Mohave Today

Mohave Community College Small Business Development Center helps entrepreneurs start a business or seek help growing their established business.

In 2021, Mertens Heavy Equipment Repair owner, Robert Mertens, utilized MCC SBDC’s services to help him develop a business plan to acquire a Bobcat franchise in Lake Havasu City. This business expansion contributed significantly to the economic development in Mohave County, and as a result, Mertens was recently honored as the AZSBDC Success Award winner of 2021 for Mohave County.

Mertens was established in 2000 in Kingman and started out with two employees, Robert and his wife Patricia. Mertens had over 30 years of experience in heavy equipment repair when he decided to start his business. Twenty-two years later, the business has grown to a business with over 30 employees.

“I never expected it to grow to where it is today I thought it was going to be a one man show where I was doing the repairs and my wife the billing for the next 20 years,” Mertens said. “I’m proud that we’re here, contributing to the community and it’s a legacy being left for my family.” 

MCC SBDC helped the business to develop a business plan, access to capital for their business expansion, and assisted with personnel management; namely, employee hiring and retention, and job description development.

“It was an honor to work with them. They’re a family-owned business that has a strong community presence and gives back to the local community and working with the Mertens has been a real pleasure and seeing them expand their business gives me a great sense of pride,” said Jeanette Pigeon, MCC SBDC Business Analyst.

Mertens added the MCC SBDC was a great resource to help get connected with the right people, everybody was friendly and easy to get along with, informative and always got his questions answered. Mertens was given his award at the Arizona SBDC Success Awards ceremony held at the state capital in Phoenix.

To learn more about MCC’s Small Business Development Center, visit Mohave.edu/SBDC. To take advantage of its no-cost services, visit https://tinyurl.com/mccsbdcRequestCounseling.

Original source can be found here.