Participation has Skyrocketed in Entrepreneur Express Program

ABINGDON, Va. – It might not be a bailout, but if you’re a small business it could help.

Just in time for the recession, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance has brought together under one roof information about local, state, federal and community services available to help get things rolling for new and existing small businesses.

“Entrepreneurs are what’s going to help us survive this economy,” said Sandy Ratliff, business services manager for the southwest office of the Virginia Department of Business Assistance.

Small businesses are creating between 40 percent and 60 percent of new jobs, she said.

“Small business is, I’m convinced, what’s going to help us turn this economy around,” Ratliff said.

The Entrepreneur Express program, which brings small business resources to communities in 22 counties, started in 2006. And since the economy took a downturn, participation has skyrocketed, she said.

The program is good for people who are thinking about starting or growing a business but don’t know where to start.

The first step is a three-hour workshop that overviews business startup and information resources available from a dozen agencies and organizations to help existing and aspiring business owners survive in tough economic times.

Ratliff said those who attend range from senior citizens who want to re-enter the work force to college students looking to create their own career path in a tight job market. Some want to turn a basement hobby into a supplemental money-making opportunity or replace a lost job with a new venture.

The next step in the program is a series of Entrepreneur Express II workshops, which delve into more specific topics related to business operation.

There is no free money, Ratliff cautions, and it takes a lot of work and planning to start and run a business. But the workshops, funded with tax dollars, are free to help people get started.

“They’ve put me in touch with people I never knew existed,” said Regina Green, owner of Holston Café and Rockybrook Garden and Gifts in Washington County, Va., who has participated in the program. “People that are now an integral part of my business thinking and relationship … things that were important that I didn’t know were important.”

Green said she’s had to learn to market differently in a different economy – and small business owners must do the same to survive.

“I think the people that are going to do well right now are the people … who don’t embrace the ‘woe is me’ attitude. Positive breeds positive and negative breeds negative. If I sit around saying everything stinks, it’s gonna stink,” she said. For those wondering what kind of business might do well in the region, at least one Southwest Virginia community is taking proactive steps to identify needs that could be met by entrepreneurs.

Stephanie Taylor, project manager for the Virginia Department of Business Assistance, said one part of the regional effort to ensure two high-tech companies’ success in Lebanon has been a survey to determine what quality of life improvements are needed in the town.