![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/02\/PLT_Baraboo_research_2022RITR_KatelynZajicek-1024x576.jpg\")
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Growing up, Katelyn Zajicek saw firsthand the entrepreneurial spirit of her grandparents and parents who are all small business owners. Now Zajicek, a business administration major at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County, is researching the question, \u201cHow Will Small Hometown Businesses Survive the Age of Technology?\u201d She will present her findings on March 9 at\u00a0Research in the Rotunda<\/a>\u00a0held at the state Capitol.<\/p>\n According to Zajicek, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing businesses to adjust and adopt new techniques. The focus of her research project is businesses in Columbia and Sauk counties, primarily in the cities of Baraboo, Portage and Reedsburg. Zajicek contacted 35 businesses to discuss their online presence and how they are attracting customers.<\/p>\n \u201cHow will businesses who can\u2019t have items delivered and don\u2019t get customers coming into their stores survive during an age where we buy everything online,\u201d said Zajicek, a Portage, Wisconsin native. \u201cI came up with the idea of a place where every town could put their businesses and its updated information \u2013 like DoorDash \u2013 to have something on a smaller scale that caters to these businesses so they\u2019re able to have deliveries.\u201d<\/p>\n Zajicek said she found this passion of helping small businesses in the past year. Although Zajicek is in the initial stage of her project, she\u2019s grateful for the opportunity to discuss the topic with her peers from across UW System and state lawmakers.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited to bring this forward,\u201d she said. \u201cThis hasn\u2019t been done yet. People have analyzed the negative and positive effects of technology. All my research sort of connects, but nobody has looked into this specific question. I\u2019m excited to take the groundwork of it and take these people\u2019s research to make a case for this question.\u201d<\/p>\n When Zajicek first toured UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County, she noticed the research posters on campus but did not imagine she would be conducting her own project two years later. Zajicek, who will graduate this spring with her associate degree, is planning to pursue her bachelor\u2019s degree along with the continuation of her research project.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s giving me the chance to be able to expand on it the next two years. I will be able to have more opportunities doing it now as a sophomore when most people don\u2019t take this opportunity until they are about to graduate,\u201d said Zajicek. \u201cIt gets my foot into what I want to do and help these businesses, while also taking a step for what\u2019s been an important part of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n