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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!,
Frank Capra's movie, It's a Wonderful Life, is one of my favorite holiday movies. We see the main character, George Bailey, struggle through a business crisis where he loses all hope. The community, that he has helped and supported over the years, comes to his rescue and raises the money he needs to save the good old savings and loan.
This past month, Charleston, Illinois experienced an It's a Wonderful Life moment with a successful fundraising effort that raised more than $18,000 to keep the doors open at Jackson Avenue Coffee, a popular community gathering place where friends meet, groups study, bands play and much more. This show of support was astounding and all those involved should be very proud of the results of your efforts. It was heartwarming to witness and I am sure the business will pay the community back by making the most of their second chance to succeed in business.
Happy Holidays,
Jeanne C. Dau
Director, Business Solutions Center
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Eastern Illinois University
217-581-2913
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WELCOMING TWO NEW SHOPS TO THE AREA |
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Have you finished all of your holiday shopping yet? If not, take some time to stop by one or both of these lovely new shops. Mustard Seeds is located in Martinsville, IL and Dunn Shabby is just west of Sullivan, IL. Both shops sell hand crafted treasures - large and small, collectibles, antiques, and unique crafts. Each shop has it's own distinctive and welcoming charm. These are two shops definitely worth taking some time to visit!
MUSTARD SEEDS - MARTINSVILLE, IL
Four ladies - Cindy Connelly, Cindy Arney, Karie Cook, and
Jennifer Ellington came together with the same dream - to have a shop that sells various artisan goods, antiques, and unique treasures. Some of these they make themselves, some are treasures they have found, and they also have over 30 different artisans creating treasures that are sold on consignment.
Mustard Seeds is located at 46 West Cumberland in Martinsville, IL.
Phone: (217) 994-1404.
They can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mustardseeds4
Hours are: Wednesdays 11-7,
Thursdays & Fridays 11-5, Saturdays 8-1.
Click HERE to read more about Mustard Seeds.
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DUNN SHABBY - SULLIVAN, IL
Nancy Moore has been collecting and reconditioning vintage and antique furniture, fixtures, and home décor for years with the hope of opening her own shop full of shabby chic collections when she retired. When that day came a few years earlier than planned she decided that it was time to turn what had become a shed full of her collections into the shop of her dreams.
Dunn Shabby is located at 652 Highway 121 in Sullivan, IL (about 4 miles west of town).
They can be reached by phone at: (217) 273-2982.
Hours are: Tuesday through Friday 10-5, and Saturdays 10-5.
Click HERE to read more about Dunn Shabby.
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Clark County Youth Entrepreneurship Workshop
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Thank you to everyone (presenters, sponsors, volunteers, schools, teachers, students) who helped make the 2012 Clark County Youth Entrepreneurship Workshop today a BIG SUCCESS!
More than 40 high school students from all three Clark County high schools participated and over 15 community and business leaders assisted with activities throughout the morning workshop. Event Sponsors included: the Clark County School Districts, the Clark County Development Organization, University of Illinois Extension, Casey Industries, Casey Chamber of Commerce, Marshall Chamber of Commerce, Martinsville Chamber of Commerce and Martinsville on the Move.
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The Business Solutions Center at Eastern Illinois University celebrated it's fourth year of service with the theme, "A Night of Stars Showcasing Entrepreneurs in the Region" at EIU's Doudna Performing Arts Center. Testimonials from Cottage Vintage Beauty and the winning videos from the iEntrepreneur Challenge were highlighted. Congratulations to Isaac Dallas and Annette Lynch who were the first place winners of each division this year.
Congratulations to the BSC volunteer of the year Todd Vilardo, Asst. Superintendent of the Charleston Community School District #1. His many hours of hard work to form the Coles County Entrepreneurship Class is truly appreciated.
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Coles County Entrepreneurship Class Update |
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The last two months have been full of activity and learning for the Class. We had a record number of tickets sold for the Coles Connected Leadership Breakfast. The banner sales and tabletop decorations were a hit. Since then the class has visited many more businesses during class and by planning an all-day field trip to Effingham for table etiquette, team building and visiting highly successful entrepreneurs. We have also set personal goals through Pacific Institute's Px2 training and set a timeline to begin working on the individual businesses that will be highlighted to the public next May.
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.
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Coles Connected Leadership Breakfast
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HOW TO START A BUSINESS WORKSHOPS
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The Business Solutions Center has two upcoming How To Start A Business Workshops scheduled. These workshops provide essential information for anybody that is considering starting a business, is in the process of starting a business, and even for those that already own a business that may need a refresher course. Many of our success stories begin with aspiring entrepreneurs that took that first step by attending one of our workshops!
The first workshop of the new year will be in Tuscola. Time and place will be announced soon. Please call Jennifer Garren at (217) 581-2913 if you are interested in attending the Tuscola worshop.
The next workshop will be on Tuesday, February 19th from 6pm - 9pm.
It will be held at Lumpkin Hall Room 1120 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. Click HERE to register for the Charleston workshop.
Click HERE to read more about the How To Start a Business workshops and other training the Business Solutions Center provides.
If you have any questions please contact Jennifer Garren at (217) 581-2913 or by e-mail at jegarren@eiu.edu. |
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In this newsletter I would like to urge you to take a look at entrepreneurship in a global sense. Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) was celebrated across the globe this year during the week of November 12th.
GEW began in 2008; the initiative was launched by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Carl Schramm who is the president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. Since 2008, GEW has grown to 115 countries-with nearly 24,000 partner organizations with more than 37,000 activities that directly engage more than 7 million people.
www.unleashingideas.org is a website sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation. This site contains loads of information about global entrepreneurship, the host countries involved and the activities that took place this year. It also has links to many resources to learn more about entrepreneurship on a global and local level.
www.gewusa.org is a website that highlights the events and effects of GEW specifically here in the U.S.
Tiffany Kline,
Entrepreneurial Coach
Business Solutions Center
Eastern Illinois University
tlkline@eiu.edu
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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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