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[Music]

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uh and we're going to now ask uh Mr Tim
cop who is the executive director of the

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Texas City Lamar Chamber of Commerce uh
to come forward and lead us in this

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discussion M Mr Co thank you mayor Bell
appreciate it y'all can give the mayor a

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big round of applause because he's doing
a pretty good job I'm going to tell you

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that Mandy I'm going to sit this up here
am I doing a good job putting there CU

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are you hearing me hearing us now I can
hear awesome

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awesome well again we're glad to have
each and every one of you here I I was

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visiting with many of you as you came in
the room uh and talking to you about

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your individual businesses and your and
your goal some of your goals and

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objectives uh uh for your own
entrepreneurship and and I can tell you

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that it's exciting uh this is what I
enjoy most about my job uh you as small

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business owners looking to either maybe
you've been in business for 6 months

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maybe a year maybe you've got a
brainstorming an idea and I know there's

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some of you in this room that just got
you've got that idea in the back of your

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mind that you feel like you may have
something that that the community can

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use as a whole how do you grow that how
do you how does that Blossom how does

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that develop and so that's what we're
here to to do tonight and I am very

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excited about it I've been doing Chamber
of Commerce work for a little over 30

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years uh but prior to getting into the
chamber I was just like you I was a

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small business owner uh I started out as
a oneman shop uh doing medical equipment

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we provided durable medical equipment to
about a 250 M radius around my hometown

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I know what it feels like to be sitting
in a room like this wondering what in

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the world am I going to do is this idea
even going to possibly work uh and we

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grew that from I I tell people this
story I had

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$1,000 I had two two wheelchairs three
hospital beds heads and an oxygen

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machine that's what I started uh I won't
divulge all the information but uh I can

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tell you this when we sold that business
15 years later uh that was we had 10

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employees that were working for us uh
and we uh we were able to make a nice

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sale on that building and that business
when we grew that and we did that over

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about a 15-year period uh and actually I
was in that's how I got involved in

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chamber work uh is I was part of the
Chamber of Commerce I got involved I got

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dedicated and what does that mean uh
what is a chamber of commerce quite

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frankly we are the one organization that
works daily on the behalf of our members

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we like to consider
ourselves your least paid but yet most

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productive employee we are a membership
organization I'll tell you that straight

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up we are a membership organization that
pays due you pay du membership dues uh

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but it's also ran by volunteers years
our entire board of directors here at

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the Texas City Lamar Chamber of Commerce
is made up of 30 individuals that

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represent their own individual
businesses uh I was visiting earlier uh

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and we were talking one of the business
ideas was they needed to have contact

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with the port of Texas City uh they
wanted to do some business with them uh

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our chairman next year will be Romero
Barbara who is the president of the port

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of Texas city so to give you an example
I can't think of a better example to

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give than the one that was just brought
up earlier is we're going to be able to

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make that connection that otherwise you
as an individual may not be able to make

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uh on your own uh you just may not know
the person to talk to but what you can

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do is you can come to our chamber
meetings and the events that we have I

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think the last number that I heard was
something around 65 events that we host

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throughout the year uh of different
types it may be a luncheon uh it may be

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a golf tournament uh there's there's an
array of different events that we do but

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it gives us the opportunity to connect
you with someone that otherwise you may

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not have that opportunity to do or have
that opportunity to connect with uh the

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resources that you're going to find here
today and the and the wonderful speakers

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and the information that you're going to
find out that's that's a part of our

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connecting the puzzle pieces I like to
say that we just have a great big puzzle

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and we never get it put together we're
always re we're always moving the pieces

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around to make that connection chambers
of commment have been around since the

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the the late 1700s uh they started
actually over in England and and then

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they moved over here uh in the United
States uh the first Chamber of Commerce

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as you might imagine was actually formed
in New York City uh and so again the

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idea behind us is we want to advance the
uh economic prosperity of our local

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community we like to consider ourselves
a problem solver uh if there's a a

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problem going on within our communities
we want to try to help solve that

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initiative and solve that problem and
there's no better way to do that than

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with the business men and women of that
Community because you're the one that's

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putting back into the Blood Sweat and
Tears the dollars back into that

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Community you're hiring them individuals
to come and to work for you to help you

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grow your business and to help you be
successful we want to help you make

