VGCC Warren Campus offers free small business seminars

The Vance-Granville Community College Small Business Center has scheduled a pair of free seminars for Thursday, Oct. 5, at the college’s Warren County Campus, located at 210 West Ridgeway Street in Warrenton.

“Empowerment Through Coaching for Small Business Owners” will be held from 1 until 4 p.m. that day. “How to Write a Business Plan” will follow from 6 until 9 p.m. The location for both is Room W4123.

Leading both seminars will be Ed Ormsby of Pinehurst, who has been providing counseling and consulting services to small business owners for over 20 years. Ormsby is the former director of the Small Business Center at Edgecombe Community College and has held sales, marketing and executive management positions with Fortune 500, mid-sized and small businesses throughout the Southeast.

In the first seminar, Ormsby will discuss coaching, the activity of developing the abilities of others. “A successful coach will not only stimulate others to define challenges, but to develop their own options for meeting them — and become effective leaders in their small business,” Ormsby said. In this seminar, small business owners and managers will learn techniques for successfully developing their employees’ confidence and performance.

The second seminar discusses the business plan, which is, as Ormsby puts it, “the most important task in starting a new business or growing an existing business.” No lender will discuss financing without a business plan, he noted. This seminar is designed to explain exactly what goes into a business plan, why, and how to properly manage from it. Research techniques are also covered. For participants who want to continue working on their plans, the Small Business Center will provide free, one-on-one counseling.

For more information and to reserve a seat in one or both of these free seminars, contact Small Business Center director Tanya Weary at smallbusiness@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3240.

Registration can be completed online at www.vgcc.edu/schedules/small-business-center .