Lewis Blakeney named 2018 Washington state small business ‘Star Performer’

Lew Blakeney, WSBDC Star Performer
Lew Blakeney, WSBDC Star Performer

By Hope Belli Tinney, Washington Small Business Development Center

SEATTLE, Wash. – Lewis Blakeney, a certified business advisor with the Washington Small Business Development Center, was named the network’s 2018 Star Performer for his work with small business owners in North Central Washington.

The award was announced May 3 at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) annual gala at the Renaissance Hotel in Seattle. Blakeney and the Star Performers from each of the 63 SBDC networks across the country will be honored at the America’s SBDC conference in Washington, D.C., in September.

Blakeney joined the Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC) as a small business advisor in Omak in 2000, where his work is supported by The Economic Alliance of Okanogan County, after having been a small business owner for more than a dozen years. Prior to that, Blakeney had held executive positions in large corporations for more than 15 years.

“As the SBDC advisor in Okanogan County, Lew understands the specific challenges business owners in rural areas face,” said Duane Fladland, state director of the Washington SBDC. “His work demonstrates that geography is not a barrier to success when small business owners have the tools and resources they need to succeed.”

The Washington SBDC is a network of more than two dozen business advisors working in communities across the state to help small business owners start, grow or transition a business. The Washington SBDC is hosted by Washington State University and receives support from the U.S. Small Business Administration and other institutions of higher education and economic development.

“Lew has assisted many of the local businesses within our communities from the ground up,” said Roni Holder-Diefenbach. “He is committed to every client that he works with and goes above and beyond to see them succeed. We are lucky to have Lew as our SBDC officer serving Okanogan County.”

Blakeney said he enjoys helping business owners succeed. “It’s very rewarding to help someone be successful,” he said.

Blakeney assisted more than 100 SBDC small business clients in 2017. Those clients credited him with helping them raise more than $1 million in capital. Blakeney’s career total for helping SBDC clients secure financing exceeds $34 million.

When a business is successful, especially a business in a rural community, the ripple effects can be significant, from the owner and his or her family to the employees to the community. “You’ve actually changed someone’s life for the better,” he said.

According to Blakeney, perseverance is the single most important quality in becoming a successful small business owner. “People who are not small business owners have no idea how stressful and all-consuming being a business owner is,” he said.

Blakeney earned an engineering degree from the University of Cincinnati and then an MBA from Stanford University. While at Stanford he took a class in small business that interested him, but with few resources or connections, that wasn’t an option. Instead he went to work for IBM and then spent more than 15 years working in executive positions in large corporations.

Finally, in 1985, after six months of research, he purchased an injection molded plastic manufacturing company with 10 employees. Over the next dozen years he increased sales tenfold and added 30 new jobs.

“I had 40 people who depended on me for a job,” he said, and that was both satisfying and daunting. After selling his business in 1998, he decided he wanted to help other small business owners succeed.

From restaurant owners to hoteliers to retail shop owners and professional services, Lew’s clients talk about his ability to cut through the clutter and help them figure out what really matters.

For instance, Jennifer Tate, owner of Sky and Earth Studios in Twisp, has been working with Blakeney for more than 15 years. In 2016 she recently bought a real estate website design business in rural Central Washington, preserving more than 20 well-paying jobs that might well have disappeared. She says that it wouldn’t have happened without Lew’s help.

“There were so many things that I needed to do and he helped me with every single one,” she said. “He’s just such an incredible resource.”

In addition to the one-on-one business advising Blakeney provides his SBDC clients, he has also taught nearly two dozen 10-week courses titled “Indianpreneurship—a Native American Journey into Business” over the past 10 years.

For more information, see the Washington SBDC website.

 

 

Contact:

  • Hope Belli Tinney, director of communications, Washington Small Business Development Center, 509-432-8254, hopebt@wsu.edu
  • Lewis Blakeney, business advisor, Washington Small Business Development Center, 509-341-4780, lewisbblakeney@wsu.edu

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