What does a former economist with the World Bank need to learn about cash flow, marketing and distribution?
Everything, according to Bethesda resident Tom Hoopengardner.
Tom Hoopengardner, a former economist, is now a television producer.
(James M. Thresher -- The Washington Post)
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Before retiring from the World Bank two years ago, Hoopengardner, 57, spent his days poring over data about health care in Romania and pension plans in Poland.
Then, on a lark, he began taking video production classes at Montgomery Community Television. Now he is an independent television producer.
Knowing the minutiae of retirement benefits in Eastern Europe, he learned, doesn't prepare you for the challenges of pitching an idea to television executives, not to mention running your own video production business.
To learn more about how to start a business, Hoopengardner created a television show about entrepreneurs. "I guess I was looking for insights for what makes entrepreneurs successful and what makes their businesses successful," he said.
Hoopengardner's show, "Open for Business," airs three times a week on Montgomery Community Television's Channel 21. It features Montgomery County small-business owners, including many who have a disability -- a personal interest of Hoopengardner's, who also studied disability issues for the bank.
During the half-hour show, Hoopengardner interviews his guests and shows footage of them in their places of business. Hoopengardner's subjects have included a hearing-impaired former IBM executive turned acupuncturist, a woman who built a soap company on her kitchen stove, and an auto mechanic who raises prize-winning steer on a farm in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Montgomery County.
The show is no infomercial. Hoopengardner peppers his guests with questions about how they financed their business, what sort of training they need, their marketing strategy and how they assess consumer satisfaction.
Sometimes the bare-bones format has all the charm of a grade-school Career Day assembly. But Hoopengardner clearly can't get enough of the answers. "I daydreamed of being an entrepreneur but never did it. I always admired people who make something out of nothing and balance their business interests with other personal interests," he said.
