Small Business Development Center coordinator Michael Ellsberry visits the Cedar Creek Lake Area Chamber of Commerce offices in Mabank every Thursday to offer encouragement and counseling to entrepreneurs. Ellsberry recently spoke at the chamber's monthly luncheon, noting it was his sixth year of working in the lake area to help small business owners. His services are free and confidential. "Your success is our business," Ellsberry said. Ellsberry said economic conditions are challenging, but he noted that along with the failures of some businesses there are still success stories. "Survival is the new norm," Ellsberry said. He cited Cedar Creek Brewery in Seven Points, which he helped the owner kick start in to operation in 2012. The brewer notes on its website that it started as an idea in October 2010 and became a reality in 2012. Brewery owner Jim Elliott credited Ellsberry's counseling services with enabling him to draft a business plan and obtain financing for his goal of opening a small local beer brewery with unique products that are now available in several lake locations and in Dallas. "They put me on the right tract," Elliott said. "They were awesome." Ellsberry said that although the economic struggle in the U.S. is "current, powerful and continuing," he believes there will be improvement and that U.S. manufacturers will see a new "golden age." Businesses qualifying as "small" and eligible for special considerations include those employing up to 1,500 people and reaching up to $12 million in sales. Financing today is "tough," but it is not impossible, he said. Ellsberry said he is at the chamber offices every Thursday, but he will also work by appointment at other times. For information about setting up an appoint with Ellsberry, contact the chamber at 604 South 3rd St # E Mabank, TX 75147 (903) 887-3152. E-mail [email protected].