Monday, April 18, 2016
VIENNA
Business owner Stephen Coleman spent 20 years in the Navy and then decided he wanted to own his own business.
“I just wanted to spend more time with my kids,” the owner of Northstar Contracting said. “It gives me flexibility.”
Coleman started the Cleveland-based general contracting company 10 years ago with the help of the Small Business Administration.
The SBA helped him to get certifications, including the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business certification, and explained the opportunity in federal contract work.
“It wasn’t easy,” Coleman said. “There’s a lot of pre-qualifications for federal contracting.”
Today, Coleman’s business has 70 employees and promotes its work with the federal government – such as an $18 million project at the NASA Glenn Research Center – on its website.
Today, Coleman talked to a group of about 100 representatives from 30 small businesses about his work with the federal government, during a workshop hosted by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Cleveland, at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna.
“This isn’t easy,” Ryan said. “It takes a little effort but from our experience if you can figure it out, it can benefit your business a great deal.”
Read more about the program in Tuesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.