The Small Business Center at Beaufort County Community College continues to offer educational resources to small business owners and entrepreneurs through workshops and other events.

Lentz Stowe, director of the center, said its workshops, which are part of the core competency that each center follows statewide, have had an attendance of about 400 to 500 people in the past year. Statewide, the Small Business Center Network has had an attendance of over 45,000 people, Stowe said.

“We all do them (workshops),” Stowe said. “Obviously, we’re rural, but the events are taking place in almost all 100 counties. The demographics for one center to another vary.”

Stowe said each center has guidelines to follow and offers a core curriculum, which is made up of five courses — How to Start a Small Business, How to Write a Business Plan, Financing Your Small Business, Advertising and Marketing for Your Small Business and Record-Keeping and Taxes for Your Small Business. Instructors, who head the courses, are typically people who have been Service Core of Retired Executives (SCORE) counselors over the last decade. The local SCORE chapter, however, has been dissolved, according to Stowe.

“The SBC is one resource for education and counseling,” Stowe said. “On the workshop side, I partnered with the SCORE chapter, and they did four or five core curriculum classes. The Record-Keeping and Taxes course, I usually use some type of accounting professional or CPA in the local community. All of those are people who have been vetted and are qualified to teach the classes. That’s the cornerstone of the workshops.”

Stowe said once a participant has attended all five courses in the core curriculum, he or she will get a certificate of attendance or completion. In addition to the core curriculum, the center offers targeted classes, which follow specific topics pertaining to small business and entrepreneurship, as well as online entrepreneurial resources like the HP LIFE classes, a global program that offers aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners valuable business skills, according to Stowe. The program can be accessed by going to the BCCC website at beaufortccc.edu.

“It (core curriculum) establishes lifelong effort on the participants’ part and could be an attachment or addendum to a business plan,” Stowe said.

This year, the center introduced a catalog, listing all of the targeted courses it offers, Stowe said. Among some of the targeted courses would consist of gaining the advantage of using Google Plus or Google Local, Using Instagram to Gain and Retain More Business for Small Business Owners, Time Management for Small Business Owners and Understanding How to Access Capital. The center is even partnering with the NC Rural Economic Development Center, which is now apart of NC Commerce, for alternative means of financing for small business owners and entrepreneurs. The center is also working with the NC Military Business Center, which is under the community college umbrella, to host an introductory course associated with doing business with the federal government, Stowe said.

“We’re partnering with the State agency for alternative ways of financing,” Stowe said. “It’s not anti-traditional banking means—it’s just another way to do it, another way to finance your business.”

Stowe said the key thing for the SBC Network is that it is embedded in each community it serves. Stowe gets the message out about the workshops the center offers via email, as well as through partnership with local chambers of commerce in its service area to notify entrepreneurs and small business owners of the available resources. He also markets the workshops to people who’ve attended previous workshops, as well as the clients he serves, Stowe said.

“I’m aware of what’s going on (in the community), and my counterparts across the state are the same way. This is an organization that has been around for 30 years. I know people in this service area, and they know about the SBC. We’ve introduced a catalog this year, which we haven’t done in a number of years. That’s a primary way of getting the word out, and we’re developing an overall continuing education database as well, and that’s important.”

Currently, Stowe and the Continuing Education Division of BCCC are working on a service for those entrepreneurs and small business owners, who may live in outlying areas of its service area. Upon implementation, participants will be able to access live video streaming from home for the courses it offers, Stowe said. All of the services and educational resources offered by the center are critical to the area’s economic strength, Stowe said.

“The creation of jobs and retention of jobs in our area are critical to what we try to do,” Stowe said. “People are looking at trying to create income streams, as well. It could be part-time employment for them. We’re going to continue to try to find out if there are any pin-up demands in the service area for entrepreneurship. Our workshops are pretty much all free, and that’s key. Contact the SBC is there’s some topics you’d like to see covered.”

For more information or to register for a course, contact Lentz Stowe at lentzs@beaufortccc.edu or 252-940-6306, or contact Lauren Dudley at lauren.dudley@beaufortccc.edu or 252-940-6311.