A Small Business Rock Star came to visit this week...

I am one of Sue Malone's biggest fans, as are the hundreds of Club E members that have received financing from her company Strategies For Small Business (www.strategiesforsmallbusiness.com). Sue and I are good friends and are working together on some sweeping initiatives that will propel Club Entrepreneur into the "Big Leagues." She called up and said she was swinging through Phoenix and would have a couple of hours to share with anyone from Club E that wanted to meet with her.

Sonia and Jim Graham, went into action and with only a couple of days notice, managed to schedule 45 local area entrepreneurs in small group sessions with Sue to learn about her programs and to ask questions about their particular needs. Sue travels 51 weeks of the year and is a tireless advocate for small business, often shaking up Congress and the Senate with her loud and repetitive requests for our Federal Government to get off their candy asses (my words, not hers!) and support the group that made America great, the entrepreneurs. Having her face-to-face with members of Club E was a fantastic privilege and we thank Sue for being our champion.

By all accounts, the meetings with Sue went very well and even people who had received money from her company before but had never met her in person were there. There were many others who were curious about her financing offerings - truly the only source of inexpensive capital for start-ups and small businesses that we have ever found out there. Single-handedly, Sue's company has funded over 26,000 small businesses through the little-know SBA Community Express and Patriot Express loans.

With the collaboration that Club E has achieved through great folks like the Grahams at Club E corporate, real deal lenders like Sue, a landlord like Dolf and his able administrator Cindy and of course, the incredible pool of talent of Club Entrepreneur members...we will all grow strong together and cure what ails our local and National economies. Of that, I am certain.

Best to all,

Peter J. Burns, III
Founder