The City of Asheville will host an Open House/Kick Off event to form a supportive business group for minority, women, and small businesses at 9 a.m. on October 6 at the Edington Center located at 133 Livingston Street. This meeting will be informal and will touch on ideas for the group as well as survey attendees for business ideas, resources and needs.
The City of Asheville’s Minority Business Program works to increase opportunities for minority, women and small businesses through three key efforts:
- Outreach and training on the City’s contracting opportunities;
- Support through partnership with local business service providers such as Small Business & Technology Development Center, AB Tech Small Business Center, The Support Center, Mountain Biz Works, Small Business Administration, SCORE, Venture Asheville just to name a few; and
- Events such as the Reverse Vendor Fair which is held annually in April.
This new group creates an opportunity for City staff to facilitate support to business owners actively and regularly with a goal to look at matching businesses to resources, providing training and networking opportunities. The first meeting is an open house / kick off to begin the process of forming the group and looking at what businesses need in the way of support and assistance. RSVP is strongly suggested to prepare for interested attendees. For additional information and to RSVP, contact Brenda Mills at 828-259-8050, bmills@ashevillenc.gov.
The City will continue to partner with local business support agencies to provide training and resources and to share information on opportunities that would be helpful to their businesses. These business service provider groups provide a wealth of information that is helpful to businesses at all levels.