JOHN OPICHKA RECEIVES 2002 HOME-BASED BUSINESS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR AWARD

Heartland Business Bank would like to congratulate John Opichka as Wisconsin’s 2002 Home-Based Business Advocate of the Year Award winner. John was presented with the award at the Seventeenth Annual Small Business Awards Breakfast held on June 7, 2002 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wenda Roycraft of Heartland Business Bank, who nominated John for this award, notes that "John’s one-on-one counseling with Urban Hope graduates encourages them to start businesses within their means which typically results in the formation of home-based businesses." John was recognized for his efforts in the following criteria:

John had been Executive Director of Urban Hope, which is a non-profit organization that promotes economic growth, by striving to create businesses and jobs in the inner city. Programs offered through Urban Hope include credit and budgeting, entrepreneur school, mentoring, and micro loans. Since it’s inception in 1997, 228 individuals have graduated from Urban Hope. From these students, 140 new businesses were started with 98.6% of these businesses still in operation today and 31% or 43 are classified as minority-owned businesses. "John has served as an instructor, and mentor to the many home-based businesses that are in the Urban Hope Program, giving them a positive outlook and confidence as they head into their new endeavors," said Mark Burwell of Urban Hope.

John is also actively involved in with Home-Based Business Association of Northeast Wisconsin. John originally became active by sharing his expertise to create the organizational structure and to obtain the non-profit designation for the association. John’s advocacy is measured well through his active recruitment of 40 of the 50 current members of this organization. John characterizes his motto, "If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day – If you teach him how to fish, he will eat for a lifetime – If you teach him how to own and operate the pond, he will feed generations to come."…Author Unknown