Assisted by University of Arkansas ASBTDC
Consultant Mary Beth Brooks
Doctor Opens Clinic to Serve Rural Community
Pea Ridge Urgent Care opened on April 1, 2024.
Two years earlier, Dr. Alan Schumacher, a board-certified family medicine physician, recognized a critical need for a clinic to provide care to his neighbors in Pea Ridge.
He wanted to create a walk-in clinic that offered prompt access to quality care for the rural community’s increasing population in fast-growing Benton County.
On an initial visit to his lender to discuss financing, Dr. Schumacher was directed to the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center. He reached out to the ASBTDC regional office in Fayetteville for a consultation on the process of starting the clinic.
Together with the center’s Mary Beth Brooks, he developed a business plan and the financial projections needed for a loan package submission.
“Mary Beth’s assistance was enormously informative,” said Dr. Schumacher. “Her personal engagement was incredible in assisting the new business launch.”
With a personal investment and funding through First Western Bank, he began building Pea Ridge Urgent Care and engaged vendors for clinic equipment and technology. April Landry was hired as the practice manager, then training for clinic employees began.
Schumacher was aware the clinic needed strong branding, signage, and online presence.
In addition to the business planning, financial forecasting, and market research help from Brooks, Schumacher he received advice on website development and brand strategy from Rachel Majors, ASBTDC marketing consultant.
For instance, she encouraged him to get compare multiple options for web development, and a vendor was chosen that best addressed the needs of a business in a smaller community.
“The clinic’s branding and website will serve to create trust with potential patients and convey a welcoming environment for the clinic,” said Majors.
Dr. Schumacher thanked Brooks and her team, saying they were “invaluable in their assistance at getting our project from concept to reality.”
Pea Ridge Urgent Care opened with a staff of 16 employees, with plans to add at least three more full-time positions.
“The effects of the opportunity to work with ASBTDC has had, and will continue to have, long reaching and branching benefits,” said Schumacher. “This is true not only to us as a business entity, but for the employees, their families, and for the entire community that now has healthcare services that would not otherwise be available.”
For more information, see pearidgeuc.com.
