Small Business Development Center Workshops Scheduled for February
Fri, 02/02/2018 - 11:08am | By: Van Arnold
The University of Southern Mississippi's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in Hattiesburg will join forces with the Gulf Coast center to conduct a series of Business 101 workshops in February, 2018.
The SBDC programs are designed to assist small businesses and entrepreneurs with education and training opportunities for development of business plans and concepts. In addition, trained professionals at the center help clients secure small business loans for their ventures.
The workshop schedule is as follows:
USM – Trent Lott National Center, second floor, Room 207
- Tuesday, February 6 (6-8 p.m.): Think Like an Entrepreneur
- Tuesday, February 20 (6-8 p.m.): Starting a Business – First Steps
- Tuesday, February 27 (6-8 p.m.): How to Develop a Business Pan
Gulf Coast – The Innovation Center, Biloxi, First floor in Main Conference Room
- Thursday, February 8 (6-8 p.m.) Starting a Business – First Steps
- Thursday, February 15 (6-8 p.m.): How to Develop a Business Plan
- Thursday, February 22 (6-8 p.m.): Cash Flow Projections for Your Business Plan
The Feb. 6 workshop will feature guest speaker Dr. Stephen Whitt. Whitt is a lifelong serial entrepreneur, having developed, launched, and managed multiple companies in very diverse business sectors including gaming software development, amusements, waste hauling, real estate, and oil services. All of these startup companies were acquired by larger, mostly publically-traded, corporations that included Waste Management, NAMCO, PepsiCo, Lakewood Industries and TCI.
Whitt is currently serving as the Director of The Innovation Center, a business incubator. He has been involved with business incubation and working with small business startups along the Gulf of Mexico coast for more than 10 years. He advises and facilitates about 62 small startup companies.
USM created its Small Business Development Center through a partnership with the Small Business Administration, the Mississippi Small Business Development Center Network, the University of Mississippi, the Trent Lott National Center, and the College of Business at USM. The MSBDC includes nine basic service centers throughout the state.
The USM Small Business Development Center offers, at no cost to clients, the following services:
- In-depth counseling assistance to ensure more successful startups of new enterprises and to strengthen existing firms.
- Business plans and loan packaging assistance.
- Small business workshops/seminars.
- Assistance to minorities, women, veterans, the handicapped, exporters, inventors, research and innovation and international trade.
- Referral system linking other small business assistance organizations in the SBDC regional locations.
- Interaction program between Mississippi educational institutions, businesses, and government.
To register for one of the workshops, go to www.mssbdc.org and click on “Workshop Schedule” or call 601.266.5892 (USM) and 228.396.8661 (Gulf Coast)