BALTIMORE - April 12, 2010 - - - Hollis Minor recently joined the Maryland Small Business Development Center (MD SBDC) - Central Region - as their Anne Arundel County business counseling representative.  In this role she will provide counseling and technical assistance to companies striving to take their business to the next level.  Minor is one of four Central Region coaches who collectively provide consulting services, at no cost, as part of a Towson University regional outreach program funded by the Small Business Administration, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the University of Maryland, and local economic development centers.

 

Located in the Anne Arundel Economic Development Center,  Minor will provide management consulting and training services to local businesses.  These services will include assistance in loan packaging, business and marketing plan development, strategic planning, operational management and certifications.

 

A seasoned business solutions provider, Minor has owned four businesses prior to joining SBDC and brings hands-on experience to her new role.  Her most recent business, The Minor Group, is a successful Annapolis-based business consulting firm.  “Hollis’ excellent reputation as a business consultant in Anne Arundel County, in addition to her long-standing relationships with local businesses and government, and knowledgeable approach to business consulting, made her the perfect choice for a counselor in the southern part of our region,” remarks Kiesha Haughton Smoots, Central Region director of the MD SBDC.

 

A resident of Annapolis for over 40 years, Minor has a diverse range of experience creating organizational development, public relations, and communications initiatives for privately held firms and for not-for-profit organizations, including many public entities.  Her breadth of business development skills includes international marketing, public outreach campaigns, and distribution models for a wide variety of products and services.  Further, Minor’s expertise extends to implementing and managing public relations campaigns and expertly conducting tactical plans in the areas of media relations, coalition building, event staging, media kits, exhibits, presentations, videos, websites and more.

 

A member of the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, Annapolis Economic Affairs Advisory Commission and Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce, Minor continues her active community business involvement as an advisory board member of the Maryland SBDC Central Region’s new CEO Accelerator program.

 

She is a graduate of the University of Maryland- College Park, where she obtained a B.S. in Business Administration.

Any business interested in receiving counseling assistance from a Maryland SBDC consultant can register on the Central Region website at www.centralsbdc.org by clicking on the “Grow Smart” tab, or by calling 1-877-421-0830.

 

The Maryland Small Business Development Center -Central Region- is part of a national network- and is an accredited member of the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC).  Founded in 1979, the ASBDC assists over 500,000 businesses annually.  It provides a variety of confidential management consulting and technical assistance programs at no cost to help small businesses develop and refine business plans, solve operating problems, identify sources of capital, and develop strategies to support growth.  Supported by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and the University of Maryland, the MD SBDC is funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.