Resource Fair to be 'one-stop shop' for small business help, information

Small-business owners and entrepreneurs can get expert advice and open doors to information they need at the Entrepreneur and Small Business Resource Fair set for next Thursday, June 28, at the Fitzpatrick Hotel from noon to 1:30 p.m.

"I expect we'll have a good crowd," said Donna Hardy, executive director of the Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce. "This is going to be a one-stop shop for small-business information."

The resource fair will bring together people and information that a small business, a new business, or someone with an idea for a business, might need to get started or make their businesses successful.

"At the resource fair we'll have experts from Georgia's Department of Community Affairs and Department of Economic Development, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, from UGA's Small Business Development Center, and SCORE," Hardy said. "You'll be able to get information on all the programs, different kinds of assistance, and loans that are available, and we'll have information on employees, taxes, licensing, and zoning, too."

A free deli lunch will be served.

The resource fair is a part of Wilkes County's application to be designated state Entrepreneur- Friendly Community. To help get the word out, Hardy and Regional Project Manager Adella Kelley will be speaking to civic groups in the area, and reaching out to the public with information on the program.

The community-based program is designed by Georgia Department of Economic Development's (GDEcD) Small Business & Innovation Division to help create an entrepreneur environment, and to build entrepreneur and small business strategy into the community's overall economic development strategies.

Working the assigned regional project managers, Hardy said the program will take a community through proven methods designed to establish an entrepreneur support program, help them better understand their existing entrepreneur environment, and develop sustainable, effective local strategies.

"We've got to do everything we can to help the small businesses of Wilkes County," Hardy said, "to help start new businesses and to help keep existing businesses alive and thriving. Small businesses account for 80 percent of new jobs, so each successful entrepreneur is vital - and that's why next week's small business resource fair is so important."

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