Shuttleworth: Small Indiana Company Earns Big Publicity for Innovation

Here at the Indiana Chamber, we feel very fortunate to have the confidence of our 4,800 members to work on their behalf. Their partnership often makes life easier on us, too. For example, when BusinessWeek Online contacted our communications VP Tom Schuman to inquire about a small company whose made great strides in switching to "green collar" industries, Tom had an easy answer — Shuttleworth (of Huntington).

The leading paragraphs of the article actually feature Shuttleworth, focusing on the company’s ingenuity in a greening world:

As a maker of conveyor systems for manufacturers, Shuttleworth always changed with the times. The 100-employee Huntington (Ind.) company’s strong business in electronics dropped off about five years ago as more production moved overseas. After that, the company focused on conveyors for food, health care, automotive, and paper products—until this year, when it entered what could be its most profitable niche yet: solar panels.

"It’s got some of the biggest potential of the markets we’ve been in," says Jim Bonahoom, Shuttleworth’s vice-president for finance. Even though Shuttleworth only just entered the market, the company expects solar to account for one-fifth of its roughly $20 million in revenue this year, Bonahoom says.

A heartfelt kudos to our friends at Shuttleworth.

McCain/Obama and Small Business Issues

BusinessWeek recently took a look at how John McCain and Barack Obama stack up on small business issues, noting that small business owners and employees make up nearly a third of registered voters:

Despite recent outreach efforts by both men, some 80% of entrepreneurs could not name any ways in which either candidate says he will help small businesses, according to a poll of 400 business owners conducted by Suffolk University for turnaround specialists American Management Services. With small business owners and their employees representing 32% of all registered voters, that’s hardly a block of voters either candidate can afford to lose.

See a graphic table featuring the candidates making their trademark hand gestures here.

Small Business Owners Deal with Crisis

How are small business owners dealing with the latest financial crisis? How do they know if their bank is failing? What if they have a loan that is taken over by the FDIC or is acquired by a competitor? How could "Alf" speak English so well? You’re telling me the guy is from Melmac, eats cats and has the face of a bull terrier, yet he can pontificate like Oscar Wilde?

BusinessWeek responded to three of these pressing questions in a recent article focused on the impact the recent financial goings on have had on American small businesses. The article touches on the status and trends of banks, credit unions, loans and other information that could be useful to know:

While the financial crisis doesn’t necessarily affect the small business sector directly, economic pessimism and fears about winter fuel costs are likely to sap consumer confidence for some time. "Entrepreneurs should be mentally and financially prepared to hunker down in this economy for a couple of years," Thacker says. "The downturn that started a year ago could last another two Christmas seasons. I’m hoping its going to be less time than that, but people are worried."

Shameless plug: For those truly interested in helping their small business thrive, the Indiana Chamber offers Building a Business in Indiana. This publication, authored by attorneys at Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, walks new business owners through myriad trials and issues regarding a new business — things like protecting your company, taking advantage of the available tax credits and grants, legal obligations to employees, tax status and much more.