A Syracuse meat market has transformed an old space downtown into a new spot for lunch or dinner. The butcher shop, which now also operates as a grocery store and pub, features on-tap beer and sandwiches.
The expansion is being credited to the U.S. Small Business Administration Emerging Leaders Program
Congressmember John Katko said the education program allows business owners time to step aside and plan.
“What the SBA does is offer a program - for free - to give these individuals an opportunity to think outside the box, to get so consumed with their day-to-day activities and their business,” Katko said. "They might not have the ability to step back and look forward and say, ‘Okay, if we want to grow, how are we going to grow?’ This program gives them that tool.”
The program’s first grads include the owner of Liehs & Steigerwald’s Jeff Steigerwald, along with 200 other participants. Steigerwald, who still keeps in touch with some of his classmates, said these relationships were one of the benefits of the seven months of training.
Steigerwald’s downtown Syracuse location on East Fayette Street is less than a year old, so it’s difficult for him to gage how successful his business has been so far. However, he said staying open late into the evening seems to keep customers in the deli even past closing time.
“We stay open till 8 p.m. on the weekdays; Friday and Saturday we stay open till 9 p.m.,” Steigerwald said. “People are here and they’re enjoying themselves, we’re not going to shut the doors and kick anyone out.”
Congressman Katko has been one of these customers.
“One night I was down here with my wife, and we had dinner. We came by here, and it was 10 p.m., and there was a lot of people in here,” Katko said. “That to me is a great sign - that people are coming back downtown, that people are living here, they’re investing here. It’s a win-win.”
The next round of classes, which require 100 hours of total classroom time, begins in April and will end in November. The courses are for qualified business owners whose with businesses have at least one employee and generate at least $400,000 in revenue.
More information is available at sba.gov/emergingleaders.