Peten Helps Small Businesses Think Big
The United States often touts itself as an entrepreneurial culture, built on a foundation of small business owners who fuel a massive economy. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Commerce reports that small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms and have created at least 60 percent of new jobs since the mid-1990s. But despite this country’s bootstrap mentality, new business owners often need a helping hand.
That’s where Jeannette Peten, BBA ’84, comes in. She has devoted most of her career to helping small businesses, and she recently received national recognition for her efforts. In April, Peten was selected by Carolyn Kepcher, former Donald Trump executive and star of NBC’s “The Apprentice,” to volunteer with her company, Finding What Mentors. She was joined by Bobbi Brown, founder and CEO of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and Cathie Black, bestselling author and president of Hearst Magazines. Over six months, Peten mentored three small business entrepreneurs who were also finalists in a Yahoo! Inc. business plan competition.
“I love helping entrepreneurs here in Austin realize their dreams,” Peten says. “To have the opportunity to take that passion to the national stage is indescribable.”
Peten has long been a major force in helping small businesses achieve success in Central Texas. In 1995, she founded Business Investment Growth Austin, known as BiGAustin, a nonprofit that helps economically disadvantaged small business owners through mentorship and education. BiGAustin also offers loans and helps business owners secure loans from other institutions. Backed by funding from the City of Austin, it became the first micro-lending organization in Austin.
Under Peten’s leadership, BiGAustin has helped more than 6,000 Central Texas entrepreneurs through loans totaling $4.3 million. In 13 years, that has translated into about $6 million in capital growth for her clients’ businesses. BiGAustin also provides a seven-week course for entrepreneurs starting a new business, as well as workshops and networking opportunities for women and minorities.
Peten gained experience in business development at Grant Thornton, where she provided guidance to minority, female and economically disadvantaged business owners. Prior to that she worked in corporate finance for IBM and Merrill Lynch. While the shift from the corporate atmosphere was a big adjustment, she says it ultimately led her to the most fulfilling career path.
“I thought I would always stay corporate, but this became the best atmosphere for me, and I really liked seeing the impact I had on clients,” she says.
Recently Peten has seen an influx of small business owners affected by the tightening of credit due to the financial crisis. She says economic hard times make it even more important for small business owners to understand and critique their business models, reduce costs and become more efficient.
Gayle Skiera is co-founder of Austin-based The Money Academy, which teaches school-aged children about financial responsibility. She says Peten has been instrumental in her organization’s success. Skiera took classes on finance, marketing and tax law at BiGAustin and learned how to structure financial statements and paperwork to be eligible for loans. In April 2008, Skiera won BiGAustin’s Big Ideas business plan competition, receiving a cash business grant and publicity for her business.
“Everyone on the staff under [Peten’s] direction is just so passionate about what they’re doing,” says Skiera. “They really go over the top to support you. They take it very personally.”
Peten’s personal connection to her work stems from her childhood experiences watching her parents run successful businesses in Philadelphia. Peten’s mother owned a beauty parlor, and her father owned a construction firm. Both benefitted from mentorship and jobtraining programs offered by the Rev. Leon Sullivan, a civil rights leader and pioneer in workplace equality and career empowerment. She says her parents’ experience helps her empathize with the fears and struggles minority and women entrepreneurs face in establishing a business.
“I saw the barriers they faced, but they were able to survive and give us the good life,” says Peten.
Those early lessons about the power of entrepreneurship to uplift individuals both personally and professionally is something Peten carried with her to BiGAustin.
“I didn’t realize that I had sort of come full circle in helping businesses achieve their goals,” she says. “That makes what I do even more heartwarming to me.”
- Behnaz Abolmaali
