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GIVE TO BSC IN EI&U CAMPAIGN
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Please consider making a charitable donation to the Business Solutions Center as part of the EI&U Expect Greatness campaign.
YOUR GIFT WILL HELP:
- Send a student to Camp e3
- Provide free and confidential counseling to start-ups, existing businesses, and nonprofits
- Offer low-cost training to help organizations succeed
- Support Junior Achievement and other youth e-education including the creation of high school e-classes
- Grow our own entrepreneurs that will create jobs and sustain the economic vitality in the region
Online giving can be as easy as clicking on our donation website. We thank all of our current and future Partners. |
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PLATINUM PARTNERS
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Charleston Area
Charitable
Foundation
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SILVER PARTNERS
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Agracel
City of Charleston
City of Paris
East Central Illinois Development Corporation
Effingham County Board
First Bank of Paris
First Neighbor Bank
Journal Gazette/Times Courier
Karen Wolters, Ignite, USA
Schultz Investment Company
U.S. Bank
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OTHER PARTNERS | |
Annie Hernandez
Bob and Nancy Williams
Bob Webb
Cathy and Larry Ashmore
Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce
Citizens National Bank
Dennis and Kathleen Klaeser
Eastern Illinois Education for Employment Systems
Effingham County Chamber of Commerce
Fifth Third Bank
First National Bank of Dieterich
Flesor Family Confectionary, Inc.
Frank and Cathy Brummer
Gary Henigman
Gilbert, Metzger & Madigan LLP
In Memory of Jack Clifford
In Memory of John Dively
Jasper County Economic Development Cooperative
McDonalds of Coles County
Paul Ruff
SCH Consulting
State Bank of Arthur
Todd Vilardo
Tuscola National Bank
Vantage Outsourcing
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Entrepreneurial Endeavors
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Dear Greetings!,
Our latest, greatest challenge is one that everyone should be so lucky to have. Seventy-one junior high students attended the first Effingham County Entrepreneurship Club more than doubling the attendance from last year. We are appreciative of the enthusiasm and interest of the students and want to ensure a quality program; therefore we are seeking your assistance. We will divide the students into a 7th and an 8th grade club and are looking for volunteers to help facilitate and teach entrepreneurship and free enterprise to these enthusiastic youth.
In this issue you can read more about a new business, on-line resources coming your way and a video competition that encourages youth to talk to an entrepreneur about what they have learned from failures. Also, please consider supporting the Coles County Entrepreneurship Class as they raise money by selling table sponsorships and tickets for the Coles Connected Leadership Breakfast that will be held on Wednesday, November 7th at Lake Land Fieldhouse.
I would like to thank the BSC Advisory Board members who have served in the past and welcome new board members and staff shown below.
 | | FY '13 Advisory Board and Staff - From left: Destany Lucas - youth educator, Jennifer Garren - office manager, Joyce Madigan, Ann Beck, Bob Webb, Susan Hanfland - chair elect, Bob Schutz - chair, Cindy White, Don Davis, Jeanne Dau - director, Eli Sidwell, Halee Harrison - graduate assistant and Tiffany Kline - business coach Not pictured: Tiffany Macke, Jon Fulton, Todd Vilardo, Sean Wiggan, Dean Mayhar Izadi and Dr. Marko Grunhagen |
In service to our communities,
Jeanne C. Dau
Director, Business Solutions Center
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Eastern Illinois University
217-581-2913 |
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BSC Awarded Illinois Broadband Innovation Grant to Create E-Hub |
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The Business Solutions Center received $32,688.00 from the Illinois Broadband Innovation Fund to create the Prairie Spark E-Hub. This digital resource center will ignite entrepreneurship by providing on-line educational tools to help grow our own businesses and jobs in Illinois. Resources will include: youth entrepreneurship curriculum for inside and outside of the classroom, videos, geographic information systems(GIS) maps for broadband access, library locators and other economic development resources. The E-hub will enhance the personal assistance that is already provided by the BSC's youth educator and entrepreneurial coach and will exponentially expand the number of youth and entrepreneurs served.
Read more about our Broadband Innovation Grant in this article featured in the Journal Gazette & Times-Courier!
