UHV News Archive
Free seminar teaches people how to become their own bosses
Thursday, January 22, 2009 | By
Thomas Doyle
<p>If you can’t find a job, make one.</p>
<p>Learn how at “Be Your Own Boss,” a free seminar from 9 a.m. to noon Monday at the Workforce Solutions Golden Crescent, 120 S. Main St. The event will be presented by the University of Houston-Victoria Small Business Development Center.</p>
<p>“Many people have the ability to start their own successful business but just don’t realize their potential,” SBDC Director Joe Harper said. “This seminar will help expand people’s horizons and open their eyes to possibilities they may have never considered.”</p>
<p>The seminar will cover topics including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Discovering what it takes to be an entrepreneur</li>
<li>Determining the feasibility of a business idea</li>
<li>Creating a business plan</li>
<li>Constructing a marketing plan</li>
<li>Securing financing for a new business</li>
</ul>
<p>The event is free, but advanced registration is required.</p>
<p>Attendees also will have a chance to sign up as SBDC clients. The agency provides services, many of them free of charge, to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>The seminar is one of the ways Workforce Solutions is achieving its mission of generating wealth for individuals, companies and the state as a whole, Executive Director Henry Guajardo said.</p>
<p>“Many people are feeling the effects of the slowing economy, some even to the extent of losing their jobs,” Guajardo said. “Some of us don’t have the luxury of waiting until the economy gets better in order to start creating income.”</p>
<p>Rather than seeking out an employer, many people can start working for themselves.</p>
<p>Skills people used in their old jobs are transferable to new careers, he said. For example, a pipe fitter with years of chemical plant experience could start a plumbing business. The same is true for electricians, welders, millwrights, carpenters and many others.</p>
<p>In addition to solving immediate employment woes, successful new businesses will grow the area economy from within and provide future jobs for the region, Guajardo said.</p>
<p>For more information about the seminar or to register, call Workforce Solutions at 361-578-0341. For more information about the UHV SBDC, call 361-575-8944 or visit www.sbdcvictoria.com.</p>
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers
courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education,
Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional
site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State
Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and
the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population,
as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
