August 22, 2018
Boot Camp Continues to Impact Area Entrepreneurs
Back row, from left to right, includes Russell Parker, Dr. Ericka Lawrence (COB), and Dr. Dennis Barber, III (Miller School of Entrepreneurship). Front from, from left to right, includes Andrea Bristol (Too Sweet Gifts & More), Kim and Sonya Pippen (Kimco), Ferdinand Rouse (City of Greenville) and Denisha Harris (City of Greenville).
For the second year in a row, the College of Business partnered with the City of Greenville’s Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) to help local, minority-owned businesses enhance their business skills and financial literacy.
Area companies that participated and graduated from the MWBE Business Skills Boot Camp included Clean Touch Pressure Washing, Kimco (an HVAC company) and Too Sweet Gifts & More.
As a part of her project with ECU’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and in conjunction with the Miller School of Entrepreneurship, Dr. Ericka Lawrence, an associate professor in the College’s Department of Management, developed a four-week curriculum that:
- Focused on marketing analysis;
- Looked at small business accounting concepts to help participants be financially fit;
- Provided information related to the bidding process for projects with local and state governments; and
- Taught participants on how to utilize social media platforms to market their companies.
Russell Parker
This year’s class included Russell Parker, owner of Clean Touch. One key item he walked away with from last year’s boot camp was learning how to get closer to the bankers, and then establishing those relationships. For this year’s camp, he knew where he needed help and that was with financing.
“I was looking for where to find it, and I knew how to get the relationship,” said Parker. “I found out there was a lot of money for entrepreneurs.”
Parker, whose company has been around for more than 20 years, currently provides cleaning services for ECU Transit. He thinks other minority businesses, like his, could benefit from attending future boot camps.
Ferdinand Rouse listens to Russell Parker speak about his experience with the boot camp.
Ferdinand Rouse is Greenville’s MWBE coordinator. He, too, thinks area businesses would gain valuable information offered at the boot camp.
“Helping entrepreneurs learn best practices…is a win-win for us,” said Rouse. “It introduces people to the resources at East Carolina (University) and it builds better businesses for the city of Greenville to work with.”
Rouse, a College of Business MBA alumnus, added a goal for the city is to have these entrepreneurs bid on projects that are available through the city.
As a follow-up to the boot camp, Dr. Lawrence surveyed attendees to find out how the classes affected the companies, what curriculum areas can be enhanced and the viability of making this boot camp an annual occurrence.
This research will also be part of a bigger research project that Lawrence is currently conducting, which is focused on entrepreneurship issues in rural, Eastern North Carolina.
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