Northern Lights - Issue 30 - May 2024
Symmetry Concepts Launched by Longtime Arcadia Business Owners: Venture North’s startup capital provided for Manistee County company
by AMY LANE
Tom and Shannon Westgate know a bit about business.
They’ve owned and grown individual companies and jointly operate Arcadia’s Pleasant Valley Resort, purchased in 2012. Now, with the help of Venture North Funding & Development, they’re starting down a new path.
Fueling Growth in Arcadia
The husband-and-wife duo have launched Symmetry Concepts LLC, a company to create customized products like signage, component parts and other items using computer-guided machine tools – a manufacturing method known as computer numerical control, or CNC. Seizing on a niche to handle small-scale product orders, the Westgates plan to provide CNC-cut and laser-engraved materials to a variety of customers for commercial, residential, craft and other uses.
“Most companies that have a CNC component to what they do, are scaled to do large production runs. So, getting something that is a small production run made on a CNC machine, is tough,” Shannon Westgate said. And as the two started exploring the idea, she said, they saw opportunities.
Symmetry Concepts is one of the latest Manistee County businesses assisted by Venture North, a federally certified Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI, that focuses on Manistee and nine other northwest Michigan counties, offering loans and other resources to support small business growth and jobs.
Venture North – Unique Business Services
“They approach funding and support of businesses in a way that is different from traditional commercial finance,” Shannon Westgate said. “I think they are unique in the depth of supports that they have for small businesses. Too often in rural communities we see very passionate people trying to put together a small business…(and) some of these people don’t have support needed to create success.”
She said Venture North provides “a full scope of support for a potential small business operation to really understand, are you ready for this. And if not, what is needed.”
Tom Westgate shown here with their newly acquired CNC machine, key to their new business, Symmetry Concepts.
Venture North can offer loans to fit business plans and projections, mini grants to help businesses address issues or bridge gaps that are holding them back from growing, and consulting to help solve problems or take advantage of business opportunities. For example, Westgate said that while she put together much of Symmetry’s business plan, there were aspects with which she needed assistance and Venture North was there, asking critical questions and helping complete the process.
Steve Brower, a Venture North business development manager and coach who connects with businesses throughout the county, helped the Westgates secure a Venture North loan for the multiple pieces of equipment they needed to launch their company, including a CNC production router system manufactured by ShopSabre CNC in Lakeville, Minn.
Learning the Business
Tom Westgate is receiving training onsite at ShopSabre, and he can also tap digital training and videos, lifetime technical support and a proprietary Facebook group for owners as Symmetry unfolds.
Both Tom and Shannon are being trained to use the computer software that supports the CNC platform and as the business grows, they hope to hire technicians who would also receive training in equipment operation, product finishing, distribution and installations. The two share in running Symmetry: Tom oversees machine setup, production, graphics, material acquisitions and general operations, while Shannon manages branding, marketing, product development, client relations and quality control.
A Business Plan Positioned for Growth
Symmetry is located on the Westgate’s Arcadia property, but a separate location in the future could be possible with business growth. The Westgates initially plan to do CNC material carving and laser engraving of wood, plastics, composite materials and non-ferrous metals for products including branded and interpretive signage, customized component parts and crafts. Looking ahead, they could explore product expansions like simply designed and adaptable furniture using locally harvested wood, kiln-dried onsite.
“The machine really has a diverse range of things it can do,” Shannon Westgate said. “We’re both really excited about the prospect of what this could look like. And the opportunity to work with other creative people as well.”
“We’re both really excited about the prospect of what this could look like. And the opportunity to work with other creative people as well.”
Shannon Westgate
A Niche Market Destined for Success
Venture North board member Eric Gustad, who sits on the CDFI’s loan committee, said Symmetry holds promise. “Working through their business plan and their strategy for starting up their business, we saw an opportunity for them to be successful…in a gap in the region,” Gustad said. “We saw a niche market that they can find success in.”
The new venture taps into the Westgates’ creative passions and skill sets and it joins a stable of other businesses: Tom is owner and operator of Progressive Surveillance Tech, a security company that provides surveillance system design and installation, and Shannon owns Thinking Stone LLC, a communication consulting firm.
The Westgates also own Pleasant Valley Resort, featuring six motel guest rooms and four cottages. Each year the two look at ways they can improve the resort and, heading into their 12th season, they’ve replaced picnic tables with new ones built by Tom and have upgraded plumbing and bathrooms. Tom also installed natural pine paneling in one of the motel units, to be rolled out to other units over the next winter season.
From Resilience to a New Business!
Pleasant Valley Resort first connected the Westgates and Venture North. During the pandemic, the resort was among more than two dozen small Manistee County businesses to receive grants for urgent needs, under Venture North’s Regional Resiliency Program or RRP. The program provided grants throughout Venture North’s territory – assistance of up to $5,000 for needs ranging from cash flow, payroll and inventory to business shifts in new directions, supplies and equipment, rent and utilities, and basic survival.
In Manistee County alone, RRP grants totaling $142,000 went to 29 businesses in a variety of sectors, including retail, food service, outdoor recreation/hospitality, physical fitness and youth training and development. And it’s among Venture North’s work in the county, where it brings to bear its team members, consulting services, grants and loans, playing a role in impacting the county’s quality of life.
Helping one business succeed can have a ripple effect and benefit others – a “success equation” of which Venture North can be a part, said board member Gustad. A lifelong county resident who is a member of the Manistee County Board of Commissioners and community affairs manager for Consumers Energy, servicing a five-county area, Gustad said “small businesses and medium-sized businesses are really the backbone and lifeblood of our community.”
And whether its competitive funding strategies or professional services that can assist in the “nuts and bolts,” essentials, and aspects of everyday business, “Venture North just has so many resources at its disposal and can really help businesses grow, thrive or become a new business,” he said.
Helping Small Businesses Grow
Brower said the CDFI can offer competitive loan interest rates and flexible terms, as “an alternative to the conventional financing offered by banks.” And he too said consulting services – in a host of areas including accounting and bookkeeping, business plans and cash flow projections, marketing, social media, inventory management and legal needs – are an important part of what Venture North can provide.
A former vice president at West Shore Bank in Manistee who lives in the county and has strong connections with community partners, Brower said he and other team members network and circulate, helping to raise the profile, awareness and reach of the CDFI. And in Manistee County and throughout its region, Venture North wants to do more.
“We have a lot of resources to give out, and the more we can help businesses be successful, the more the region can be successful,” Gustad said. “That’s our goal, to grow northwest Michigan.”
Amy Lane is a veteran Michigan business reporter whose background includes work with Crain Communications Inc., Crain’s Detroit Business and serving as Capitol correspondent for nearly 25 years. Now a freelance reporter and journalist, Lane’s work has appeared in many publications including Traverse City Business News.
