Community Partners undergo training to become a Tennessee SmartStart™ Community in partnership with TNECD’s BERO Office
Our community is now an official Tennessee SmartStart™ Community. As a SmartStart™ Community, we strive to increase community collaboration and support a thriving small business and entrepreneurial environment by providing new and existing businesses with education, tools and resources. The SmartStart™ Community initiative contributes to the goal of making Tennessee the easiest place to open and run a business in the nation.
Within our community, individuals and entities have stepped up to become Community Partners. Our Community Partners come in the form of diverse organizations and will increase value in the community- not to mention in customer and stakeholder satisfaction- by addressing the needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Wisty Pender, state director, BERO stated, “It is important to have a robust group of Community Partners engaged in making their communities small business and entrepreneur friendly. Community Partners are the core of making their SmartStart Community tick!”
The SmartStart™ Community initiative trains Community Partners to assist small businesses and entrepreneurs in accessing tools and resources. The training includes how to use the SmartStart™ Guide and the breadth of resources that are available statewide. The SmartStart™ Guide provides users with a checklist on how to register a business, create a tailored business model canvas and locate important resources.
We are proud to participate in an initiative that contributes to making Tennessee the easiest place in the country to open and run a business!
ABOUT BERO
The Business Enterprise Resource Office (BERO) is housed within the Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD). BERO serves as a voice for and advocate of economic inclusion for disadvantaged businesses (DBE); analyzes, disseminates and promotes best practices and access to capital to service providers; and reports on the status of DBEs statewide. For more information, visit tn.gov/ecd/bero.
About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies that help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. To grow and strengthen Tennessee, the department seeks to attract new corporate investment to the state and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tnecd.com. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tnecd.