Business Development Center

The Small Business Development Center at Harford Community College will present the third Bush Declaration Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit at the Small Business Summit 2003 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Oct. 30 at Harford Community College's Chesapeake Center. The award is presented annually to a business owner who is deemed to have exhibited the spirit of independence exemplified by Harford County's founders. The Bush Declaration, signed by Harford Countians in 1775, is the first known written American declaration of independence.

Kiesha Haughton Smoots has taught dozens of low-income women in Baltimore how to write a business plan and get their ventures off the ground. She has bid on federal contracts for a woman-owned information technology company and run her own small-business consulting firm. In Prince George's County, she helped entrepreneurs get loans, land government contracts, increase sales and create jobs. But these days, banks are less willing to lend, consumers are cutting back and many small businesses are struggling from week to week to stay afloat.

Mary Redmond is appointed business counselor Mary Redmond has been appointed business counselor for the Maryland Small Business Development Center's satellite office at the Center for Business and Technology Development in Columbia. She will provide counseling, technical assistance, training and guidance for startup entrepreneurs and expanding companies in Howard County. She was project manager -- training and marketing director of the Small Business Development Center at Towson University.

Mary Redmond is appointed business counselor Mary Redmond has been appointed business counselor for the Maryland Small Business Development Center's satellite office at the Center for Business and Technology Development in Columbia. She will provide counseling, technical assistance, training and guidance for startup entrepreneurs and expanding companies in Howard County. She was project manager -- training and marketing director of the Small Business Development Center at Towson University.

The Maryland Small Business Development Center ha received a $50,400 federal grant to encourage the transfer of technology to small businesses.The money was awarded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology."

In a quavering voice, Hope Kurz explained how a concerned Small Business Development Center counselor helped save her family's ailing Sun City, Ariz., lawn maintenance business. Next, members of the center's national advisory board, meeting recently in Phoenix, listened to how a savvy marketing specialist helped Marilyn Kovach successfully launch her upscale European pastry business."There is really a need out there for this kind of help, that's for sure," said Patti Wilde, director of the Rio Salado Small Business Development Center in Phoenix.

Rather than guessing what Taneytown Bank and Trust can do for its community, bank officials have decided to ask directly the people they want to help.The bank's new 10-member Advisory Committee on Community Outreach Programs, created this month by President Frank W. Neubauer, will meet quarterly with residents to discuss how Taneytown Bank can support business growth and homeowners."Banks have the moral responsibility and legally must reinvest in the community," said Assistant Vice President Michael L. Barrett, referring to the federal Community Reinvestment Act, which states that banks must help support their own areas as well as investing in sound projects elsewhere.

Partnership to offer small-business help Four Carroll County organizations have created a small-business consortium, Four Partners One Purpose, to help small-business service providers integrate their specialized services. The Miller Small Business Center at Carroll Community College, Carroll County Department of Economic Development, Small Business Development Center and Start-up Carroll have partnered to help streamline business training and counseling in the county. The partnership will offer business seminars on a variety of topics from September through November at CCC's Business Training Center.

The idea occurred to Dawn Lawrence while she was sitting on a boat."I was fumbling in my pocketbook looking for something in the dark, wishing someone would invent a pocketbook light," she said. She looked up to see a boat light with a brass rim to direct the beam."I thought, 'Hey, that would work.' The next day I took the boat light apart," and she began to build her invention: a pen-size brass tube that beams a small but bright directional light and fits neatly in a pocketbook or briefcase.

When the nation's first Small Business Development Center devoted solely to exporting opened about a year ago in #i downtown Los Angeles, director Gladys Moreau expected a positive response. But she's been astonished at just how many small-business owners are interested in selling their products and services abroad."We're busting at the seams here," said Ms. Moreau. "We are absolutely overwhelmed with the demand and the successes."The center, which hires experts to provide one-on-one free counseling to business owners, has advised about 1,000 clients so far. In addition to the free counseling, the center is host to frequent introductory seminars for business owners and offers a variety of computerized data base services.

