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George Burns, owner of 6-month-old Creations by George, stamps his greeting cards Thursday at Services to Enhance Potential's Northwest Center in Livonia. He said he enjoys being an entrepreneur more than a dishwasher.

So when the opportunity came up to start his own business, he was up for the task.

He’s launched a successful business making greeting cards from rubber stamps and colorful paper, and has made a small profit since he launched his business six months ago.

“It’s fun, and I like making something that looks nice,” said Burns, who said he likes working for himself more than his old jobs, as a dishwasher or assembling spray bottles.

Burns is among 20 Wayne County residents with disabilities who are enjoying life as entrepreneurs, thanks to a revolving loan program for microenterprises administered by Services to Enhance Potential (STEP) of Wayne County.

The fund covers business start-up costs, typically $50-$500, through interest-free loans funded through a grant from the Widman Fund of the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan.

Debbie Diegel owns a paper shredding business, D.J. Shredding, with the help of STEP. The agency helped Diegel purchase a shredder. Promoting entrepreneurship * Several of the microenterprise businesses run by Services to Enhance Potential's clients are operated out of the Northwest Resource Center in Livonia. * Potential customers can call STEP at (734) 261-7530 or visit http://www.stepcentral.org/ * STEP also provides people with developmental disabilities help with skill development, case management and job placement so they can become more self-sufficient. They promote independence, empowerment, self-determination, dignity and respect for adults with developmental disabilities. * Persons interested in making monetary or in-kind donations, e-mail donate@stepcentral.org The agency is looking for supplies ranging from janitorial equipment (buckets, vacuum cleaners) to office equipment to vehicles for providing disabled residents with transportation to and from community work sites.

STEP, a community resource agency aimed at helping Wayne County residents with developmental disabilities find job training and other resources, works with individuals to determine whether a proposed business is marketable and if so, what they will need to run it.

The idea behind the microenterprise program is to give people the same type of career options they would have if they did not have disabilities, said Jim Grice, chief executive officer of STEP.

“Across the country, the fastest-growing area of employment for the general population is the development of small businesses,” he said. “Persons with disabilities have interests, hobbies and preferences that they can also turn into home businesses — it’s just one opportunity which they should have as an option like any citizen does.

“It’s not something for everybody, just as it’s not something for everybody in the general population.”

STEP employees work with disabled community members to identify assets, abilities or resources needed to make a business plan work.

Many people who run their own businesses come to STEP’s Northwest Resource Center in Livonia to do their work in a community atmosphere.

The center gives them a chance to socialize with others and to take part in community activities, such as volunteering, once they have finished their day’s work. It also relieves the isolation they might otherwise feel working alone, and staff can help out when needed while letting the client work independently as much as possible, said Mary Agusti, resource center director for the Livonia site.

Next to Burns’ table, where he stamps out his greeting cards, Debbie Diegel runs a paper shredding business. She’s marketed her services to several local businesses.

She said she got started after shredding paper at home for her family. STEP helped her purchase an office-grade shredding machine and create a brochure advertising her services.

She charges $5 plus 15 cents a pound to individuals and quotes commercial jobs on a case-by-case basis. She also charges $10 to pick up paper to be shredded.

That doesn’t add up to a lot of money, but many people with developmental disabilities live at or near the poverty level, and even generating a few hundred dollars in income can make a big difference, Grice said.

“It doesn’t have to be a extremely large amount of money for them,” he said. “If it’s a matter of several hundred a month, that enhances their quality of life and allows them to do more than they could before.”

In May, the last month for which numbers were available, the people involved in microenterprises at STEP’s resource centers earned a total of $1,881.

Clients run vending machine businesses, newspaper and flyer distribution routes, and make beaded jewelry and necklaces.

People with disabilities, especially mental disabilities, are often robbed of the ability to have much say in how their lives play out, Agusti said.

The microenterprise program helps put power back in their hands and lets them experience success on their terms.

Amy Kuras is a Metro Detroit free-lance writer.