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The Daily Commercial
Small business owners wowed by BOSS summitRoxanne Brown, Staff Writer
MINNEOLA--More than 100 business owners--current and prospective--participated in the first ever "Business Owners Success Summit" at Minneola City Hall on Thursday.
The afternoon was dedicated to providing attendees with information and tips to help them succeed in the current economy and beyond, all highlighted by a keynote speech by Jerry Ross, executive director of the Disney Entrepreneur Center.
"This is a great thing. When you can bring business leaders and the leaders of the community together, it means that they are sharing best practices and shared experiences which is going to help us compete and grow; even in tough times," Ross said. "Bringing this kind of opportunity to small business owners for free shows the vision of the leaders of the city and county."
Local businessman and Minneola Councilman Victor Ortega, came up with the idea for the summit.
"In today's economy, small businesses are presented with many challenges," he said.
"I came up with the idea of the BOSS event to help small business owners understand there are many resources available to them."
The summit also included a panel of speakers led by Shelly Weidenhamer, director of business development in Lake County for the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission.
The panel responded to a host of concerns about small business, including access to capital, marketing and developing a business plan.
Summit participants were also given the opportunity to meet one-on-one with business resource providers. During the wrap-up of the summit, Ortega announced a second BOSS event is already in the works.
"I'm very thankful they put the summit together. I'm so glad I went and want to definitely be part of the next one. I had a great time and got a lot of valuable information there," said Carole Holden, who owns "The Media Fairy," an advertising and marketing agency based in Howey-in-the-Hills.
"I was blown away by the resources available for small businesses and while I knew of some of the agencies stationed there, I wasn't aware that some of the others existed; much less realize that they were available for my use," she said.
Ortega credited James Spencer, Area Manager, Small Business Development Center at UCF and Site Manager, UCF Business Incubator, Leesburg, Shelly Weidenhamer, Dottie Keedy, Director of the Lake County Department of Economic Growth & Redevelopment, Tim Green, President of the Chamber Alliance of Lake County, and Ken Thomas, Director of the Leesburg Economic Development Department for bringing his idea to fruition.
For more information about the first Business Owners Success Summit, log on to www.thebosslink.com.
Sunday, March 28, 2010 - |
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