Ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opens Small Business office at SU

The Louisiana Small Business Development Center at Southern University held its grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony today at 1 p.m. at the new location on Southern’s campus.

The center is located at 616 Harding Blvd.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s Chief of Staff Donald Cravins Jr., was the guest speaker for the celebration that included university leaders and the community. Among those who attended were Southern University-Baton Rouge Chancellor James L. Llorens; Pat Witty of  Louisiana Economic Development; Councilwoman Ronnie Edwards, Baton Rouge Metro Council District #5; and Adam Knapp from Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce.

Cravins greeted the crowd by saying “On behalf of Sen. Mary Landrieu and myself, we have made the right decision to work with Campbell and Southern University.”

“What this center will represent is not a promise to make any business successful…it is going to make our students, constitutes, our folks, our small business, our large businesses more competitive in Baton Rouge and in the region,” said Cravins of what the center at SU.

SUBR Chancellor James L. Llorens said the center “will make “SU a viable partner” in the small business community.

The new center will continue to provide business solutions to the Southern students and the community at no cost in efforts to help small business start and grow in the Capitol Region.

Cravins said, “Businesses will get top-notch counseling, top-notch advice from the top-notch advisors and that is what will make them competitive.”

The owner of Ty-Ty’s Royal Ice: Italian Ice, Tim Turner has been attending classes with the LSBDC at Southern for two years. “It helped me from being illiterate of finance and how to manage a dollar. And with Will and this building we would not be here today,” said Turner about Campbell and the center.

Guests toured the center after the ribbon cutting event.

Independent research shows that business whose owners utilize the LSBDC services grow faster and have a greater probability of success. Every business day LSBDC clients; create nine new jobs, save seven jobs, open one new business, obtain $190,058 in capital and increase sales by $374,423. The LSBDC has helped thousands of entrepreneurs realize their dreams of building businesses and generating jobs for their communities.

For more information on the center contact Will Campbell at 225.774.9213 or wcampbell@lsbdc.org .