• About
  • Article PDF
  • White Papers
  • Listening Tours​
  • Contact
  • Support Us
  • Advertising & Sponsorships
Monday, June 5, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
Times Of Entrepreneurship
Growth and Equity for a Changing World
Times Of Entrepreneurship
No Result
View All Result

2020 Success Story: How A Massachusetts Diving School Reinvented Itself During The Pandemic

by Skyler Rossi
March 3, 2021
in New Builders
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Laurie Rock refocused her business on managing underwater weeds.

No one knows how many of the 24 million small businesses in the United States have closed, but the number, when tallied, is likely to surpass one million. But some tiny companies have turned a corner and head into 2021 shaken and changed, but alive. Times of E reached out to incubators across the United States, who connected us to entrepreneurs whose companies survived. Ten entrepreneurs shared their stories with us. You can find others in the series at Rest of the US. Thanks to gener8tor, Arlee Community Development Corp., E For All and Arrowhead.

As the market for scuba diving instruction and travelling practically vanished with the pandemic, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, scuba instructor Laurie Rock had to close her diving school. She knew she had to do something because without a revenue stream from her scuba business, Action Sports and Travel, she had no income. 

So, she shifted the focus of the business and began using her equipment and knowledge to reopen as a business to manage invasive underwater weeds in lakes and other bodies of water in the community. She calls it “underwater gardening” and provided this service under the name Aquatic Roots. 

Rock acquired the scuba store and center in 2014 from her parents, who were avid divers in the community themselves and opened the store in 1983. She’s been teaching scuba for over 20 years and also has been part of diver-focused weed management for almost as long, she wrote. 

She was also able to shift some of her classes online. She offered ecology classes virtually as well as other programs that don’t require in-person or in-water training. By making these shifts and adding Aquatic Roots, Rock said she was almost able to recover the revenue she lost.

Action Sports and Travel received a PPP loan and City of Pittsfield COVID-19 Small Business Recovery grants, which allowed her to re-hire her summer staff and add a year-round staffer. She also received a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan, which helped her to keep her business open. During the pandemic, she’s had two part-time employees.

“I can not emphasize how much support and encouragement I received from family, friends, the diving community, and my staff,” Rock wrote. “Together they helped me to find the courage and determination to turn 2020 into a year my business would survive.”

Rock plans to turn Aquatic Roots into a permanent branch of Action Sports and Travel, she said. Though, scuba education will remain the center of the business.



This story and others on Times of E are made possible by a sponsorship from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that provides access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity – regardless of race, gender, or geography. The Kansas City, Mo.-based foundation uses its grantmaking, research, programs, and initiatives to support the start and growth of new businesses, a more prepared workforce, and stronger communities. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect with www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.

Tags: Action Sports and TravelLaurie Rock
Skyler Rossi

Skyler Rossi

Related Posts

Businesses Have Been Fighting Tennessee’s Anti-Drag Law. A Federal Judge Just Temporarily Halted It.

Businesses Have Been Fighting Tennessee’s Anti-Drag Law. A Federal Judge Just Temporarily Halted It.

by Nina Roberts
April 1, 2023
0

Photo Illustration by Nina Roberts Drag shows have been popular in Tennessee cities, especially Nashville, for two decades or more....

Modern Mexican Food Brands Give Old El Paso The Boot

Modern Mexican Food Brands Give Old El Paso The Boot

by Nina Roberts
January 25, 2023
0

Regina Trillo is the founder of Nemi Cactus Sticks, made with Mexican nopal. Photos: Nelipot Project, collage: Nina Roberts. Authentic...

With A New Way to Make Furniture, Locally, Baru Has Nearly $1M In Revenue After Two Years

by Nina Roberts
December 23, 2022
0

Tino Go is the founder of Baru. Could “decentralized manufacturing” be the next industrial revolution? Tino Go, the founder of...

Vermont Farmer Creates A New Drink Category With Roots In The Past

Vermont Farmer Creates A New Drink Category With Roots In The Past

by Nina Roberts
November 23, 2022
0

Matt Sayre is the founder of Shrubbly, a sparkling shrub drink made with aronia berries. Photo collage: Nina Roberts The...

The Passion of The Christian Hip Hop Entrepreneur James Rosseau

The Passion of The Christian Hip Hop Entrepreneur: James Rosseau

by Lori Ioannou
November 10, 2022
0

James Rosseau of Holy Culture Radio, bringing Christian hop hop to the forefront. Since its beginnings in the 1980s, Christian...

a red triangle with the words System Hacked on it

Cybersecurity Best Practices for Small Businesses

by Elizabeth Macbride
October 20, 2022
0

There's a new and booming market for cyber protection and cyber insurance services for small businesses.  The market started to...

Subscribe to Times of E’s Free Weekly Newsletter

Learn about the emerging ecosystem of diverse founders

Popular

  • Got Bloat? The Easier To Digest A2 Milk

    Got Bloat? The Easier To Digest A2 Milk

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Trailblazer: How Cotopaxi’s Founder Built a Cult Following and a $160M Salt Lake City-Based Company

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Top 20 U.S. University Entrepreneurship Competitions

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Venture Capital Returns Are More Skewed Than People Realize

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Venture Capital Spotlight: Zane Venture Fund in Atlanta Focuses on Diverse Founders in Southeast U.S.

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Recent

VC Spotlight: Aperture Venture Capital Focuses on Diverse Founders in Fintech

VC Spotlight: Aperture Venture Capital Focuses on Diverse Founders in Fintech

June 5, 2023

Newsletter: When Mansplainers Talk Guns; Princess School; Better Dairy Milk; & The Do-Nothing Movement

May 31, 2023
Editor’s Note:  One Guiding Principle for Bank Regulators

Editor’s Note: One Big Fallacy That Gets In The Way Of Gun Law Reform

May 31, 2023

Recommended

  • Health
  • Climate
  • Deep Tech
  • Finance
  • Education
  • Women Entrepreneurs
  • Mentorship
Editor’s Note:  One Guiding Principle for Bank Regulators

Editor’s Note: L’argent a une odeur

2 weeks ago
IRR

Report: Should Social Enterprises Could Get Tax Breaks To Help Reinvent Capitalism?

1 year ago
  • About
  • Partner
  • Bespoke Research
  • Listening Tours​
  • Contact
  • Support Us
  • Privacy Policy

(703-966-7357)

© 2020 Mondial Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
No Result
View All Result
  • Research
  • Finance
  • Women Entrepreneurs
  • New Builders
  • Ecosystem
  • Events
  • Newsletter
  • Editor’s Note

© 2022 Mondial Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Support Times of E

Times of E covers the emerging ecosystem of diverse founders.

With your support of our journalism, you will receive our weekly newsletter and one of these resources for free: 

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?