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WIN AN iPAD2: iEntrepreneur Challenge YouTube Contest |
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 All area junior and senior high school and college students have the opportunity to win a 16GB iPad2 by creating a two minute YouTube video that asks entrepreneurs what they have learned from their failures. The Business Solutions Center at Eastern Illinois University (BSC), in partnership with the East Central Illinois Development Corporation (ECIDC), is holding their 2nd Annual iEntrepreneur Challenge, a video contest that will help celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week. Hurry, the deadline to submit your 2 minute YouTube video is Friday, November 2nd. For more information check out the full press release and our website for rules and contest forms.
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Larry Willoughby and his son Corey have raced motorcycles and worked around them their entire lives. This passion blossomed into opening their own motorcycle repair shop in March of 2011 by renting a small one-bay garage. Just one year later there was so much business they needed to expand. They bought land just across the street from the rented garage and went to work building a stunning showroom and 3-bay service shop. The new shop opened on June 30, 2012.
Click HERE for the rest of the story! |
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Coles County Entrepreneurship Class Update |
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Students from the CCEC class will be making sales calls this week for the November 7th Coles Connected Leadership Breakfast featuring Mike Yager, the 20 Under 40 recipients and the Jefferson Award winners. They will also be selling table sponsorships that include: an ivy centerpiece, a table tent with your name on it, a 3' x 5' reusable banner that will be displayed at the breakfast and the option of having your promotional giveaways on your table. This promotional package will only cost your business $75. Any extra profits will go towards seed money for the students to start their businesses in the Spring.
The business community and class investors are welcome to observe the class. Contact me at jcdau@eiu.edu if you would like to receive weekly updates on the class programming and locations.
Our CCEC class is also considering changing its name and/or logo and we'd like to hear your thoughts on your favorite name idea! Please click the link below to access a one question poll to give us your feedback.
http://survey.constantcontact.com/poll/a07e6gwslvqh7w5e254/start.html
 | | The class celebrates their success - they more than doubled their production using lean processes. |
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Is a BYOD Policy Right For Your Business? |
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With the modern employee being more mobile than ever, many small businesses have implemented BYOD (bring your own device) policies. BYOD allows and requires that employees use their own media devices such as laptops, mobile phones and tablet PCs at work. Is this a good idea or not?
Although this may cut enormous costs to the company by not having to purchase computers and other mobile devices for each employee, many may argue that the employee is now strained with the obligation of purchasing potentially very expensive devices themselves. Should the company offer the employee an allowance to assist with these costs?
Click HERE to read the full article |
Seventy-one youth attended the first E-club meeting past week. This year-long club will meet every Wednesday from 3:30-5:00 at Effingham Junior High School. The club is open to any Effingham County 7th or 8th grader who is interested in learning about entrepreneurship and volunteers are needed to assist the youth educators in making this program a wonderful experience for all involved. Please consider helping out. For more information, contact Destany Lucas at ddlucas@eiu.edu or 217-581-2913. For more information click here.
 
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BSC PARTICIPATES IN EIU'S ANNUAL BUSINESS EXPO
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 | | Tiffany Kline, BSC Entrepreneurial Coach |
The Business Solutions Center participated in Eastern Illinois University's Business Expo on Wednesday, October 3rd at EIU's student union. The annual event, which is presented in coordination with the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, had 21 area business and organizations participating in the expo this year.
The business expo gave area businesses the opportunity to introduce themselves to the students, faculty & staff of EIU. Tiffany Kline had the enjoyable opportunity to speak with students and staff providing them with information about the many services the Business Solutions Center provides.
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Tiffany Kline
BSC Coach |
I would like to bring to your attention the Visa Business Network. Visa now has a dedicated website to educate small business owners on an array of topics including everything from pricing workshops to a library of helpful and informative articles. Go to www.visabusinessnetwork.com to utilize these free services and information.
Another great website to visit, especially if you are an aspiring or established business owner in Effingham County, is the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce website found at www.effinghamchamber.org. The Effingham County Chamber of Commerce is home to the B.E.S.T. (Business Essentials Support and Technology) Center which offers free business counseling provided by the Business Solutions Center entrepreneurial coach and the local Small Business Development Center's (SBDC) counselor. There is a business resource library provided by Helen Matthes Library, as well as a fully equipped office and interview space for local businesses to use. They also have an online Business Academy that offers seminars with many topics about running a successful business. |
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REQUEST PROFESSIONAL COACHING |
Click here to fill out an online form
or call 217-581-2913 or 217-549-8416. |
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions on how the BSC can assist entrepreneurs, please don't hesitate to call us at 581-2913.
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