Goldie’s Ice Cream Shoppe LLC is a restaurant and ice cream store located in Prairie City. The business is owned by 23 year-old entrepreneur Brad Magg, who has been an entrepreneur since the age of 14, owning and operating a family catering business and a Tropical Sno franchise. Magg continues to operate his family catering business, but his main focus now is on Goldie’s Ice Cream Shoppe, which he bought in the fall of 2008.

Initially putting too much into the business—investing most of his start-up capital to do building improvements—Magg hit bottom in January 2009 due mostly to the recession and a brutal winter. Goldie’s was not meeting initial sales projections, it was experiencing cash flow difficulties, and the business was operating without a business plan. Struggling to keep the business open during the winter when customers were used to only a seasonal operation, and upset because he was not meeting payments to family investors, Magg sought the help of the Jasper County Economic Development Director, Craig Hamilton, who referred him to Mike Hahn, regional director of the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) SBDC in Waterloo.

The UNI SBDC was providing on-site business counseling and entrepreneur development programs to area businesses through a Small Business Administration (SBA) Portability Program established to assist Jasper County in the wake of the Maytag plant closure in Newton. Persevering through the winter in spite of the recession, Magg waited until the fall of 2009 to make a final decision about the future of his new business. Mike reviewed the company’s initial financials, which looked pretty grim.

With the help of the SBDC, a “skin and bones” projection was developed illustrating what Goldie’s needed to do to keep expenses in-line (especially payroll) and what sales revenues were needed to keep the business above water. Magg then met frequently with Mike for one-on-one, customized, in-depth counseling. In addition, he enrolled in FastTrac New Venture and Growth Venture classes offered by the UNI SBDC via the SBDC Portability Program. In FastTrac, Magg developed a support system with other entrepreneurs in the class and was introduced to the entrepreneur infrastructure available in Jasper County. This support mechanism gave him a sounding board and also provided an extra boost of confidence in refining his business.

Magg’s determination paid off. With the help of family members and his FastTrac network, Goldie’s Ice Cream Shoppe has become a legend in central Iowa, building off of one product, its pork tenderloin sandwich. In the spring of 2009, Magg’s mother encouraged Des Moines Register readers to take the short drive to Prairie City to try Goldie’s tenderloin sandwiches. That two sentence newspaper invitation tripled Goldie’s sales in one weekend.

In addition, FastTrac class members and family members encouraged KCCI TV’s Steve Carlin to do a story about Goldie’s tenderloins and sure enough, the restaurant was featured. Eventually, with continued support, Goldie’s pork tenderloin sandwich was nominated for an award. In the fall of 2009 the Iowa Pork Association officially recognized Goldie’s tenderloin sandwich as the “best in the state”. This honor, and the subsequent media attention, helped increase Goldie’s revenue. From 2008 to 2010, sales went from $60,000 to $450,000 annually. Employment went from one and one-half full-time employees to fifteen.

When asked about his overall experience with the UNI SBDC, Magg said, “The SBDC provided me with the kick-in-the-butt on what was really going on and gave me the resources I needed to turn things around.” And, according to Magg, those SBDC resources—the one-on-one counseling sessions and the support and confidence he gained through FastTrac—allowed him to become a success.

So, if you want to try the state’s best tenderloin sandwich, and some great ice cream, check out Goldie’s Ice Cream Shoppe at 304 West 7th Street in Prairie City. And tell Brad that Mike Hahn sent you.