Leading EDG has become a valuable resource for individuals at any stage of their business careers as the company offers services to help those individuals grow. Taylor McAlpine has been with Leading EDG which is based in Amarillo, Texas. Leading EDG has been serving rural EDC’s for the past 13 years. McAlpine joined the company in January and has been working with several clients around the Levelland area. The City of Levelland has been a partner with EDG for the better part of two years prior to McAlpine filling in the role. His coverage also includes several towns such as Tulia, Muleshoe, Wolfforth, Slaton, Denver City and Big Spring. Coming aboard during the time the City of Levelland was making transitions with the current City Manager Brandon Anderson and EDC Director.
“I feel like we are gaining a lot of traction now with the number of things picking up for the City of Levelland.”
For McAlpine, he has a dedicated day out of the week where he will visit a specific town and hopefully have a handful of meetings with clients. For Levelland clients, that day is Thursday.
From the Leading EDG side of things, McAlpine can be the “boots on the ground” for clients within Levelland or any area he has clients.
An EDC cannot provide the services by law that McAlpine and his employer can provide as a private contractor.
For clients, that means McAlpine can spend time with clients, have one-on-one conversations, hear the clients professional and private goals and craft a plan to address all those factors.
“Most of the time there are obstacles that a client tends to deal with when it comes to putting these plans together,” said McAlpine. “There can be questions of does the client have the right resources, do they need access to funding, do they need help with a business plan, do they know what operations go into their plan, do they need to work through workflows and figure out where things bottleneck? For some, they can be in a totally different stage where they are not a startup, but they are already existing.”
For those clients that are already out of the startup phase, some tailored questions for those clients in that phase of business can focus on what they need to do for profit maximization or is there anything that can be done for shareholders?
Then there are clients who are in the phase who need to know what the proper steps are when letting go of a company or when the client is ready to retire. “Does the client already have a succession plan, do we need to find investors, do we need to find a new owner-operator,” asked McAlpine. “We are able to have all these various types of conversations with clients and get them sorted and informed on the proper steps of whatever point they sit at with their business.”
For all clients, their business partnership with McAlpine and Leading EDG are always confidential and proprietary.
Currently, McAlpine is assisting with a client that is in the startup phase of their business and is doing well.
“The startup for my client is roughly one to one and a half years old,” said McAlpine. “They are doing well and seeing cashflow that is positive. With that success, it is exciting to see the potential because at the time we started he was operating at a loss and now my client can hold onto some cash can look forward to some exciting growth plans.”
Another client McAlpine is working with is a non-profit and those business talks are centered around what philanthropy and development look like.
“For this client when we’re looking at it, we are asking what it looks like to bring value to your community when your main activity is in your primary revenue source,” explained McAlpine. “Making sure those activities are sustainable so they can have longevity and impact living out the mission of the non-profit.”
A relatively new client for McAlpine is an individual who has been in business for a good amount of time who is the sole proprietor.
When it comes to helping a client at this point in their business, McAlpine is working with the client to set up an LLC and work on the future.
“We’re helping him navigate some of those things and put some of those numbers on paper,” said McAlpine. “These things can offer a perspective to the client for the future and see if the idea of not being in the field anymore, but taking more of managerial role that handled sales, lined up jobs and have field manager and a crew doing the work.”
For a client who is getting older, McAlpine’s goal is to show the individual that there are different paths that can be taken to help stimulate growth and more success.
At the end of the spectrum, McAlpine is working with a client that has been in business for a long time that has had continuous success and the need for a succession plan needs to be put in place. “For business owners who have found steady success and are continuing to grow, they can still have a succession plan put in place for whenever the time comes,” explained McAlpine. “Having a plan doesn’t mean it needs to act on immediately, but it is a feeling of security for when the time is right.” For interested individuals, there are no barriers for entry of any new clients. The service is free, and the EDC pays for the EDG to be in Levelland and provide the free service to the community. The only criteria for the EDG are that an individual owns, operates, or are interested in starting a business within Levelland. “Within the time of being in Levelland, the company has worked with roughly 60 different owners and business, but that is only a fraction of what is out there in Levelland,” said McAlpine. “There is a lot of people that if they are willing and interested in help, they can have that provided for them.”
For client relationships, they can vary depending on the amount of involvement.
Since I came on in January, I have kept a client that meets with me weekly since then,” explained McAlpine. “For a handful of others, we put together a business plan and from that point they go their way and execute. I will usually just check in and ask how things are going, how are our goals or do they need anything else?”
Additionally, for clients that sign up, while McAlpine spends the entirety of Thursday in Levelland, he assures his clients that his availability extends through the business week. Between 30 to 40 active clients between all locations covered by McAlpine, he continues to encourage individuals in whatever phase of business planning or owning they are in to reach out for help if they do require it. The main focus for Leading EDG and McAlpine is to promote the growth of the EDC they are serving. “Our tagline on our website is says helping communities grow one business at a time and for us we are always trying to see the benefit of our client,” explained McAlpine. “Sometimes that might be with the numbers and resources we are looking at maybe helping the client make a decision to move forward with their plans or helping them make a tough decision and finding the right path that suits their situation.” For us, success if helping them make decisions for themselves and at the end of the day it is their venture and business,” added McAlpine.”
We want to make sure they have the information and resources to know what the risk is and what is the opportunity. From there what is needed to be able to execute.” From the time McAlpine started in Levelland, he has seen a continuous growth of optimism from the community. “There’s is a lot of optimism around the city and there are a lot of neat projects in the works for Levelland,” said McAlpine. “The city and EDC have a great momentum and direction of what they want to accomplish. From there, I get to help from the individual level while they handle the government level.”