May 17—A St. Joseph-founded company is expanding its operations while providing a recent college graduate with a special business opportunity.
DocuLock LLC, a company that specializes in things like document scanning and archiving, partnered with the Missouri Small Business Development Center of Northwest Missouri State University to create an opportunity for students to get into the world of business.
Spencer Engelman a Northwest Missouri State University graduate with a major in business management, will take over the newest franchise for the DocuLock company in Blue Springs, Missouri. The franchise is worth $43,500.
Between graduating and getting into the workforce, change is ever-present but also motivating, Engelman said.
"I'm just really excited to be a part of this team (and) to start working. I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity than this," Engelman said.
DocuLock has been in business since April 2017 and was founded in St. Joseph. The clients range from small businesses to government entities. Including the newest franchise, DocuLock has five locations across the country. Four are in Missouri and one is located in California.
Engelman said that the opportunity to get started in the workforce right out of college presents him with a variety of learning opportunities.
"I'd really like to just learn as much as I can from everyone because they've obviously been doing this a lot longer than I have," Engelman said. "Then I'd like to just start doing this full time and just see how far we can grow."
Rebecca Lobina, director of the Missouri Small Business Development Center, said the mission of the center is to educate business owners and entrepreneurs to become successful.
She explained her role in relation to helping graduates making the next step.
"I help entrepreneurs with either getting started or growing their business," Lobina said. "We are able to bring resources to the client without any charge because of how we're funded, which is through the Small Business Administration, as well as matching funds from Northwest," Lobina said.
Engelman has also had plenty of support along the way including from his fiancée, Ariana Napier.
"I'm really excited. He's worked really hard, especially just in school," Napier said. "With the opportunities that he's tried to have, he really put himself out there and just dedicated himself to finding something that he actually wanted to do."
DocuLock management visited Northwest classes to speak and engage with the students.