YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The executive director of Valley Partners said she looks forward to doing an event intended to connect under-resourced small businesses and entrepreneurs with resources and build relationships.
Huntington National Bank and Valley Partners hosted the Seeds for Growth dinner Thursday evening at Provence Mills Event Center in Girard. The event, which featured panel discussions, business resource tables, vendors and meals provided by local food trucks, was attended by 85 entrepreneurs and small business owners, Teresa Miller, Valley Partners executive director, reported.
“It’s meant to reach people that are under-resourced, small businesses that are under-resourced, and help them to get access to capital,” Miller said. “It’s also to help build trust and transparency with their bankers.” Huntington hosts the events in several markets, partnering with local organizations like Valley Partners.
“It was a pretty successful event, and we do look forward to hopefully bringing it here again on an annual basis,” she said.
“Helping businesses thrive is a key aspect to our mission at Huntington,” Sam Huston, market president for Huntington Bank, said in a news release announcing the event. “These Seeds for Growth events are an integral way to empower small business owners for each stage of a company’s lifecycle, and through their success, communities become stronger.”
Matthew Longmire, Valley Partners business resource manager, praised Seeds for Growth as “a community event that equips and empowers local entrepreneurs with the connections, knowledge and resources needed to take their business to the next level.”
Panelists included Rita Tate, founder and president of Bess Purpose Inc. in Struthers, which provides assistance to veterans, single parents and survivors of domestic violence.
Attendees wanted to hear about how Bess Purpose copes with cost fluctuations and other adverse situations the nonprofit entity encounters, Tate reported. She urged the audience to not depend solely on grants.
“You find sponsors. You have fundraisers to have sustainability, to have a successful business,” she advised.
Crystal Swiggett, owner of Raising Young Royalty Child Development Center in Youngstown, shared how she determined how much money she was going to need to launch her business and outlined her process for securing funding. She acknowledged attending a program like Seeds for Growth would have been helpful when she was starting out and admitted she learned things herself at Thursday’s event.
She also urged entrepreneurs to seek out free resources to help them start their businesses.
Pictured at top: Attendees at Thursday’s Seeds for Growth event.