INDIANAPOLIS — Being on the side of the have-nots once has long empowered Cissi Sherlock to help others get back on their feet.
Six years ago she started Operation Open Up, a community outreach that gives those in need a recycled, reactivated cell phone to help get established in a home and/or job. That program is still active, but Sherlock's ambitions are even wider in scope now.
In April she started The Productivity Resource Group with Barry Mason, a Plainfield resident. Sherlock describes it as a business and empowerment center.
"We're offering booths to individuals to help develop, start, or grow a business," she said.
The space is in Suite 1B at 2410 Executive Drive, off of Lynhurst and the Sam Jones Expressway in the old Indianapolis airport area. It offers wi-fi, a conference room, "Generally all those things you'd need as an entrepreneur but can't always have at home," Sherlock said. "A lot of times you want home to be home and business to be separate."
She remembers having to go to multiple places to access everything she needed when starting Operation Open Up. Business meetings often had to be conducted in restaurants.
"I wanted to create one low-cost place where a person could comfortably develop their business," Sherlock said. "I want to cut out some of the steps."
She knew Mason, a CPR and safety trainer/consultant, through an online Christian network.
"I put two and two together and called," Sherlock said. "We just clicked from there and the partnership was born."
They moved in last April.
"It's taken us about three months to make it into a workable area," Sherlock said. "Prior to that it was just an empty palette."
Through Operation Open Up, Sherlock has met many individuals who have started with nothing to form their own enterprises.
"Once we do that, I want to expose them to a resource area that shows them this is the next step you can take," she said. "Not only that, I want to provide them with the resources that are available for the next step. So not only am I providing them the information, I'm providing them the ability to do that."
The Productivity Resource Group recently hosted an open house. Included there was Virtual Scavengers, a sponsoring partner. The non-profit takes donated electronics and refurbishes them to sell to needy citizens at a discounted price. People can buy a renovated computer for as little as $60. Electronics that can't be refurbished are stripped and properly recycled.
"We're trying to teach people about recycling," said Virtual Scavengers' Greg Thompson. "We don't want them throwing electronics in a dumpster or landfill."
The group is in the process of restarting a classroom to offer GED certification and computer training for seniors. Many teens serve as volunteers for the organization.
"A lot of kids who would normally be out in the streets getting into trouble are instead learning volunteerism and the recycling business," Thompson said.
Stephanie Downey was also at the open house. She represents Pre-Paid Legal Services, a company started almost 40 years ago by a guy sued for a car accident that wasn't his fault. He spent $5,000 defending himself. After winning the case, he checked to see if any program existed that would help others in a similar circumstance. Europe had such a system and he brought it to North America.
"We give needy people access to the legal system without going broke," Downey said.
Aside from office space, The Productivity Resource Group also conducts workshops that instructs entrepreneurs on how to grow their businesses.
"This is a total place of empowerment," Sherlock said.
For more information on The Productivity Resource Group, contact Sherlock by calling 605-8584 or 376-8654, or by e-mailing to cissi@bizleader.biz.
wade.coggeshall@flyergroup.com
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