Business workshop geared to ‘Make it Happen’ in Mon Valley
Small business owners in the Mon Valley will receive professional guidance on staying connected to customers while increasing profits to help sustain a viable economy both now and in the future.
A workshop on “Make it Happen: Advance Sales and Sustain Your Business in the Mon Valley,” is being presented April 28 by the University of Pittsburgh’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
“We’re really trying to retain businesses in Washington (County) and help them grow financially,” said Michael Wholihan, SBDC management consultant.
The event will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Charleroi Borough Building, Second Floor, 338 Fallowfield Ave. Registration is 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and cost to attend is $5. Light refreshments will be served.
Additionally, the workshop will focus on new tools to access competition, e-commerce and address profitability for long-term business growth.
Registration is limited to 40 participants with 12 businesses currently registered.
The SBDC is a public-private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and 18 universities and colleges across the state.
The center provides entrepreneurs with individual consulting services and educational programs from startup to growth and transition.
The SBA defines a small business as having fewer than 500 employees for manufacturing businesses and less than $7.5 million in annual receipts for most nonmanufacturing businesses.
Small businesses also account for 99.7 percent of all employer firms in the United States.
Typically, a small business in Pennsylvania is classified as having fewer than 100 employees.
According to Wells Fargo, 55 percent of American business owners believe that customer service plays an increasingly important role in differentiating one business from another.
Wholihan said a competition held last fall for small-business development drew eight entries with three businesses — two startups and one established — each receiving $10,000 from SBDC.
“We’re really trying to invest in the Mon Valley,” said Wholihan.
The Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce serves the business community of greater Charleroi in addition to the Mid Monongahela Valley of Southwestern Pennsylvania, from Finleyville to Fredericktown.
The chamber has 330 members, according to Debra Keefer, chamber executive director.
As part of an ongoing effort to sustain and retain small businesses in the Mon Valley, Wholihan said the SBDC will continue to conduct seminars and workshops.
He said a mini MBA series is planned for this fall, with SBDC in the process of talking with business consultants to develop a team teaching approach involving a certified public accountant, attorney, bank financial adviser and insurance agent.
Since its inception, the state’s SBDCs have provided more than 2.5 million hours of consulting to more than 216,000 entrepreneurs and offered more than 14,000 courses, workshops and seminars attended by 334,000 residents.
An economic impact study from 2013-14 reported that Pennsylvania SBDC services have helped small firms throughout the state raise startup and expansion capital, start new companies, and sell billions worth of Pennsylvania products and services worldwide.
In addition, 1,635 new businesses were opened creating 6,827 jobs with $245 million in new sales.
According to the SBA Office of Advocacy, Pennsylvania is home to 1 million small businesses.
Statistics for 2016 from SBA show the state’s small businesses represent 98 percent of all businesses with employees and employ about 47 percent of the nation’s private-sector workforce.
Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees have the largest share of small business employment.
Currently, three Pennsylvania industries with the most small business jobs are health care and social assistance with 390,952 jobs, accommodation and food services with 280,109 jobs, and manufacturing with 263,830 jobs.
Overall, small businesses made up 89 percent of exporting companies and generated 35.6 percent of the state’s total known export value, the study found.
Those interested in joining the Be Local Network can contact Clint Rhodes at 724-439-7518 or by email at crhodes@heraldstandard.com. Discount cards are available at the Herald-Standard, 8 East Church St., Uniontown, and at the Greene County Messenger, 82 W. High St., Waynesburg.