Meet Stepfone Montgomery: Entrepreneur & Mentor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stepfone Montgomery and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stepfone, every day, we hear about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I saw a need in the industry. When I was working for an engineering firm, I saw the need to help small businesses. When I worked for a transportation agency, I heard the difficulty small businesses were having with increasing their business and connecting with corporations. 

Conversely, when I was working for a private corporation, we had a difficult time finding qualified small businesses to partner with.  In many cases, corporations that are referred to as “Primes,” will use the same small businesses over and over again. 

When I transitioned into consulting work, I would have to access over 80+ websites to review proposals and find out where meetings and events were taking place as part of business development. I found this to be very time consuming and realized there had to be a better way and this was the reason BZ Connects was born.  My thought was to establish a more efficiently – designed method to find qualified businesses and to help them connect with large corporations.  

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

BZ Connects is business relationship company.  Our goal is to connect businesses so they can focus on increasing their revenue.  While you may have a great business and perform quality work, if no one knows about your company and the services you provide, you won’t grow.  We want to help businesses of all sizes grow.   We use our proprietary software, BZ One, to provide visibility to small businesses and to help larger firms find qualified small business.  In addition, we list all proposals, calendars and events in the architectural, engineering and construction fields. Our service specialty is focused on those in the transportation, water and power industries. 

In addition, we offer a suite of services to help business qualify to work with corporations and public agencies.  Our services include certifications, legal consultation to help startups, development of proposals, and organization of businesses’ back office to enhance firms’ health and stability. 

These services are very important in California with upcoming improvements anticipated for our roads, highways and transit infrastructure, not to mention the construction associated with the 2028 Summer Olympics.  The amount of contractors and subcontractors that will be needed for this work is staggering.  I would suggest that any businesses seeking to participate in this type of work, get yourself into the system. If you need our help with doing that, BZ Connects can get you better visibility. 

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary.  Say it was a week-long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, or hang out?
Since I live in Orange County, I would first take them to downtown Orange.  There are many nice restaurants down there. One of my favorites is Felix Continental Café – great food for lunch or dinner.  For breakfast, I would go right down the block to Snooze AM eatery. Order the Spuds Deluxe – you can’t go wrong!  Next, I would take them down PCH – Pacific Coast Highway. Being from New York, I love the coast of California. PCH is a great representative of California. Stop in HQ Gastropub in Huntington Beach, Galley Café in Newport Beach, and my favorite ice cream shop Gelato Paradiso in Laguna Beach.  Each of these towns has a certain charm all their own with great places to eat, places to listen to music, or to just sit by the water and watch the surf.  I would also take them to San Diego’s Gaslamp area. There are lots of fun places to eat, drink and hangout. Being from NYC, with all the hustle and bustle, the coast is very serene and peaceful for my lifestyle. I am a New Yorker in heart but I have fallen in love with California. I know people complain about California, but you can’t beat the weather and lifestyle. Taxes are high but I don’t mind paying the sunshine tax. I am here to stay. This is my new home!    

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
One great organization is COMTO, which stands for Conference of Minority Transportation Officials. This organization helped me understand the value of networking and increase my own network. It also allowed me to meet some key people in New York, California and throughout the United States. 

Another shoutout I would give is to my friend and business advisor, Jayson Mercurius – Chief Operating Offer and business owner of JLM Strategic talent partners.  Jayson’s business acumen and emotional intelligence is superior to most businessmen.  He is a forward thinker and has helped me understand the use of automation in everyday life.  Jayson has been and continues to be a great friend and business advisor helping me to navigate the world of entrepreneurship. 

Website: Www.BZConnects.com

Instagram: youonlyget1life_cali

Linkedin: Stepfone Montgomery