Tusculum College to launch new Center for Economic Development & Entrepreneurship on September 6

Tusculum College invites the public to attend an informational workshop, followed by the official inauguration of its recently established Center for Economic Development & Entrepreneurship.

The informational workshop will be held on Thursday, September 6, beginning at 7 p.m., in the Chalmers Conference Center in Niswonger Commons on the college’s main campus in Greeneville. Reservations are required by Monday, September 3.

“We invite the business community to take advantage of this unique opportunity and benefit from the knowledge, energy and commitment of our students, as well as the expertise of our faculty,” said Dr. Antonio Bos, CEDE director and professor of business administration.

The mission of the Center for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship (CEDE) is to create sustained, long-term, coordinated planning strategies and programs that can help create, apply and distribute valued knowledge by empowering students, business owners and community members to achieve sustainable prosperity and economic development in the region.

“The establishment of the Center for Economic Development & Entrepreneurship is an extension of Tusculum College’s efforts to support economic development in the region through providing support to small business owners and entrepreneurs,” said Dr. Nancy B. Moody, president of Tusculum College.

“Tusculum, its faculty, staff and students believe it is their mission to share a role in the community and fully participate in the efforts to make our region a better place to live, learn and work,” she added.

The Center aims to help students, business owners, as well as individuals and family members in a number of areas related to entrepreneurship, small business development and personal finance.

Individuals will have access to experts in personal finance and the opportunity to attend programs that address areas of revenue and expenditures in concrete terms. In addition, advice on how to improve this cycle and plan for the future will be provided in a personalized way.

Small business owners will be able to receive advice from experts regardless of their size and personal interest. More specifically, participants can attend the 10-session Help Me Help You Program, which was recognized by the Clinton Foundation as one of the most promising student-led programs in the whole world, and/or receive consulting advice from teachers and experts in the fields of accounting, management, economics, marketing and finance among others.

In addition, monthly activities, guest speakers and events will be open to the whole community, with the intent of further promoting the personal and professional development of each community member and providing opportunities to network with other individuals and entrepreneurs in similar situations.

Tusculum College’s CEDE has partnered with ETSU’s Northeast Tennessee Regional Entrepreneurial Accelerator (NTREA), which is led by the ETSU αccelNow organization. The goal of this program is to connect entrepreneurs with critical resources to accelerate business creation and growth. It is funded by a grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and the Appalachian Regional Commission.

More importantly, CEDE was created to help further develop the community’s prosperity and economic development. Additional programs will be offered, and if individuals have any specific need, the CEDE will work with participants to devise a sustainable solution to the issue at hand.

The deadline to reserve a spot for the workshop is September 3. Please be prepared to provide name(s), contact information and business information if applicable.

CEDE has the support of the Tusculum College administration, as well as the School of Business and the Office of Institutional Advancement. The Center leadership includes Dr. Bos and Luis Zamora, a senior student in business and the Center coordinator.

The Center is also being sponsored financially by ETSU’s αccelNow organization and has received generous support from Scott Niswonger, Tom Ferguson and Atmos Energy Corp.

Because of this community support, attendees and program participants will not be charged a fee in any of our events and/or programs. Registration and additional information are available by calling 423-329-9016 or by e-mailing lzamora@tcstudents.tusculum.edu.