Mno-Bmadsen and Chi Ishobak have teamed up to support Pokagon and other Native American owned small businesses in southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. To encourage the Pokagon community to “Buy Native, Support Local,” a different Native American owned small business will be featured in this newsletter every month. This month we are happy to introduce you to Garage Doors Plus!
Shawn and Jen Pond have been interested in entrepreneurship their entire life. When the opportunity arose to purchase Garage Doors Plus, they knew they had to take it. In September of 2018, the company became officially theirs. The services that Garage Doors Plus focuses on is installation of both residential and commercial garage doors and openers.
Prior to buying the company, Shawn had experience in garage store trades. He worked for his aunt in Florida before he moved to Michigan to take over his dad’s construction business. He’s been self-employed most his life and has experience from running residential crew. Jen also has experience in being a small business owner as she owned a company prior to purchasing Garage Doors Plus.
As a frequent attendant at the Potawatomi Economic Gathering trainings, Jen finds them helpful because she gets to speak with other people who also own small businesses. Being able to learn about other business’s problems and gains inspires her to continue to grow her business.
When asked what his favorite part about owning a business was, Shawn said that he loves being able to provide jobs for people in his community and income for other families. In the future, Shawn hopes to continue to grow the business so that it is widely known. He would love for the company to be used broader through the communities.
More information about the company can be found here: https://garagedoorsplusmore.com/