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those connections uh within the chamber
is how we is how we do that there's you

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should have all received if you didn't
please make sure that you pick up uh one

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of these packets uh out in the front on
the front forer if you didn't get one

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there's a lot of information in here I'm
not going to go through all of every bit

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of this uh we do have everybody on a
Time clock and they those folks in the

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back know that if I get a microphone I
could talk all night long and eat up all

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this time and they're like nope we're
not going to let him do that so they did

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put me on a clock but uh just to kind of
give you some examples a lot of the

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stuff that you can get when you when
you're become a member or a part of the

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Chamber of Commerce is there's some free
marketing opportunities for you uh a lot

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of those you'll find in that packet uh
that we have there the other piece is is

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that we're we're constantly working to
promote your business so again

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especially as a startup we can help
connect you and do some marketing pieces

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for you that will be either in some
cases no charge or a very minimal charge

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to be able to advertise and tell people
about your business the other thing that

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we do and that and again it's the the
fun part of my business and I mentioned

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to some of you earlier is you've got an
idea you you you think you know uh

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something that you want to start a
business venture that you would like to

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get into what we like to do is we like
to just be a sounding board so schedule

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of time come in sit down visit with us
talk to us uh and let's just be a

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sounding board and let's you know we'll
we're very transparent here uh and we're

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going to push back a little and make you
think about about the decisions and the

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and the thought processes that you're
having and then we're going to encourage

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you once you make that decision that you
want to move forward with that

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particular business venture we're going
to encourage you and try to help again

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be those be that connector of those
those puzzle pieces uh that we talked

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about uh marketing piece is a big part
of what we do uh networking is a huge

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piece uh we've got different programs
from our ambassador program which we

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call the Chamber Champs uh to just our
regular monthly lunches

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again those opportunities you get to
network with folks the other thing that

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we do a lot of is advocacy we Advocate
on your behalf as a small business owner

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what does that mean what that means is
is that we're looking at legislation

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that might be taking place uh on the
local level at the county level at the

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state level and at the federal level uh
and and we're monitoring those decisions

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that those lawmakers are making and how
is it going to impact and how is it

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going to affect business uh if it's
going to affect business in a positive

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way then we're going to get behind it
we're going to endorse that situation or

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that that piece of legislation or that
idea that that maybe even council is is

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considering uh but if it's going to
adversely affect business then we're

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going to be opposed to that and we're
going to and we're going to voice that

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opinion based on what our members tell
us okay and so again we represent you uh

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as as an organization and so again we're
going to Advocate on on your behalf and

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so I'm excited about today uh again I
could go through every little bitty

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piece of of of of the information that
we have here but the the charge today

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was was to inform you and maybe give you
just a little bit of information of why

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you should be a part of our organization
you've got right now you see our website

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I'm not going to go through all of this
pieces because we would be here again

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all night long but you can see the
different pieces that we go through

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membership events resources visiting our
communities if you've got people that

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are we like to attract those visitors
because we know when people come to our

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community and they eat in our
restaurants and they sleep in our hotels

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and they fill up with gas what's that
doing I like to call it and I think the

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mayor would agree with me that's free
money that's free money that we get into

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our community when people come and do
that and they spend those dollars here

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those are the kinds of things that we
will help with as we go along so I'm not

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going to open it up for too many
questions are we going to do questions

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answer do we talk we're going to do
questions now or we're going to do it at

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the end we decided to do it at the end
okay I couldn't remember so we'll do

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questions Q&A at the end but uh thank
you for being here thank you for being a

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part we're excited uh I hope to uh sit
down and get an opportunity to visit

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with each and every one of you uh and
talk to you about your own individual

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business as we go along so I'm going to
move on down our list here I think I

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have uh I was volen told that I was
going to get to be the uh MC for this

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event if you will and so but that's fine
I I like doing this Kathleen van Starvin

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the director of development services for
the city of Lamar is going to come up to

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us and talk about those those benefits
so

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Kathleen how's
[Applause]

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everyone first I want to thank you all
for being here we appreciate it my

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name's Kathleen van stav as you said I
am the director of development services

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for the city of Lamar I'm not sure what
if people understand what development

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services is but actually what we are is
we're a department in the city that you

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come to if you have a dream of a
business if you have an idea if you just

