CHENANGO COUNTY – Entrepreneurs will be honored the week of Sept. 27, thanks to a proclamation issued earlier this month by the Chenango County Board of Supervisors.
The resolution, which establishes observance of the first Entrepreneurship Week in Chenango County, recognizes entrepreneurs as “engaged citizens who work to improve Chenango County, provide better opportunities for businesses to operate and a better overall environment for the human resources they need to advance their innovative ideas.”
The proclamation was presented by Board of Supervisors Chairman Dick Decker to Martha Brower of Brower Communications and Commerce Chenango President Maureen Carpenter, who were instrumental in getting the resolution passed.
“We as a board and as a county support these programs because, as we all know, small business is what it is all about,” said Decker.
Brower has long been an advocate for business development. “I believe in entrepreneurship,” she said. It was ten years ago, while serving as Director of Entrepreneurship at the Chenango County Chamber of Commerce (now Commerce Chenango), that Brower held the county’s first Entrepreneur Forum.
Now Brower is preparing for the 2008 Entrepreneur Forum, which will be the focal point of Entrepreneurship Week. Commerce Chenango is the event’s primary sponsor.
“Small businesses are an integral part of our economic base and we hope that by offering forums such as the Entrepreneur Forum, we will be able to nurture and grow more small businesses in Chenango County,” said Carpenter.
The event is being co-sponsored by NBT Bank, The Voss Group, The Evening Sun, Norwich-Sidney Pennysavers, the DCMO BOCES Adult Education Program and the Small Business Development Center at Binghamton University,
The 2008 Entrepreneur Forum will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27 at the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus. A full day of sessions and seminars designed to meet the needs of current and prospective small business owners are being planned.
The forum’s agenda currently includes breakout sessions on marketing, financial planning and other relevant topics as well as a brown bag seminar by author Dr. Pat Laino, recipient of the Small Business Administration’s Women in Business Advocate Award.
Forum attendees won’t want to miss the Entrepreneur Panel Breakfast Discussion moderated by Bruce Erath of The Voss Group. The panel will consist of local entrepreneurs who will talk about their personal experiences. Those who attend can expect to walk away with tips and suggestions for moving forward with their own business ventures.
According to Erath, continued small business growth is essential to the economic vitality of our area. “Entrepreneurs are the backbone of the upstate New York economy,” said Erath. “We need to encourage our young people to think of entrepreneurship as an option.”
For more information on the event, contact Brower Communications at 334-7526.