Often times would-be entrepreneurs may have great ideas as well as the skills necessary to provide a service for a community where the demand for that business may even be high, but one thing they often lack is the funding to get their plans off the ground.
The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center to offer a workshop focused on helping secure that funding.
“We get requests all the time where people are looking for access to capital to do their business, to start it, to expand it or sometimes to keep it afloat,” said Lil Easterlin, Executive Administrative Director of the Development Authority of Jefferson County. “It’s so hard for small businesses to find what they think of as a grant. We have to get them information on how to go about finding cash for your business, not just running your business. These are the people (running this workshop) who know that.”
This free workshop, which is open to anyone who would like to attend, will be held Thursday, July 25 at the McCollum Library in Wrens from 9 a.m. to noon.
Part of the State Small Business Credit Initiative program, organizers say the presentation is designed to provide information about various types of financing, including loans, lending programs and grants. Facilitators plan to address common myths and misconceptions about financing small businesses while exploring the realities of what entrepreneurs might face.
“This workshop is all about what resources are available and how you access those resources,” Easterlin said. “Those are the kind of questions we (at the chamber and local development authority) get hit with all the time.”
Easterlin pointed out that while there are often stories in the news about some big new industry getting millions of dollars in grants or help from different governmental agencies, those stories can be misleading to entrepreneurs who are looking for help opening a smaller operation.
“Those big grants and such are usually more about assistance offered for infrastructure improvements to get them here,” she said. “It’s not people handing them money to operate their business. It’s about making it more economically feasible to get them to land where we want them to land. It’s not cash going to that company.”
And those big tax incentives or infrastructure grants, they generally go to huges projects that will bring millions of dollars in tax revenue into the county along with dozens or possibly hundreds of jobs.
“Organizations like chambers of commerce and downtown development authorities, they’re always looking for ways to support small businesses that employ two, five, 10 people, not 50. These small businesses are the bulk of our economy,” Easterlin said.
For more information or to register for this event go to https://ugasbdc.training/aug/0503-002 or contact the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce at 478-625-8134.
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