Success Story
Missourian's heartfelt business of fine chocolate making leads to discriminating taste buds worldwide
Alan McClure is passionate about chocolate. He's so passionate he's made it his life's work.
But his is not just any kind of chocolate. McClure makes gourmet single-source-cacao products in his factory in the northeast corner of Columbia, Mo.
Patric Chocolate, the company he founded in 2006, strives to please the palate of the most discriminating chocolate connoisseur. This is not Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory with Oompa-Loompas churning out Wonka Bars by the hundreds of cases.
McClure prides himself on his micro-batch approach of hand-made dark chocolate production.
Alan McClure, proprietor of Patric Chocolate, displays samples from his first marketable micro-batch of chocolate bars. He sold his initial supply through select retail outlets in Columbia. Future inventory also will be available through his Web site, www.Patric-Chocolate.com.
"I strive to maintain the standards I set to ensure the best possible product," says McClure. "And also so I can look back on my career with love and respect knowing I did the best I could to offer true devotees of fine chocolate a wonderful experience."
Seeking such a pinnacle of achievement might seem haughty to some. But he tempers his high ambitions with the sincerity of a dedicated artisan and the humble background of a faithful fan.
As a young boy Alan always liked chocolate, becoming quite familiar with the typical domestic commercial varieties found on candy shelves everywhere. But he really became a fan of fine chocolate in his early teens when his father brought home to St. Louis some dark French chocolate following a trip to Europe. That's when Alan began to understand the depths of the gastronomic possibilities of his favorite confection.
A few years later, while pursuing religious studies at MU, Alan met a fellow student, Viviane Ducret from France, who later became his wife. They lived for a year in France and there Alan informally initiated his study of chocolate making. He frequented the Lyon-based chocolate maker Bernachon, which served as one of his main inspirations and primary quencher of his chocolate cravings during the year abroad.
After his return to Columbia, Alan visited domestic producers' facilities throughout the United States. He also collected and read authoritative books on the subject, developing an in-depth understanding of each stage of production. He learned lessons about sourcing cultivated cacao from the tropical venues of Mexico, Central and South America, and Madagascar where farmers grow, ferment and dry the raw material. Then on to production techniques employed in chocolate manufacturing: roasting the beans; winnowing, separating the inert shell and germ from the raw chocolate or nib; grinding; mixing with sugar; refining (final grinding) and conching (intense, heated mixing); aging; tempering and molding. He also learned that all these steps collectively take time, patience and love.
To learn even more he began applying his new-found knowledge in the experimental laboratory of his home's kitchen. Eventually the experimental stage paved the way toward the ultimate step, establishing a factory and business. However, while he had become well versed in the complex production techniques of chocolate making, Alan also needed some practical business advice.
"One of the challenges that I faced was trying to figure out if I had enough money to do what I needed to do," explains Alan. "I didn't want to get half way and run out of money, and I didn't know if I needed a loan, and if so, the best way to go about applying for one."
At that point, in the spring of 2006, he turned to Virginia Wilson, a Small Business Development Center counselor in Columbia with MU's University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She helped her chocolate-maker client determine the level of financial resources he would need to secure a production facility, obtain equipment and procure a steady flow of raw inventory…the all-important cacao.
One of the tools she offered for Alan was an electronic spreadsheet financial statement. He continues to use the computerized statement on a regular basis, frequently plugging in numbers to create a variety of possible business scenarios he can consider. Wilson also connected Alan with a foreign trade expert, who provided Alan with information on exporting to Europe.
"Virginia, with her obvious expertise in business, absolutely helped me to feel more confident in what I had been doing by allowing me to discuss all of the details of Patric Chocolate with her," says Alan. "Additionally, she followed up with me vigilantly over the months that followed to make sure I was still doing well."
So with confidence instilled by Wilson's business counsel, Alan turned to chocolate production.
Currently McClure's 70 percent Madagascan cacao fine-chocolate bar is available at select retailers in Columbia: World Harvest, The Root Cellar and Super Suppers. By Oct. 1, he plans to broaden his product line and expand his market via the Internet, tempting the taste buds of chocolate aficionados across the nation and around the world. Find him and his company on the Web at www.Patric-Chocolate.com.
Your local Small Business Development Center can help with your business success. Appointments may be made for free consultations on small business issues by contacting the SBDC office near you.
Visit www.missouribusiness.net/success/patric_choc.asp for the complete story with additional photos.
Business Going Green
MDNR expands Brownfields program for site assessments
Community development will benefit from an expanded statewide program to return potentially contaminated property into productive use.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has received two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Assessment Grants that will enable the department to provide free Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments through a state contract to cities, counties, and qualifying nonprofits.
One $200,000 grant will address properties where the contamination is primarily petroleum and the other $200,000 grant will assess sites of potential hazardous materials contamination.
For more information, contact:
Jim Gilstrap
MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Division of Environmental Quality
Brownfields/Voluntary Cleanup Section
P.O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176
(573) 522-8139 or (573) 526-8913
jim.gilstrap@dnr.mo.gov
www.dnr.mo.gov or www.missouribrownfields.com
Hispanic Business, Trade and Culture Commission to Host Mexico Export Forum in Jefferson City
The Missouri Hispanic Business, Trade and Culture Commission will host an informational forum from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sept. 14, in Jefferson City to offer essential need-to-know tools and information for building profits with exports.
The Show-Me MEXICO! forum, in room 450 of the Governor's Office Building, 200 Madison Street, will cover various market opportunities in Mexico for Missouri companies.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Economic Development's International Trade & Investment Office, the event coincides with National Hispanic Heritage Month. Cost of is $35, including a seminar packet and a Mexican buffet.
Participants will learn effective techniques from industry professionals, successful Missouri exporting companies and the keynote speaker – the Hon. Everardo Suarez, Mexican consul general at Kansas City's Mexican Consulate.
