Cold Stone Creamery is a unique franchise that serves a wide variety of specialty ice cream dishes and cones that are mixed on marble slabs as employees sing and customers watch. With assistance from the SBDC, Jim and Linda Berntgen opened new stores in three Eastern Iowa cities in three years. Each new store presented the Berntgens with several new challenges, which the SBDC helped them overcome. The Northeast Iowa SBDC helped Jim and Linda Berntgen develop business plans, project cash flows, obtain financing, find suitable store locations, and coordinate management’s travel time between the three stores.

Results:
    •     Stores opened in Dubuque, Cedar Rapids and Davenport
    •     Combined sales for 2006 were over $1,400,000
    •     Over 100 jobs above minimum pay were created
    •     Tax revenues paid last year were $155,000

"Contacting the Small Business Development Center three years ago, prior to opening our first store, was the best decision we have ever made. We continue to use their expertise in the growth of our company and with their free help and resources we opened our third store in Davenport. You will not regret letting the SBDC assist you in all your business needs today and tomorrow."
- Linda and Jim Berntgen, Owners, Cold Stone Creamery, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, Iowa