The restaurant industry can be competitive but restaurants in rural parts of the state face a unique set of challenges like small or declining populations, reliance on tourism and difficulty finding employees.

To combat these challenges, the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has created the Wisconsin Restaurant Initiative to work with small restaurant owners to help them thrive and survive.

“We are there to help with technical assistance, run numbers and look at and analyze information to help the restaurants,” says Luke Kempen, Director of the SBDC at UW-Eau Claire.

Kempen works as a consultant meeting with restaurant owners especially in rural areas, like David and Karen Schoonover, the owners of Rolling Oaks Restaurant in Barron, WI.

“There were two times where I challenged him and said this business plan isn't going to work and he came back with hard numbers and said it will work and here is why and he was right,” says David Schoonover. “I always want to be challenged and we want to hear from someone who doesn’t have a vested interest.”

The Schoonovers say running a business in a rural location does create some challenges like finding employees and dealing with weather conditions like snow and storms.

Kempen says for some rural areas that rely on tourism for clientele, it can be difficult when there weather conditions drive tourists away.

“They face a lot of challenges that the urban restaurant doesn't have because people are there all the time. For a rural restaurant a lot of it is dependent on tourism and seasonality,” Kempen says.

Kempen says while the number of restaurants in Wisconsin has increased, the number of restaurants in rural areas has decreased.

“What we have done is looked at those stats and decided we should try and create an initiative to help them survive,” Kempen says. “If we can help them out I think it benefits everybody. The restaurant industry employs a lot of people especially in rural areas and keep the economy going.”

The UW-Eau Claire branch of the SBDC works with Eau Claire County, Chippewa County, Dunn County, Barron County, Rusk County, Clark County and Pepin County.

The SBDC has been working with small businesses since 1980 but with this new initiative, the organization will partner with the Wisconsin Restaurant Association and the Tavern League of Wisconsin to get the word out and reach more restaurant owners.

To learn more about the initiative or get in contact with a consultant,