The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce hosted a celebration for the new home for start up and small businesses at its downtown headquarters on Jefferson Street. Although the chamber has been working to support business creation for 20 years, according to Joyce W. Waugh, the Chamber’s president and CEO, it now uses its mezzanine floor for offices of small businesses.
Called the Entrepreneur Center, it offers help to accelerate the growth of regional businesses. “We’ll have inexpensive space for the budding entrepreneurs on a short term basis,” Waugh said. Those currently using the facility include Aerotek, run by Sara Owen, Virtual Marketing, by Samantha Steidle, Next Generation Designs, with Brandt Harrell and Dany Turner, SendOutCards, by Jeannie Patterson, and SynergySessions.org, by Lynda McNutt Foster.
Foster created her business based on the needs of entrepreneurs she saw while working with Wheeler Broadcasting. She ran it as a part time venture until this month, when she turned it into her only job. Her plan calls for helping any business, start up or ongoing, to supersize. For her clients, she plans live group sessions covering such topics as guerilla marketing, social media and public relations.
The Center’s plan calls for each beneficiary of office space to offer at least an hour a month to a budding entrepreneur who has sought small business development help from the chamber. According to Waugh, Tom Tanner, former owner of a Roanoke photography shop and now a business counselor, has “done yeoman’s work to get the Entrepreneur Center up and running.” Since it is an offering to the entire region, anyone planning or starting a business can take advantage of the chamber’s help and start on the path to business success.
For more information, call the Small Business Development Center at 540-983-0717 or go online to www.rrsbdc.org.
