Keith Grandberry - KeithGrandberry

UL and partners to aid small businesses

The Winston-Salem Urban League is partnering with the City of Winston-Salem and Wake Forest University to offer small businesses the knowledge and expertise they need to thrive The partners will offer the Small !usiness and "ntrepreneurial Clini# at the Urban League$s %uality of Life Center on &atterson 'venue The City will provide training seminars( while the Wake Forest Community Law and !usiness Clini# will offer legal training relevant to entrepreneurs and legal servi#es to parti#ipating businesses )* wanted to #reate a program that a#tually would help move small businesses along to ensure the su##ess of these businesses as mu#h as possible(+ said Urban League &resident and C", Keith Grandberry The year-long program will initially start with a small group of small business owners taking several weeks of seminars -randberry hopes the initial #rop of parti#ipants in#ludes both established business owners and those with new businesses There will be an appli#ation pro#ess for prospe#tive parti#ipants The #lini# is expe#ted to start next month &lans are for the program to take on more businesses over time Walter Farabee .r ( the City$s /inority and Women ,wned !usiness "nterprise

&rogram #oordinator( said seminar topi#s will in#lude business plan development( finan#ial management( market analyses and advertising )' lot of people are interested in starting businesses but they don$t know exa#tly where to start and aren$t aware of the resour#es here in the area(+ said Farabee )So this is a great opportunity for them whether they$re a#tually starting or 0ust have some ideas floating around + Steve 1irgil( founding dire#tor of the Wake Forest Community Law and !usiness Clini#( and WFU Law alumni will lead workshops at the Clini# #overing topi#s like managing human resour#e issues( reading finan#ial statements and #omplying with regulatory( li#ense and tax re2uirements 'fter the group workshops are #ompleted( parti#ipants will meet one-on-one with WFU law students for legal advi#e Under 1irgil$s supervision( the students will take on more involved( long term roles to serve the businesses$ legal needs WFU has helped lo#al residents sin#e 3445( but 1irgil said the UL #lini# will be the first time the law #lini# has offered its servi#es in su#h an integrated way( turning workshop attendees into #lients

)*t gives us an opportunity to serve more people and serve them in a more dynami# way(+ he said )6*$m very hopeful we$ll have a bigger impa#t and better impa#t in the groups we$re working with +

The State of Small !usiness and "ntrepreneurship in 3473 report put out by the State$s Small !usiness and Te#hnology Center found that small businesses were vital to the e#onomy *n 3445( 58 per#ent of businesses with employees in the state were #onsidered small business with less than 944 employees The report also found that there has been a de#line in businesses owned by sole proprietors( but that in#ome is up for small business owners and that they are hiring more employees