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 or by e-mail at .
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.