SBDC Employment Opportunities

COOKING UP A NEW BUSINESS?
New program caters to minorities, women

BY DAVID KRECHEVSKY

REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WATERBURY

Mark Yates learned to cook from his grandmother.

He learned so well, he’s often asked to cater events for family and friends.

Since he loves to cook, and has been unemployed for nearly a year, Yates happily agrees, even though whipping up dishes in his small kitchen for a couple of hundred people is no simple task.

But thanks to a comment from a college classmate, and a new business development program in the region, Yates hopes to soon be catering by trade.

The comment came from Ginne-Ray Clay, Yates’ University of Connecticut classmate who now serves as state director of the Small Business Development Center.

“I told him he’s really running a business,” Clay said.

She then told him about the new program, which specifically targets minorities and women, launched by New Opportunities Inc. of Waterbury and the Waterbury Regional Chamber, with help from the SBDC. The program is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and its goal is to increase business ownership for minorities and women in the community.

The SBDC was already hosting a series of free business development workshops that teach the fundamentals of owning and operating a small business,...READ FULL ARTICLE