm and get them through tough times,” Paddock said. 

Paddock’s calm and succinct manner might suggest a less-than-adventurous nature, but don’t be fooled.  In his free time, Paddock says he enjoys and is addicted to his motorcycle, a BMW R1200.  He likes a good day trip around Vermont and says his wife joins him for an occasional ride on the back. 

Stephen Paddock will be honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration at a ceremony and reception presented by Vermont Business Magazine.  The event will take place at Burlington’s Waterfront Park, June 10, 2009, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.