Small business, big muscles Coach Bill Jhung and team help hundreds of local businesses flourish and prosper

Bay Shore Systems, Inc., First Response Fire Rescue, River City Fabrication, and the law firm Smith + Malek have a lot in common.

All are Kootenai County-based businesses headed by dynamic young leaders whose enterprises are all on strong growth trajectories.

And they’re all disciples of business guru Bill Jhung.

Jhung is the venerable director of the Small Business Development Center at North Idaho College. He’s held those reins since October 2005 after serving as executive pastor of a large church. These days, the cerebral coach and relationship builder preaches the gospel of effectively growing local businesses so our communities benefit from the bounties of good jobs and a strong tax base.

“The goal is to take your people to a better place,” said Shannon Horn, a seemingly indefatigable triathlete, accountant and entrepreneur who founded and oversees Post Falls-based First Response, River City Fabrication and several other flourishing businesses.

Horn has the biggest boys housed on two campuses covering 8 acres with more than 80,000 square feet inside its buildings. A large hunk of that space was formerly used by Ground Force Manufacturing on the south side of Seltice Way.

Like the other business bosses on the tour, Horn said he’s been meeting once a month with Jhung. All of his executives have attended the key SBDC classes, he said.

Horn and his dynamos of industry were one stop on a Jhung-led tour Nov. 28. Invitees included NIC leadership, Jhung’s team at the SBDC and a dozen representatives of entities that partner in various ways with Jhung and the SBDC at NIC.

Owners of each of the featured enterprises led the tours, providing insights into their operations and testimony of the positive influence Jhung and his staff of five have through a variety of services.

“It’s getting back to the fundamentals,” said Horn, who might have been speaking for all of the 300 or so local businesses that Jhung & Co. work with every year. “Clarity: That’s one of the words you’ve all heard from Bill.”

It is indeed.

Over in Coeur d’Alene, law firm partners Luke Malek, Peter Smith and Tara Malek all asserted that clarity and focus are two of the fundamentals Jhung personally brings to the table during monthly coaching sessions.

“Clarity on one year, five years, where we’ll be and what a day will look like for all staff,” said Luke Malek, who teamed up with old friend Peter Smith to form the firm in 2015. Tara Malek, Luke’s wife, joined the guys last February after years working as a prosecutor.

“You do lose sight of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it… especially when you’re looking at growth opportunities,” said Tara. And Smith & Malek is definitely keen on growth opportunities: With no small boost from the SBDC, the firm now has offices in Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint and Boise, with seven attorneys and four full-time support staff. And they’re looking for more.

The Maleks and Smith said those monthly meetings with Bill aren’t always the easiest or most comfortable sessions, though each one is valuable. Smith said that he finds an understanding but not overly sympathetic ear when he tells Jhung how darned busy he is and how many moving parts he’s constantly trying to corral.

Jhung’s response, per Smith: “Everybody’s busy, so suck it up and get it done!”

Through these free personal coaching sessions and a variety of other methods including low-cost workshops and other trainings available to North Idahoans, the lawyers enunciated some of the roughest challenges Jhung and his coaches help business people overcome.

“Staying focused on the big picture,” said Smith. “You can read about something on a page, but Bill is a constant reminder to focus.”

He said focusing and refocusing is critical for all activities “to see where we’re going and why we’re going there.” And he said a valuable lesson driven home again and again is to recognize and focus on the good ideas worthy of marching forward on the company’s path while rejecting the rest.

“Everything sounds like a good idea when you first hear it,” Smith said.

Luke said the counseling has been especially helpful in avoiding some of the hiring mistakes made in the past. He said the firm had hired “some great people” who just weren’t the right fit for what the team-oriented law firm demands.

And Tara reiterated that one of Jhung’s talents is to help clients size up their challenges consistently, clearly and without a lot of drama.

“We might say, ‘You don’t understand our business. It’s complicated,’” she said. “And Bill will say, ‘Actually, it’s not that complicated.’”

The tour group got a good laugh when someone asked Smith approximately how much time a year the owners spend with Jhung.

“I’d say 15 to 20 hours,” said Smith, sounding very much like a man who bills by the hour.

