Left to right: Leslie Washburn, FNP-C, and Robyn Korte, ACNP-C

“Recent studies show that primary medical care in Western Massachusetts is in crisis,” observes Robyn Korte, who with fellow nurse practitioner Leslie Washburn owns Berkshire Nurse Practitioners, LLC, a full-service primary care office in Pittsfield.

For years, the demand for primary care in Western Massachusetts has exceeded the supply of medical practitioners, and recent mandatory health insurance coverage for all Massachusetts residents has intensified the challenge. To prepare for Berkshire Nurse Practitioners’ June 2006 entry into that undersupplied market, Washburn and Korte made a smart business decision—they turned to MSBDC business advisor Susan Mongue for help with their business and marketing plans.

“Before Berkshire Nurse Practitioners, I had never written a business plan or worked with spread sheets,” confesses Korte. “Susan helped us with both. That included identifying when we would need capital infusions both to launch and grow our business. She also helped us to identify potential office space, and to research business practices in firms like ours in eastern Massachusetts.”

“In their initial business plan, we arrived at a specific dollar amount that the business would need to maintain a positive cash flow which included a term loan and line of credit,” recalls Mongue. Because the business was a startup and therefore a higher risk, their bank, TD Banknorth Massachusetts, originally granted a reduced credit line. Six months later Robyn and Leslie, concerned about their cash flow reserve, returned to Mongue for guidance. After reviewing their financial reports, she advised them to talk with the lender and request an adjustment to their line of credit. Since they were able to demonstrate a strong six-month history with revenues that were right on target with their original projections, the bank had no trouble accommodating their request.

Mongue also reviewed Washburn and Korte’s marketing plan. “Our business represented a new concept for the community and needed some selling to get people on board,” Korte explains. Mongue applauded the plan for its thoroughness and necessary aggressiveness. “The MSBDC retrieved data for us on population trends that helped us to understand our potential market. It not only included Pittsfield but Berkshire hill towns and parts of eastern New York State as well,” Korte recalls. The partners also secured a technical assistance grant from the city of Pittsfield that they plowed back into advertising. Their marketing initiative included sophisticated newspaper and radio advertisements and even billboards depicting the partners sporting lab coats and stethoscopes beside their company’s logo.

“Berkshire Nurse Practitioners has been a unique business to work with,” Mongue remarks. It is the first private practice owned and operated by nurse practitioners in Western Massachusetts. “All such organizations in the Bay State,” she adds, “must work with a collaborating physician.” For Berkshire Nurse Practitioners that physician has been Dr. Mark Snowsie. “Mark reviews EKGs; he reviews charts on site every three months. He’s our employee and our colleague,” notes Korte.