On September 24, 2005 (Saturday), OCA, St. Louis (Organization of Chinese-Americans), along with sponsors U.S. Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, SCORE, and St. Louis Enterprise Centers and Merrill-Lynch, held a business development workshop for entrepreneurs considering starting their own businesses. The workshop was held at the St. Louis Enterprise Center in Chesterfield. Presenters included Jan De Young, from the St. Louis County Economic Council Centers, Carl Trautmann from SCORE , Aldis Jakubovskis, from SBDC, and Dr. Harold Law.

Jan De Young spoke about how the Enterprise Centers can help entrepreneurs get their feet off the ground. De Young said that the centers, located in both the city and the county, are currently helping about 60 companies. Companies must be for-profit, and they must prove that they have a viable business plan. The Enterprise Centers offer affordable office space, mentorship, networking, access to capital, and educational opportunities. Since their inception, the Centers have helped over 200 businesses, half of which have become successful businesses. Although 50% of the businesses currently working with the Centers are women or minority-owned, De Young believes there are only three Asian-owned businesses working with the Centers, and he is very interested in increasing that number.

Carl Trautmann from SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) discussed how his organization can assist both pre-existing and new businesses. All of the services offered by SCORE are free. SCORE offers counseling, classes, volunteers at the Small Business Administration are available to answer questions, and there is a web site with resources listed (web site listed at the end of this article). There are 6 SCORE offices in the St. Louis area, but SCORE counselors anywhere in the United States can be contacted via the web site. SCORE does not currently have any Chinese-American counselors working in the St. Louis area, so please contact Carl if you would be willing to volunteer your time.

Aldis Jakubovskis, from SBDC (Small Business Development Corporation), began his presentation by addressing the challenges faced by immigrant entrepreneurs. Jakubovskis understands these challenges because he, himself, immigrated to the United States from Latvia. He discussed how to turn these challenges (different language, culture) into advantages. He also pointed out how SBDC differs from SCORE. SBDC, part of the University of Missouri, is a for-profit organization run by a paid staff that offers many of the same mentoring and counseling services as SCORE. Jakubovskis stressed the importance doing a reality check to make sure this is really what you want to do before jumping into creating your own business. He said you must take a very objective look at your personal finances, family situation, and personality to determine if this is, in fact, something you can really handle. He also discussed the importance of creating a business plan. Finally, he discussed the importance of having a good marketing strategy.

The workshop's final presenter was Dr. Harold Law, a successful and highly respected entrepreneur from the Chinese community, who started his own business at the age of 51. Dr. Law spoke about the fact that immigrant entrepreneurs tend to be very successful because they are often forced to start new businesses in order to put food on the table. Dr. Law believes that there are three attributes that a successful entrepreneur must possess: commitment to creating and running one's own business, the capacity to learn and ability to accept the unexpected, and the ability to market your service or product as unique.

OCA President Jason Tang wrapped up the workshop by announcing two upcoming OCA events - the 3rd annual OCA-FCC-YOCA picnic, October 15, 2005 at Bluebird Park at Ellisville, and the Annual OCA Banquet on Saturday, January 14, 2006. For more information on these two events, please visit the OCA St. Louis web site (http://www.oca-stl.org/).

Contact information for OCA's Business Development Workshop for Entrepreneurs:

St. Louis Enterprise Centers
(636) 519-4700
www.slced.com/slec/slec_facilities.htm

SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives)
314-539-6600, ext. 241
www.stlscore.org/

Missouri SBDC (Small Business Development Corporation)
314-241-1591
www.missouribusiness.net