Coaching Small Business to Victory

Coaching Small Businesses to Victory

How the Packers Connect Local Businesses with their Ideal Coach

By: Anna Steinfest, Program Administrator

The Green Bay Packers are well-known for their history and winning tradition, but the team is also responsible for a lesser-known, yet still special and unique, contribution to our community.

Now in its 12th year and recruiting for its 13th, the Packers Mentor-Protégé Program connects ascending Women, Black, Latinx, Asian, Veteran, and LGBTQ-owned businesses – Protégés – with experienced Mentor businesses, for 12 months of guidance and encouragement. The Mentors draw upon their business experience to coach and inspire the Protégés to navigate through key issues, overcome obstacles and grow their business.

“Every business owner faces unique challenges, and the Mentor-Protégé Program provided unique solutions tailored to the struggles I was facing,” said Kim Swisher, a Protégé in the program in 2021. “A year later, I feel I have tools and knowledge that eluded me prior to joining the Program.”

The Mentor-Protégé Program exemplifies the local focus on the education and talent needed to grow the business community. It has not only encouraged talent to stay in the region and build businesses to contribute to the regional economy, but it has also enabled businesses to grow their roster of employees by hiring home-grown talent. The commitment of volunteer Mentors to work with Protégés is the very essence of education that leads to growth and success.

Following their year of engagement, Protégés have seen growth by as much as 400 percent. The Program has served 121 Protégé businesses, utilizing the experience of 62 Mentors from Wisconsin businesses and organizations. The Program has helped its Protégés to generate more than $81 million in revenue growth and create 381 new jobs. “The Mentor-Protégé Program was an amazing experience,” said Dr. Kwadwo Owusu-Ofori, who was also a Protégé in recent years. “It helped us increase the quality of our brand and triple our monthly revenue. It was great working with a team… to take our company to the next level. The Huddle meetings were priceless.”

The Program has recently expanded from northeast Wisconsin to the reach businesses in southeastern, southwestern, and central Wisconsin. To learn more and apply for the program, visit packers.com/community/mentor-protege.

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have been a part of the Program,” said Lisa Reynolds, who participated as a Protégé in 2020. “The resources I could access through the program and the network of other businesses provided an incredible support system. It [gave] us more opportunities….and resources [than we would] have had exposure to.”

From left to right Packers President & CEO Mark Murphy, LeKecia Lovett Program Participant, Renita Robinson Program Mentor Prevea Health, VP of Diversity and Inclusion