After local Small Business Majority closes, leader starts business

The closure of the advocacy and consultancy nonprofit Small Business Majority’s local operations resulted in a new business created by its former leader.

Mary Overbey, who worked as Missouri outreach manager for the SBM for more than five years, on April 24 opened Borealis Consulting LLC. That same month, she was laid off from SBM when it closed all of its Missouri offices.

“I’m still continuing work on the business consulting and the ecosystem building,” she said, noting Borealis Consulting was created so she could continue much of the work she had been doing with the SBM.

Borealis Consulting helps connect small businesses with resources, as well as nonprofit grant training and other services. Overbey also signed on as the southwest Missouri broker for Justine Petersen Housing and Reinvestment Corp., a St. Louis-based firm that provides microloans that she classified as those “under $50,000 that banks can’t do.”

“I work one-on-one with small-business owners to help those who maybe have credit issues or are in the startup phase,” Overbey said.

For Justine Petersen, Overbey succeeds former local broker Lisa Zimmerman, who exited to join the southwest Missouri office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.