Most of the recent conferences on the looming population influx from the nationwide military base realignment and closure (BRAC) have focused on the alarming costs of infrastructure, the critical need for more schools and millions needed for road improvements. A discussion at Harford Community College in Bel Air last week highlighted entirely different topics: home and office decor, cozy lodging, and starting a handyman business. Sherry Shiroky, a Bel Air interior decorator, said she could supply new homeowners and office tenants with furniture, flooring and drapery.

Business group honors residents Four Harford County residents are Maryland winners of the U.S. Small Business Administration's annual Small Business Week awards program. The awards recognize excellence in business throughout Maryland. Harford winners for 2007 are: Small Business Person of the Year: Hollis Thomases, Web Advantage Inc., Havre de Grace. Family-Owned Small Business of the Year: Chuck Boyle, Boyle Buick Pontiac Inc., Abingdon. Financial Services Champion of the Year: Kathy Wajer, Harford County Office of Economic Development, Bel Air. District Director's Unsung Hero Award: Al Henry, Havre de Grace, and Harford County Small Business Development Center, Bel Air. Maryland winners will be honored at the 2007 Maryland Small Business Week Awards Breakfast at 7 a.m. Friday at Martin's West.

Patricia Stefun lost her warehouse job when Giant Food downsized last year and wants to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself. Her solution? Become her own boss. "This is my way of never having this happen to me [again]", Stefun said yesterday as she began to peruse the various franchise opportunities on display at the Maryland Franchise Expo 2006. The expo, which included about a dozen franchises that are seeking to expand their base in Maryland, showcased some newer and lower-priced operations, as opposed to businesses like McDonald's or Subway.

EAI awarded contract for security training EAI Corp., with headquarters in Abingdon, was awarded a $132 million five-year contract to provide all training services at the Department of Homeland Security's Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Ala. The center, part of the Office for Domestic Preparedness, is the nation's premier center for emergency responder training. The award enables EAI to continue the training role that began when the center opened in 1998. EAI will support the Center for Domestic Preparedness in training first responders in incidents involving use of chemical warfare and other weapons of mass destruction.

The Small Business Development Center at Harford Community College will present the third Bush Declaration Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit at the Small Business Summit 2003 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Oct. 30 at Harford Community College's Chesapeake Center. The award is presented annually to a business owner who is deemed to have exhibited the spirit of independence exemplified by Harford County's founders. The Bush Declaration, signed by Harford Countians in 1775, is the first known written American declaration of independence.

Entrepreneurial seminars offered at business center The Maryland Small Business Development Center and the Howard County Business Resource Center will sponsor a seminar for entrepreneurs, "The First Steps to Starting Your Own Business," from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Jan. 10 at the Center for Business & Technology Development, 9250 Bendix Road North, Columbia. The cost is $15 in advance; $20 at the door. The center will offer "Marketing Basics: How to Promote Your Company for Business Growth," from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 16. The cost is $45 in advance; $60 at the door.

At Alice's Country French Bakery, owner Jim Constantine is enjoying a rare quiet moment. The shop on Westminster's Main Street is often buzzing with customers who start streaming through the door at 6 a.m. for coffee, pastries, bread and other goodies that Constantine's wife, Alice, -- he calls her the "pastry princess" -- churns out in the kitchen. Business has been brisk since the couple opened the bakery in November, and Jim Constantine credits Maryland's Small Business Development Center for helping the enterprise get off the ground.

At Alice's Country French Bakery, owner Jim Constantine is enjoying a rare quiet moment. The shop on Westminster's Main Street is often buzzing with customers who start streaming through the door at 6 a.m. for coffee, pastries, bread and other goodies that Constantine's wife, Alice, -- he calls her the "pastry princess" -- churns out in the kitchen. Business has been brisk since the couple opened the bakery in November, and Jim Constantine credits Maryland's Small Business Development Center for helping the enterprise get off the ground.