Up at Bay Shore Systems, Inc., in Rathdrum, the company’s president tipped his hat to the SBDC folks for helping the foundation-drilling equipment company flourish. Bay Shore Systems has enjoyed back-to-back record breaking years, said Adam Minatre, whose father, Herb, brought the company to Kootenai County from California in 1996. Adam and Herb meet monthly with Bill, a healthy habit they’ve maintained for the past two and a half years.

Asked how he and Jhung crossed paths, Adam somewhat sheepishly admitted that he “kind of met Bill by accident.” At the time, Adam had been promoted to president and his father was taking the first steps toward trying to retire.

“Dad wanted Bill to talk to his GM,” Adam recalled. “And Bill said, ‘Hang on: I need to talk to you.’”That’s when the monthly sessions began, and they continue today — much to the delight of the owners and employees at Bay Shore Systems. There are now just under 100 full-time staff, a healthy profit percentage, low debt and great chances of a third consecutive record-breaking year.

“Bay Shore is probably bigger than anything Dad imagined,” Adam said.

And the SBDC at NIC can be bigger, too. Jhung implored his tourists, over lunch at Emery’s at NIC, to “Leverage us. Leverage us,” he repeated. “We can deliver greater capacity.”

(To leverage Bill and his team, go to https://bit.ly/2E35Ygb or call 208-665-5085.)

The work being done by Jhung and his crew hasn’t gone unnoticed by NIC President Rick MacLennan, now in his third year at the community college’s helm. MacLennan not only attended the half-day tour, but concluded the post-luncheon talk with high praise for Jhung.

“Bill is the best Small Business Development Center director in the nation,” MacLennan declared.

Nobody there was about to argue.

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Here’s a sampling of what NIC’s Small Business Development Center has to offer local businesses:

COACHING (FREE)

Starting a Business — permits and licenses

Business Planning & Feasibility Analysis

Commercialization of new products/ideas

Marketing — market research, marketing strategy, sales, advertising, customer service

Operations — leases, inventory management, operational processes & systems, tools & equipment

Management — finding, hiring, training, and leading employees

Organization — structure, tools, processes

Finance — bookkeeping, start-up costs, loan package development, cash flow management, break-even, budgeting & planning

Strategic Issues including — Business Model Development, Business & Strategic Planning

Exit Strategy — Buying/Selling your Business, Leadership Transition

Leadership — leading oneself and leading others

TRAINING (FEES)

Business Foundations — Starting a Business in ID, Marketing, Managing your Finances, Planning for Success

Finance — Bookkeeping, QuickBooks, Cash flow Management, Taxes, Break Even, Cost Management, Business Loan briefing

Marketing — Target Marketing, Guerilla Marketing, Customer Service, Networking

Operations — Operations, Process Improvement

Management — Supervisor Training, Basic Management

Leadership — Entrepreneurial Leadership Training I & II, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders

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Attendees of the Nov. 28 NIC-SBDC tour:

Rick MacLennan, NIC President

Lita Burns, NIC VP of Instruction

Kassie Silvas, NIC Dean, Career & Technical

Gynii Gilliam, CEO, Coeur d’Alene Area Economic Development Corp. (Jobs Plus)

Steve Wilson, CEO, Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce

Jame` Davis, CEO, Post Falls Chamber of Commerce

Wally Jacobson, Exec. Director, Panhandle Area Council

Tom Pool Sr. VP, Mountain West Bank

Gavin Mobraten, VP, US Bank

Rhonda Seagraves, VP, Columbia Bank

Anne Hagman, Business Development, ICCU

Sam Bishop, VP, Wells Fargo Bank

Jack Reiswig, VP, Wells Fargo Bank

Vicki Isakson, Regional Manager, Idaho Dept. of Labor

Mike Wells Sr. Coach, Idaho SBDC at NIC

Warren Mueller, Business Coach, SBDC at NIC

Steve Boston, Business Coach, SBDC at NIC

Jamie Morgan, Marketing Coach, SBDC at NIC

Kim Ziegler, Office Manager, SBDC at NIC

Bill Jhung, Director, SBDC at NIC