Cabinet Expands Town Hall Forums
Representatives from the Cabinet’s Small Business Services Division initiated and participated in three Town Hall Forums last year. Each forum was designed to acquaint the small business community with the state’s small business resource providers, as well as with representatives from local and federal economic development assistance programs. The forums were held in Princeton, Owensboro and Fort Thomas.
“We were very pleased with the results,” said John Cole, Director of the Cabinet’s Small Business Services Division. “Not only were we able to bring together a multitude of resource providers to make business owners and would-be entrepreneurs aware of what services they have access to, but we were also able to discover what their concerns were and what issues were important to them.”
At each of the three events, surveys were distributed to the participants and then compiled afterwards to learn what topics and concerns were important in that particular area.
“We learned a great deal about Kentucky’s entrepreneurs as a result of these forums and we plan on continuing them throughout 2007 all across the state,” added Cole.
Small business owners were not the only ones to benefit.
“Bankers are usually one of the first individuals that a small business owner will seek out. Through these forums, we were able to make them aware or reacquaint them, in many cases, with state and federal programs that they could utilize to help their clients start or expand operations. That was a great additional advantage of the forums,” concluded Cole.
To build on its success in reaching the small business community, the Division plans to expand the program to even more Kentucky towns in 2007. If your community is interested in hosting a Small Business Town Hall Forum, please contact the Small Business Services Division at 800-626-2250.
|
