SEMO business center director stepping down

Buz Sutherland dispenses advice to small-business owners and start-up entrepreneurs with a hearty handshake and an easy smile.

His steady approach hasn't changed in the more than 16 years that he has served as director of the Small Business Development Center at Southeast Missouri State University.

But Sutherland will resign, effective Sept. 29, to take a new economic development job as the executive director of a new Bootheel organization called the Southeast Missouri Economic Development Alliance.

Bill Vickery, who serves on the Small Business Development Center staff, will take control of the center.

Sutherland, 57, grew up on a farm near Charleston, Mo. He said he couldn't turn down the opportunity to help boost the economy in the six Bootheel counties of Scott, Stoddard, Mississippi, New Madrid, Dunklin and Pemiscot counties.

Sutherland, who previously worked in economic development for Missouri state government, said he'll also draw checks from a state retirement program.

"I am going to be getting some rocking-chair money. I just won't be in a rocking chair," he said.

Behind his outward demeanor, Sutherland has a no-nonsense approach to helping people gain the skills and bank loans needed to run a new business or expand an existing one.

"Our job has never been to be a wet blanket or a cheerleader," he said.

He compares himself to Sgt. Joe Friday, the police detective on the old "Dragnet" television series who sought "just the facts."

Sometimes the fact was that a client's business idea wasn't feasible, so he would try to persuade the client to scrap it.

His clients have included those who wanted to start new restaurants or new retail stores. Over the years, numerous would-be entrepreneurs have approached him for advice on starting Internet companies, or dot-coms.

New entrepreneurs today often focus on business ventures that rely on selling items on eBay, he said. Many times they start out as part-time businesses, Sutherland said.

The center receives more than 2,000 inquiries a year for information about starting or expanding small businesses. The center's staff works closely with 250 to 280 clients a year. Most of the counseling work involves businesses that employ or plan to employ fewer than 20 people, he said.

Sutherland's office is in the university's new Innovation Center, a remodeled former church education building on Broadway that has increased public visibility for the Small Business Development Center.

When Sutherland took the job in February 1990, the Small Business Development Center had been closed because the university didn't have the matching funds needed to keep it open. But civic and community leaders lobbied for the university to resurrect the economic development service.

The center reopened in a small bank building on Pacific Street. It later moved to Dempster Hall, home of the College of Business.

While the focus is on small businesses, Sutherland has worked closely with Cape Girardeau Area Magnet industrial recruiter Mitch Robinson on various business recruitment projects.

Robinson said Sutherland's people skills are evident. "He is definitely a hands-on type of guy.

"First of all, I think he is a good listener," Robinson said.

He also brings credibility to the job, Robinson said. In addition to experience in various economic development jobs, he operated Sutherland Oil Co. in Charleston from 1982 to 1989.

"He knows what it is like to meet a payroll," Robinson said.

Sutherland has a wealth of business contacts in the Bootheel that will be an asset in his new job, Robinson said. "He is going to be able to hit the ground running."

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123