from staff
The North Florida District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration announced the graduation of the 2010 class of the SBA’s Emerging 200 Program, called e200.
Thirteen small business owners who operate businesses in Jacksonville’s inner city were recognized Wednesday at the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The goal of e200 is to identify 200 inner-city businesses across the country that show a high potential for growth and to provide them the network and resources to build a sustainable business within a designated inner-city geographic location.
The SBA contracted InnerCity Entrepreneurs to conduct the training aspect of the initiative. Jacksonville is one of 15 cities participating in the initiative across the country.
The 13 local small business firms and their owners graduating from the e200 class of 2010 are:
• Gwendolyn Jenkins, Jenks Trucking Inc.
• Matt Geoghegan, Belet’s Millwork Inc.
• Kim Ansley , The Rose Group LLC
• Patrick N. Gordon, Quantum Mechanical LLC
• Debra Klein, Baker Klein Engineering P.L.
• Mark A. Morley, The Ohmega Group LLC
• David Zuckerman, Easy Edit Video
• Paul Farrell, Farrell Brothers Marine Construction Inc.
• Dow W. Peters III, P.E., Peters and Yaffee Inc.
• Andre Williams, Lady Deborah’s Inc.
• Wayne Nolan, Nolan Plumbing and Irrigation
• Javier Garcia, Pinnacle Civil And General Contractors LLC
• Theresa Myers, Myers Seth Pump Inc.
Each business was responsible for producing a three-year strategic growth plan with benchmarks and performance targets for their individual business.
The e200 training focused on topics such as organization management, financial management, growth strategies and management, market development, and strategic planning.
The eight-month program also included CEO mentoring among the participants. Participation in the e200 was offered free of charge.
The e200 Jacksonville initiative is co-sponsored with the Small Business Development Center at the University of North Florida, SCORE, the chamber’s Small Business Center, the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center and the Beaver Street Enterprise Center.