Gaston College Small Business Center to host free summit

New entrepreneurs of Gaston County might benefit from an upcoming seminar at the Gaston College Small Business Center. 

The free event will cover a wide range of topics relevant for new and existing business owners according to a press release from the Small Business Center. 

From 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, attendees will visit room 221 in the Dalpiaz Building of the Gaston College Dallas Campus at 201 US-321 in Dallas to hear from three locally based entrepreneurs, learn about marketing and hear from local lenders.

Small business panel

Panelists at the 2024 Small Business Summit include Michele Palmer, Matt Rudisill and Enovia Bedford. 

Palmer, owner of Wakerobin Marketing based in Cramerton, has worked in sales and marketing for 27 years. 

“Over the last few years, (Palmer) has passionately redirected her expertise towards empowering small businesses, entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations, by generously sharing marketing insights to get the most out of their limited budgets,” the release said. 

Rudisill is the owner and lead trainer of The Leadership Academy. 

“Over the past 26 years, he has worked with thousands of businesses and has helped launch over 100 companies,” the release said. “Matt is currently working as a business coach to several startup companies while also growing his own businesses – real estate and online training. He spends a great deal of time teaching social media principles to local business owners as well.”

Bedford specializes in providing digital skills training and coaching to empower Black and Latinx small businesses in reaching new customers, thriving online, and fostering growth, the release said. 

“Enovia is a dynamic entrepreneur with a knack for thriving in startup environments, specializing in driving profitable growth through strategic client coordination with industry leaders,” the release said. “Enovia moved to North Carolina in 2015 where she became the marketing director for a restaurant group and cofounded BLKTECHCLT, the first community for Black entrepreneurs and technologists in Charlotte, NC which was acquired in 2021. She is also the founder of VettDeck, a crowdsourced lead generation platform for the sponsorship and event industry.”

Beyond

According to the agenda for the summit, the event will begin with the small business panel going over the keys to starting and sustaining a business and will then move on to a business start-up session, visit exhibitors, marketing session and funding panel before attendees have the opportunity to learn about networking. 

 Lunch will be available on site.