Artist draws on microloan, training.

• Author: Johnston, Lori
• Position: FROM BEGINNERS TO BIGSHOTS

The U.S. Small Business Administration armed Joey Johnson with the money and motivation to step out and launch her graphic design business.

Johnson formed Graphic Mechanic Design Studio in October 2006, after running the company on the side for nearly a decade. During that lime, she worked full time as a contractor for Electronic Data Systems Corp. in Atlanta, which does work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A key to her move: a $15,000 loan from the SBA and education from the Women's Economic Development Agency Inc., a nonprofit Atlanta organization. The agency is part of a network of women's business centers the SBA helps fund across the country to offer training and counseling.

"I had the cushion of getting that loan and having worked (in) the business for 10 years," said Johnson, who earned an art degree from The Art Institute of Atlanta in 1998. "The big transitional issue was that everything--all the working capital, income--was coming from the business, with no supplemental income."

The loan was vital, allowing Johnson to upgrade from a small printer to a professional-quality laser printer and buy a desktop computer and laptop, she said.

Guaranteed by the SBA on behalf of California-based Innovative Bank, the microloan has terms of seven years and an interest rate currently at 12 percent.

Deardra Green-Campbell, executive director of the Women's Economic Development Agency, said the group helps businesses secure loans ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. Last year, WEDA originated $1.4 million in more than 100 loans.

Graphic Mechanic's revenue is on pace to double this year, to about $100,000, Johnson said. But she's holding off on hiring employees; she works with two freelance graphic designers on an as-needed basis.

Clients have included the CDC, the Georgia Board of Regents, Georgia Council for the Arts, city of College Park, DeKalb County government, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. and a local Women in Cable and Telecommunications chapter.

"Every time I get a new (project), I still get that new ambitious feeling," she said. "That's the main thing that I love about running a graphic design business."

One of those projects, for the CDC, was to create a voluntary online diversity training program with a National Treasure-like theme.

"I had a project in mind and I needed someone to be able to take what was inside my head and be able to put it down graphically," said Barbara Reynolds, a risk communication coordinator in...