The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

Meetings give professional advice





To the Editor:

On 12 March, 2010, Neon residents hosted the fifth in a series of entrepreneurship meetings, four of which have been led by Dr. Pete Hackbert of Berea College. This most recent meeting, the purpose of which was to provide fundamental business guidance and support to local entrepreneurs, was organized by Neon business people Doug Brink and Pearl Goode.

Approximately a dozen business owners or prospective business owners in and around Neon attended the two-hour session, which was preceded by an almost hour-long intensive look at Pearl Goode’s electrical and appliance store, and how it might be improved.

Under Dr. Hackbert’s leadership, a large part of the meeting was devoted to discussions of how to take advantage of electronic communications in marketing, the advantages of electronic marketing (very low overhead and potential to reach a wide audience), and how it might fit with and supplement more traditional marketing structures.

Tentatively, Dr. Hackbert will be bringing 20 students to the Kentucky River Area this summer to help carry forward the initiatives that he and local businesses and non-profits work out this spring. It is an opportunity for Letcher County business owners, among others, to receive assistance with improvements they decide may benefit their businesses. Several of the participants, after leaving the meeting, said the meeting had given them a feeling of hope for the future of their efforts and for Neon.

The next meeting will be organized by Doug Brink. If you are interested in taking advantage of the opportunity to receive professional advice and help with improving an existing business or starting an new one, and would like to attend, call Dean Cornett at 633-9546, or Doug Brink at 855-4646.
DEAN and NINA CORNETT
Blackey



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