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Libraries help businesses succeed
By Laura-Claire Corson
Library Communications
MADISON - Originally, Heather Hilleren wanted to earn a master’s degree in business at UW–Madison to learn more about how business works.
Before she was done, Hilleren had far exceeded that initial goal.
With the help of the UW–Madison Business Library, her own business — GreenLeaf Market — opened a week before she earned her degree in 2005.
“The Business School Library certainly helped me out,” says Hilleren, who earned second place in the 2006 Wisconsin Governors Business Plan Contest. “When starting a company, writing a business plan is critical. You don’t just write the business plan and stop. You have to go back to the library, back to find more sources. It’s always back to the library.”
Fortunately for Hilleren and others, dozens of specialized libraries extend across the 933-acre UW–Madison campus. These facilities are a valuable resource for those who take advantage of all they have to offer.
More than 5 million visitors frequent the UW–Madison libraries each year, with more than one million visiting Memorial Library alone. Virtual visits to the library’s Web site total more than 42 million each year, according to Edward Van Gemert, acting director of the UW–Madison Libraries.
For Hilleren, a 36-year-old former teacher, the plentiful information and friendly staff at the Business Library was a major draw for her to return to school. She started looking at business plans a semester before her graduation, and, after a few months of hard work, she started GreenLeaf Market, an E-Bay-like resource for Wisconsin agriculture. She describes her business as an online purchasing system designed to make buying and selling local produce as easy, convenient and cost-effective as possible. Each buyer or seller has a unique login and personal account that allows patrons to conduct business at the online market at anytime, from anywhere.
Ken Frazier, who is director of the General Library System and currently on leave serving as the UW–Madison’s chief information officer, says the resources at campus libraries help expand the “Wisconsin Idea,” the century-old notion that every Wisconsin resident should benefit from the contributions of its public university.
“The fact that people can start their own business because they visited a library on our campus is a powerful story,” says Frazier. “Every client and patron can benefit from businesses started by UW–Madison graduates, or by citizens who use our library resources. It’s heartening to know that such transforming work is being done.”
The UW–Madison Business Library is also an all-encompassing resource, indicates Michael Enyart, head of the library located in Grainger Hall. Besides running library operations, Enyart works one-on-one with individuals, helping to jumpstart or improve small start-up businesses.
Though Enyart says it is difficult to calculate the number of people who walk through the library doors determined to start their own business, a popular way to begin is to follow through on course assignments.
“A lot of the time, businesses start because students continue with a project they were assigned in school,” he says, adding that reference help is also provided to students enrolled in the UW’s Small Business Development Center’s courses on business planning.
Asking for business assistance is simple, Enyart says: Just send an e-mail or instant message to a library staff member, something that can be done easily via the library’s home page. Or simply walk through the library doors and ask an employee.
Since Enyart started working at the Business Library in 1989, he has helped people in businesses as varied as service firms, restaurants, real estate and small manufacturing. He and his six-person library staff host 300,000 to 450,000 visitors to the library each year.
“We’re a hidden resource,” Enyart says. “With the advent of Google and the Internet, it’s a lot easier to start online. Google’s great for quick answers, but what’s your next step if it’s not on Google, if you need more information?”
In 2003, market research consultant Jo Anne Sturiale needed more information to help her clients — and she turned to Enyart and the Business Library for help. Sturiale had started her Madison-based business after she received a master’s degree in marketing from UW–Madison in 1987.
Sturiale explains that market research consulting includes helping clients to make decisions based on data that can help their businesses grow. The Business Library and Enyart provided supplementary information that she simply didn’t have time to get on her own, she says.
“I needed a secondary research component because it really takes time to do it well,” says Sturiale, pointing out that she used a fee-based service provided by UW–Madison Libraries that enabled Enyart to teach her the ins and outs of finding sources on the Internet.
“What I rely upon [Enyart] to do is to fill that gap for me. I don’t have the time, or the staff, to do it myself. He helps my clients make more informed decisions,” she says.
Josh Janos, a UW–Madison senior majoring in business with an emphasis on management and human resources, says the campus libraries are a fantastic resource. “I’d definitely use the library resources if I thought I wanted to start my own business,” he says. “There are enough helpful people and information that I’m sure would help me out.”
Campus libraries have a success track record — from unique cases like Hilleren’s to Sturiale’s needing an extra helping hand.
As Ken Frazier would attest, it all comes back to the Wisconsin Idea.
*This story is also featured on the UW Business News Wire.
