MyBiz.AM Has a Fresh Look
MERIDIAN-- The highly popular website – over 620,000 unique hits – serves entrepreneurs in Alabama and Mississippi. It was developed by the West Alabama – East Mississippi (WAEM) Regional Initiative in cooperation with the University of Alabama.
“We wanted the logo and name to better reflect our niche market,” explained Bill Crawford, director of the WAEM Regional Initiative. “With the immense activity we are experiencing, we wanted to segment our product from others using “mybiz” in their names. ‘MyBizAM – The entrepreneur Sourcelink for Alabama and Mississippi’ does that.”
Access and registration to the website are free.
Today 2,471 registered users have access to the Resource Navigator, a unique search engine that allows users to enter zip codes and information needs, then identifies by address and Google map the nearest service provider able to meet those needs. The Resource Navigator is a licensed product of U.S. Sourcelink adapted to WAEM usage.
There are 212 service providers registered as Resource Partners on MyBiz.AM.
391 communities now participate in the MyBiz-Alabama-Mississippi Network. Each has a “Start-It! Card” with information useful to entrepreneurs available locally and published on MyBiz.AM. The MyBizAM Network is facilitated by community and junior colleges in Alabama and Mississippi.
Start-up costs for MyBiz.AM were paid by the U.S. Department of Labor through a Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development grant. Expansion of the program in Alabama was financed by Project LEARN, operated by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Development and the University of Alabama. Expansion of the program in Mississippi was financed by the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Governor Barbour Announces the Mississippi Steps Program
Jackson, Mississippi – Governor Haley Barbour announced today a new initiative, Mississippi STEPS: Subsidized Transitional Employment Program and Services, to aid small businesses in meeting their workforce needs while providing employment during these tough economic times.
Mississippi STEPS, a joint venture between the Mississippi Department of Human Services and the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, will subsidize the wages of a new employee hired by any public hospital, private non-profit or for-profit entity in the state over a six-month period. The program, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will begin October 2009 through September 2011.
“Mississippi STEPS is unique in that it is a program specifically designed to benefit both the employee and employer,” Governor Barbour said. “The STEPS program will provide much-needed aid during this recession by enabling businesses to hire new workers, thus enhancing the economic engines of our local communities.”
The Mississippi STEPS program is designed to place workers in jobs that will result in full-time employment, as well as increase the skill level of the eligible participant. The program covers an employee’s salary at 100 percent at the beginning of the six-month period, and the subsidy decreases in “steps” over six months.
Although the program is open to any public hospital or private business, preference will be given to small businesses. Eligible employees must have at least one child under the age of 18 and earn within 250 percent of the federal poverty line.
Any questions regarding STEPS should be directed to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security at (601) 321-6000.
Innovative New Course at MCC to Help Entrepreneurs Succeed
MERIDIAN – Mike Anderson must be doing something exciting at Meridian Community College (MCC). Even his daughter is interested in his new “How to Start and Operate a Business” class.
“Eighty percent of all businesses in the United States are small businesses – the backbone of our nation’s economy,” said Anderson. “To grow our economy, our nation must grow entrepreneurship. I am excited about teaching this class and have even been able to interest my teenage daughter about starting her own business,” he added.
“How to Start and Operate a Business” is referring to a new 10-week course that MCC will offer for potential and existing entrepreneurs beginning in September.
“It is our goal in Community and Business Development to offer this course as a way to better prepare those in our community interested in owning and operating their own business,” said Victoria Liddell, Community Development Facilitator for the WAEM Regional Initiative at MCC. “We want entrepreneurs to be successful and flourish.”
The innovative curriculum for this course comes from the Southern Entrepreneurship Program (SEP) developed by Dr. Brent Hales of the Trent Lott National Center of Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern Mississippi. The MyBiz Entrepreneur Network, developed through the WAEM Regional Initiative, provided MCC and other community colleges the training and materials needed to implement this new program. My Biz encourages communities to transform themselves into “enterprise- ready” communities and adopt entrepreneurship as an alternative economic development strategy.
“Entrepreneurship should be taught in schools and colleges,” said Dr. Hales. “It is vital to expose students to business opportunities. Too many brilliant business-minded young people are leaving the state; we have to train them to reverse that trend and increase opportunities for them to stay here.”
Anderson, MCC Economics Instructor, will teach the class. Components of the curriculum include Characteristics of the Successful Entrepreneur, Selecting Your Business, Cost of Running a Business, as well as case studies and sample business plans.
Anderson recently attended SEP’s Train-the-Trainer Institute at the University of Southern Mississippi. The institute is designed to train community college personnel in the tactics, techniques, and strategies of training successful entrepreneurs. This four day training enabled Anderson and others to experience the fundamentals of SEP and the MyBiz Entrepreneur Network.
Model Contractor Development Program Kicks Off in Gulfport in September
Beginning in September, MDA will once again present its Model Contractor Development Program (MCDP) at Roy Anderson Corporation's corporate office, located at 11400 Reichold Road in Gulfport. The sessions will be held from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. each Tuesday beginning September 29 and ending December 1.
MCDP is designed to teach small construction contractors the good business practices needed to improve their company's operations, increase their bonding capacity and help them take advantage of construction opportunities in Mississippi. The program is sponsored by MDA's Minority and Small Business Development Division, Roy Anderson Corporation, the Surety and Fidelity Association of America and the South Mississippi Contract Procurement Center. MCDP consists of 10 sessions covering topics such as: Banking and Finance for Contractors; Marketing, Estimating and Bidding and Dispute Resolutions. A representative for each contractor must agree to attend at least eight of the 10 sessions. The program is free-of-charge, but companies interested in participating must be enrolled in the Mississippi Contract Procurement Network system.
For more information or to register online, please visit www.mscpc.com.
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