For Jonathan Markt, it was what he didn’t know that made an impression on him the firsttime he went to the Small Business Development Center at Clackamas Community College. “When you’re starting out as a small business owner, there’s a lot of things you don’t know that you don’t know, if that makes sense,” he says, laughing. “Attending classes at the SBDC was such a good thing, because you talk to the teachers and the coaches, and they teach you things you didn’t know existed. It’s really eye opening.” Jonathan and his wife Wendy bought Markt & Co. Construction, a general contractor residential remodeling business, from his father. When he heard his dad would be closing the doors on a business he’d been running for more than 30 years, Jonathan knew he wanted to keep it going. Jonathan runs the business and does the construction work along with a production manager, and Wendy does the bookkeeping.

Wendy says the SBDC’s instruction and mentoring has helped the business with many things, including adjusting along with the economy, reducing expenses, dealing with cash issues, and handling the dynamics of running a family company. When the Markts look ahead, they envision doubling their company’s size, but not growing much bigger. The Markts will continue to rely on the SBDC for guidance and expertise. “The SBDC has been so valuable,” Jonathan says. “I know we will continue to draw on the knowledge of the teachers there for a long time to come.”