Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/133826
UP FRONT Regional Roundup » 13 n Face Time » 17 n Connections "It's an absolutely amazing tool to really help (companies) grasp where their procedures, their policies, their practices need help, and it does so in a non-threatening way." 2 0 – Colleen Merrill, director of the SBDC at UW-Oshkosh » By Rich R edman How are you doing? Small Business Development Centers bring benchmarking tool to New North companies If you're like many smallbusiness owners, you sometimes think, "There's got to be a better way to do this!" Thanks to a new innovative partnership, now you can efficiently benchmark your small business with similar operations in the Midwest, nationally, or even across the globe. The partnership, between the Wisconsin Small Business Development Centers Network and a benchmarking consultancy firm, Comparison International, makes it easier for companies to share best practices with each other. CI's product, called PROBE, is now available at no cost to businesses with 500 employees or fewer through two SBDCs in the New North region. "PROBE, which stands for promoting business excellence, is a tool for companies thinking about A closer look Interested in a PROBE analysis for your small business? Wisconsin's Small Business Development Centers at the 12 four-year University of Wisconsin campuses are the only licensed PROBE facilitators in the state. These two SBDCs serve the following New North counties: » UW-Green Bay SBDC – Brown, Calumet, Door, Florence, Forest, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto and Shawano counties. Contact Ryan Kauth at (920) 496-2114 or kauthr@uwgb.edu. Visit www.uwgb.edu/sbdc. » UW-Oshkosh SBDC – Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette, Outagamie, Sheboygan, Waushara and Winnebago counties. Contact Colleen Merrill at (920) 424-1456 or merrillc@uwosh.edu. Visit www. uwosh.edu/sbdc. strategic planning that will pinpoint, through benchmarking, where they can improve," says Ryan Kauth, who is director of the UW-Green Bay SBDC and a certified PROBE facilitator and instructor. "It's a global benchmarking system which enables you to compare your company with companies in other "It's a global benchmarking system which enables you to compare your company with companies in other parts of the world in your particular industry sector. It's not done just with the owners of the company or the board. " –Ryan Kauth, director of the UW-Green Bay SBDC 12 | Insight • J u n e 2 013 parts of the world in your particular industry sector," says Kauth. "It's not done just with the owners of the company or the board. It's a crossfunctional way of benchmarking your company, so you need a crossfunctional team involved." "It's an absolutely amazing tool to really help (companies) grasp where their procedures, their policies, their practices need help, and it does so in a non-threatening way," says Colleen Merrill, director of the SBDC at UW-Oshkosh. Merrill also is a certified PROBE facilitator and instructor. PROBE is essentially a threestep process. First, once a company decides to participate, each member of the team gets a written, 50-question survey about topics such as how the w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m