Wednesdays, Biz Days @ St. Joe's

St. Joseph's College opened a new business counseling center this past August. The Outreach Counseling Center is located in Lorenzo Hall, 265 Clinton Avenue and is open every Wednesday from 10 AM - 3 PM. Existing and aspiring business owners should call for 718.399.0068 to set up appointments. Business plan development, financial applications and other assistance available.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the Brooklyn Campus of St. Joseph's College to celebrate the opening of a Small Business Development Outreach Counseling Center in August. Thomas G. Travis, Ph.D., Vice President for Planning and Dean of the School of Professional and Graduate Studies, welcomed over 30 people to this event including Yvonne Graham, Assistant to the Borough President and a graduate of St. Joseph's College and City Council Member Letitia James. Both Assistant Borough President Graham and City Council Member James addressed the attendees and expressed how committed the Borough President and the City Council are to supporting economic development initiatives in the borough of Brooklyn.

The Small Business Advisors who staff the Center are from the New York State Small Business Development Center (NYS SBDC) and SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives). Herbert Winkler, Chairman of SCORE, attended the ribbon-cutting and spoke briefly about the commitment of SCORE to this initiative. In addition to local elected officials and Mr. Winkler, 10 representatives from the various NYS SBDC offices were present, including Darrin Conroy of NYS SBDC Central who traveled from Albany.

Other organizations represented at this event included the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership, Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation (BEDC), Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the NYC Business Solutions Center, the Local Development Center of East New York (LDC/ENY), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and Project Enterprise.