By Debra McCown
Bristol
Herald Courier
March 19, 2009
MARION, Va. – Stephen Phillips worked for more than
20 years as a manufacturing engineer for the automotive industry, but after the
recent economic downturn, he is without a job.
He went to the Entrepreneur Express
workshop here Thursday because he’s looking for a job where he won’t get laid
off again.
“There are so few opportunities
locally in my profession,” said Phillips, of Saltville, Va.,
who has watched thousands of manufacturing jobs leave the area over the years.
“So I’m forced to look at opportunities that will allow me to stay here in this
area.”
Faron Couch, of Russell County,
also attended after a recent layoff.
“I’d like to have more control over
my own destiny,” Couch said. “If I make my mistakes, it’s my mistakes. I don’t
have to rely on someone else.”
Their stories were common during a
workshop designed to help entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs find a way
to get through a tough economy – and to create jobs for themselves and others
in the meanwhile.
Others, like Suzanne Capone, of
Rural Retreat, Va.,
participated to get ideas for her new business, an organic farm that also
welcomes tourists.
“Hopefully, we’ll see new
businesses open and grow,” said Jerry Jones, executive director of the Smyth
County Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event. “Our main employers
today are the small businesses.”
Jones
said the region’s people are its best resource when it comes to economic
recovery – and he hopes that helping them start businesses locally will have an
impact on Main Street.
http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/entrepreneur_express_workshops_helping_some_face_tough_economy/21955/
|
