The Preparing for Opportunity training series, presented by the Kentucky Small Business Development Center in partnership with the Letcher County Fiscal Court, has come to a successful conclusion.

“Many of the small businesses in this region wouldn’t have known there are so many agencies with services available to help them without these workshops,” said Jim Ward, Letcher County judge executive. “From the Kentucky Small Business Development Center to the U.S. Small Business Administration, just learning about their services is a huge boost for our area.”

The series was developed to help prepare the region’s small businesses for the numerous prospects the proposed construction of a federal prison in Roxana will bring; 81 local businesses took advantage of the workshops. Live instruction was held at the Whitesburg campus of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College and broadcast to the college’s Middlesboro campus. For many of the participants, this was an introduction to government contracting and the discovery of how it can be a much needed expansion to each of their small business’s bottom line.

 “The three-part government contracting workshops were very informative and beneficial,” said participant Tony Bowling, CBC Engineers & Associates Ltd. “The instructors were knowledgeable and presented the information in an organized, well-paced manner. The workshops provided a great starting point for small businesses like us to expand into the government contracting arena.”

The Kentucky Small Business Development Center, part of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, is a network of 13 offices located throughout the state. The center helps existing and start-up businesses succeed by offering high quality, in-depth and hands-on services. KSBDC is a partner program with the U.S. Small Business Administration. For more information on KSBDC services, visit their website, https://www.ksbdc.org/.

Series partners include: Kentucky Small Business Development Centers at Pikeville and Ashland, Southeast Small Business Development Center, Small Business Administration, Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, Kentucky Procurement Technical Assistance Center, Southeast Kentucky Economic Development, Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, Kentucky Innovation Network – Pikeville, Kentucky River Area Development District, Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises Inc. and Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet – Minority and Women Business Enterprise Certification.