November 15, 2005
Salem Evening News
by Christina Torrode

Somer is new leader of regions'
Small Business Development Center

Margaret Somer is the new director of the Small Business Development Center at Salem State College. The center serves 35 North of Boston communities, from the North Shore and Cape Ann to Newburyport and the Merrimack Valley.

While most of her fellow classmates at Tufts University chose to write their master’s thesis on how to turn around a business, Margaret Somer decided to write hers on how to turn around the economy of a country.

The subject was Ireland, a country riddled with economic problems in the late 1990s. Somer didn’t do her research from afar, instead meeting with business, government and labor union representatives in Ireland and across Europe.

Today, as the new director of the Small Business Development Center’s North of Boston regional office, she is taking the same hands-on approach. The SBDC, a nonprofit funded through sources that include the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Massachusetts Department of Business and Technology, helps businesses find financing and offers free one-on-one counseling and workshops for entrepreneurs.

“I’ve spent most of my career in economic development and small business development,” said Somer, a Swampscott resident.  “Now I can be close to my family on the North Shore, which is such a dynamic and unique place for businesses to grow and thrive and for people to live and work.”

In her new role, Somer’s chief goal is to step up the organization’s fundraising efforts for North Shore businesses.  The SBDC provided free one-on-one business counseling to 787 clients and helped 44 Essex County-based businesses raise $5 million in the fiscal year that ended September by providing introductions to banks and other financing institutions and by offering workshops and training.

In many cases, banks refer entrepreneurs seeking financing to the SBDC for further training and preparation, such as help developing a business plan or understanding financial projections, before the bank will consider lending the firm money, Somer said. In the coming year, Somer would like to increase the amount of money the SBDC helps clients raise, and she is well-prepared for the task.

Meeting with bankers, consultants and business clients in her new job, Somer is rarely found sitting behind her desk. Her typical day is a 7:30 a.m. breakfast meeting with an economic or business group, a 9 a.m. counseling session with a business looking for working capital, an 11 a.m. meeting with a retiree who wants to start a consulting business, a 12:30 p.m. working lunch with the staff to figure out who will be teaching which workshops, and a 2 p.m. meeting with a consultant with ideas on how to help businesses add ecommerce and a Web presence to their plans.

Her day doesn’t stop there, and Somer typically works well into the evening, which does not surprise members of the committee that chose her for the job over 29 other candidates.

She was creative, dynamic and energetic, which is something we need here,” said Andrea Swirka, assistant director of continuing education at Salem State College and a member of the committee that interviewed Somer. “She also has years of experience that will be invaluable to local business.”

This is experience that Kathleen Brewer Doran, dean of Salem State College’s School of Business, saw at work firsthand.

“She came very highly recommend by Georgianna Parkin, and I could see why.” Brewer Doran said.  “We went to an event for Pat Buchanan together last night, and she knew more people than I did.  She has a strong knowledge of the business climate on the North Shore.”  Parkin is the SBDC’s state director.

During her years working in Boston, Somer forged close ties to the banking community across Massachusetts, including many North Shore banks, as well as businesses in and around Essex County.  She has also lived in Swampscott for more than 20 years, attended numerous business events in Essex County and, earlier, was on the Salem State College College School of Business’ advisory board – often speaking at events. 

The energy that colleagues describe in Somer is visible while she digs through meeting schedules and discusses upcoming workshops as her phone rings nonstop.

The SBDC, which serves 35 North of Boston communities, including the Lawrence, Gloucester and Newburyport areas along with Salem, already has long lists of events coming up, including working with the Enterprise Center at Salem State College, where the SBDC is located, on its second annual North Shore Business Plan Competition.

“The competition really shows how our organizations can work together to promote economic growth and job creation,” Somer said.  “While we and the Enterprise Center are holding a competition for entrepreneurs, the (Salem State) School of Business is also holding a business plan competition to encourage students to follow an entrepreneurial path.”

The SBDC’s schedule includes an upcoming workshop that is designed to get business to enter the Internet age.

“The idea behind this and other upcoming workshops is to get people into the e-commerce marketplace and teach them about Internet marketing,” Somer said. “The Internet is another component of business that not enough local businesses are stepping into as an avenue to sell and market their products and services.”

Teaching local entrepreneurs the ins and outs of marketing will remain a top priority for the SBDC as well as offering business training on topics such as sales and financial management through workshops and counseling, Somer said.

Helping connect business with the SBDC’s services are area chambers of commerce, which also donate office space, said Somer, who is making the rounds as a speaker at events hosted by local business groups.

“A business can also ask us to come with them as an event speaker on variety of topics like marketing or how to get funding,” Somer said.