Elkhart Launches Small Business Resource Guide to Support Local Entrepreneurs

ELKHART, Ind. -- Entrepreneurs, business owners and city leaders gathered Wednesday at the Lerner Theatre to launch a new effort aimed at strengthening small businesses across Elkhart.

The event marked the debut of the Elkhart Small Business Resource Guide, created by the city’s economic development team to connect entrepreneurs with tools and support.

The evening focused on networking and featured a panel of professionals offering advice to aspiring business owners.

Among those attending were Concord High School juniors Tobin Huston and Mason Stults, who are participating in Startup Moxie, a program that introduces students to entrepreneurship.

“Were both juniors at Concord High School. We had the opportunity to come here through startup moxie,” Stults said.

Students in the program take part in a pitch competition at the end of the school year, with an opportunity to receive funding.

“Similar to Shark Tank, we do a pitch competition,” said Stults. “The top three get funding.”

The pair’s current idea for their end-of-year project focuses on addressing vaping in schools, and fixing issues with vape detectors that often give off false positives.

“We want to make a sort of algorithm that allows us to be able to see the difference changes in humidity and wind temperature,” they said. “We’re going to be starting a nonprofit as well. It’s going to be called Kick Nic and it’s going to be purely educational.”

Their proposed non-profit will focus on educating the younger generation on the dangerous of vaping.

“We kind of created an inventory of who’s providing what services and match that against the research we did and tried to identify gaps,” said Mike Huber, Elkhart’s development services director. “And one of the biggest gaps was people just don’t even know where to get access to information.”

Huber said small businesses remain central to the city’s identity and long-term growth.

“We’re an economy built on small businesses and we want to make sure we keep that,” he said.

While the guide includes contacts and step-by-step instructions for starting a business, these young entrepreneurs say success begins with taking initiative.

“Take that first step, get out there, show people who you really are,” Huston said.

The Elkhart Small Business Resource Guide is available at elkhartsmallbusiness.com.