Topics will include: reasons for exporting; market opportunities; exporting success stories of Missouri businesses; when and how to use the NAFTA Certificate of Origin; credit solutions; logistics solutions; myths of exporting; available resources.
According to the DED, Missouri set an export record in 2006, with $12.8 billion in sales to 191 countries. International sales by Missouri companies increased by 22.1 percent or $2.4 billion in 2006, compared to the previous high of $10.4 billion in exports set in 2005. Mexico was one of the state's top ten export recipients in 2006.
For the agenda and to register for the forum, visit www.showme.org/pdf/ShowMeMexico.pdf 
. For more information contact Mark Wine at 573-522-6524 or e-mail mark.wine@ded.mo.gov.
Get on the FastTrac
FastTrac New Venture training helps dislocated workers turn business ownership dreams into realities
Are you being downsized and want to control your own destiny as an entrepreneur? Then FastTrac New Venture business training is for you.
This leading entrepreneurship education program, overseen by the Kauffman Foundation, has assisted more than 165,000 people across the country and abroad start or expand a business. In FastTrac New Venture you will look at all aspects of your proposed company including start-up issues, the competition, legal matters, marketing and financial aspects. While working on your own business idea you will learn how to develop a viable business plan.
"FastTrac New Venture for dislocated workers is fast-paced and energizing, using guest speakers and lots of activities," says facilitator, Susan Henson. These sessions, offered through a partnership between the Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers and the Missouri Career Options Project, are taught in an accelerated format to give dislocated workers a jumpstart on business planning and start-up.
Dislocated workers include Missouri residents or workers who have lost jobs due to downsizing by former employers or who have taken early retirement. The program also covers those individuals who have been let go and are now in jobs for which they are overqualified or underemployed. The $300 training fee is covered by the Missouri Division of Workforce Development.
After the session participants may continue their business development training through one-to-one counseling with a business development specialist. Upcoming sessions start as soon as Oct. 3 in Kansas City. Later sessions begin January and April 2008.
For more information on the FastTrac New Venture dislocated worker training or for an application, call Susan Henson, business development specialist at 816-407-3492 or email: hensons@missouri.edu. Information is also available online at www.missouribusiness.net/career/fasttrac_dislocated_flyer.pdf .
Back by popular demand - FastTrac New Venture for Entrepreneurs and FastTrac Technology Venture!
The University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Columbia will once again present the popular FastTrac New Venture course beginning Sept. 27, and continuing for 10 weeks.
The gold standard in entrepreneurial education, the FastTrac curriculum offers the serious potential entrepreneur the opportunity to explore a business idea, conduct market research and assess feasibility and then complete the business planning process, including financials and a marketing plan. This course introduces participants to experts in business management, provides exposure to local resources for your business and gives individualized business coaching.
Cost is $249 and includes all materials. Visit www.missouribusiness.net/ucie/fasttrac_newventure_sept2007.pdf for more information.
Also returning to Columbia Sept. 27, is the popular FastTrac Technology Venture course. This version of the FastTrac curriculum is designed especially for technology or life science entrepreneurs.
The course encourages participants to determine the economic viability of their business concept, evaluate the feasibility of the technology, design a business model that matches a personal vision and create a business plan to communicate the opportunity to investors. Feasibility testing is critical for new technology and can serve as a catalyst to complete a more formal, focused feasibility analysis for existing technology. With proven technology in hand, participants will move on to create the business plan.
Cost is $249 and includes all materials. Download www.missouribusiness.net/ucie/fasttrac_techventure_sept2007.pdf for details.
Rehrig Joins Staff of University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Paul Rehrig, a materials engineer, has joined MU's University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (UCIE) staff as a small business innovation research and small business technology transfer specialist.
Rehrig holds a B.S. degree in ceramic science and engineering and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in material science and engineering from Penn State University. Before joining the UCIE, he served as director of research and development from 2001-2006 at TRS Technologies, Inc., a small business in State College, Pa., that produces specialty electronic ceramic and crystal materials and components for medical, military and commercial aviation applications.
More recently he managed a research group at the Northboro Research and Development Center in Northboro, Mass. for Saint-Gobain High-Performance Materials Corp.
At UCIE, Rehrig's responsibilities include providing statewide leadership, expertise, and training to university faculty and staff, and private sector clients with SBIR/STTR programs. In addition, he will develop partnerships and connect constituents with MU faculty research, which will aid in improving the participation of small technology firms in the innovation and commercialization of new technology.
"We are seeing high numbers of high-technology and life science entrepreneurs and researchers in the Center," said Mary Paulsell, UCIE director. "Paul's expertise and experience are the perfect complement to the business development expertise the Center offers. Our team makes the UCIE the one-stop shop for faculty and technology entrepreneurs."
Contact Rehrig at RehrigP@missouri.edu or phone at 573/882-7096.
Ask a Specialist
Starting a small home business outside city limits
Question: Does CD31, the Missouri Small Business Start-Up Kit CD, contain information on how to start a small home business when you live outside city limits?
Answer: The fundamentals of starting a business are no different if you live in a city or outside the city limits. One possible difference: most cities require a business license and many counties do not. However, the requirements of the state do not change whether your location is inside the city limits or outside and these requirements are explained in the CD. It is recommended to contact your county clerk's office to see if they have any requirements or restrictions.
There is a special section included in the Start-Up Kit CD titled "How to Start and Manage a Home-Based Business." This document and other "hot topics" that address home-based businesses are linked from www.missouribusiness.net/hbb/topics.asp
Consult www.missouribusiness.net/smallbiz to order the Start-Up Kit CD.
Chris Bouchard, Associate State Director
Missouri Small Business Development Centers
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