UT Tyler Opens New Small Business Development Center in Marshall
Thursday, December 03, 2020
By Jessica Harker - Marshall News Messenger | Dec 3, 2020
The University of Texas at Tyler’s Small Business Development Center in Longview has temporarily expanded its outreach by opening an office in Marshall.
The Greater Marshall Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new office location, opening right next door to them at 110 South Bolivar Street, Suite 102.
“We are really blessed to be here today, and excited to partner with Marshall,” said Dr. Michael Tidwell, university president, during the event.
The new office will be run by Executive Director Day Shelmire, along with Senior Business Advisor Virgel Conner and Finance Advisor Brandy Flanagan.
The office will offer free business advice and consultation to small businesses and entrepreneurs in the area.
Shelmire said that anyone who is thinking about potentially starting their own business, or need some advice on their existing business, should call and make an appointment at the office.
The SBDC is funded directly by the CAREs act, along with UT and other partners, according to Shelmire, who said that they are looking to grow and expand the office to hopefully make it a permanent presence in the area.
Dr. Tidwell said that the continued grown of the SBDC is largely due to the 100 Communities Initiative at UT, which prioritized operating in a number of small towns across the East Texas area.
“We know that we are the only University of Texas entity that operates in East Texas, and we want to expand those resources to communities in this area,” Tidwell said. “Our vision as a university is to address all of the educational and economic challenges of our region.”
Director of the Chamber Stacia Runnells welcomed the new office to the community during the event.
“We are very excited to have y’all here with us,” Runnels said. “And for our long term relationship that we have had with UT at Tyler.”
Orlando Valle, with the Chamber of Commerce, presented Dr. Tidwell and other members of the group with the key to the city, as a sign of welcome to the new office location.
For more information on the services provided by the new SBDC location in Marshall, or to make an appointment with the team contact them at (903)757-5857 or visit the website at www.uttyler-longviewsbdc.org.
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