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had someone tell you hey you ought to do
this come see us come talk to us we'll

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help walk you through it my department
consists of the development and

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permitting so it's kind of a One-Stop
shop you come in we'll talk to you we'll

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meet with you we'll we'll help guide you
through the process proces of Permitting

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or platting or zoning or whatever it is
you happen to want to do and guide you

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through it to make it as simple and as
quick as it possibly

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can um one of the
biggest things we do is we have

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pre-development meetings those meetings
are where we have City staff we have our

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city engineer we have our fire marshal
we have myself we have the EDC

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director and our and we're all we all
meet with you we go through the Z we go

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through everything you tell us what you
want to do and we help walk you through

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what you'll need to get there we're the
beginning if if you think I just don't

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think I can do that there I think it's
too complicated give me a call or give

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us a call we'll help you that's what
we're here for we want you we want small

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businesses large businesses if you just
want to open a coffee shop call

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us because we we're here to help you
don't look at us as just permitting or

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somebody that's just you know trying to
drag business into the city because

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we're not we want you to prosper we want
to get that dream to come true for

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you um and we have a lot of people that
come and talk to us and they just want

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to say hey I'm thinking about something
and I said tell us what your idea is let

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us help you with that we can expand on
it maybe we can help you find property

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somewhere we can give you all the forms
you need we can explain zoning to you we

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can explain the building regulations to
you but that's what we're here for if

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um we we can do it on a oneon-one basis
you can call me my cards are at the

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front and I'll be happy to talk to you
or you can email me if you want to say

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Kathleen you know I know it's probably a
stupid idea but I want to I want to open

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up a hot dog stand okay let's do it just
tell me where you want to do it and and

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we'll talk about it permitting is all
done in the same office we've

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streamlined our permitting department
now so that if you submit your plans and

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reviews and everything everything is
normally turned around within 10 days

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our inspections are pretty much on a
24hour turnaround on those so we're

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trying to do everything to help anyone
with a small business or large business

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to come to Lamar to make it as easy and
as welcoming as we possibly

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can um you're going to do questions at
the end y I'll be available if you'd

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like to to ask me any any questions
concerning the development process or if

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you U have an idea right now tonight
talk to me about

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it and I'll set you a meeting with the
PDM meeting so you can come and sit and

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talk with everyone from the
city but that's that's all about all I

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have thank you so much there's also back
anybody

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wants I I I don't want watch some of the
stuff that she just said to go go go

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unnoticed now here here now I'm putting
on my full chamber hat the opportunity I

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get to to kind of connect those pieces
pces don't miss out on what Kathleen

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just said about the fact of the
permitting side and the turnaround side

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those time frames 10 days and 24 hours
inspections those are phenomenal numbers

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I mean and and so again most of you if
you're a homebased business one of these

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days you're going to want to get out on
your own in get in your own building if

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you're looking for a building currently
uh you're going to want to have those

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convers you're going to have to have
those conversations at some point in

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time with the city to know that you're
number one you're you're putting the

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business in the proper location and and
that you're your everything meets to

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code and that's for safety uh and so
again those turnaround numbers that's

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phenomenal 10 days and 24 hours uh
there's I can tell you there's lots of

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cities around us that do not function
that rapidly so that's that's great to

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have that kind of a turnaround so again
K I appreciate you I appreciate what the

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work that you guys do that always ends
at the fun place to go because the

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people have made it out to be but folks
like that make it a good place to go and

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visit and to be able to share your ideas
so hats off to you with that I'm going

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to introduce next I'm going to in
introduce to you uh the director of the

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Lamar Economic Development Corporation
and a good friend Alex Getty Alex also

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serves on our board of directors here at
the Chamber of the Texas City Lark

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Chamber of Commerce so Alex let's talk
about EDC all right thank

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you
where

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yeah okay thank you appreciate the
introduction thank you mayor um for your

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support of this and and we uh we're
hopeful that it'll be beneficial uh I'm

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going to throw a lot of information at
you in about the next 15 minutes or so I

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have cards back there um and we'll have
a Q&A at the end and I'll I'll try to

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answer some questions that you do have
as well U my name is Alex Getty I'm the

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executive director of Lark Economic
Development Corporation I think I had a

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chance to to meet each one of you on
your way in to and kind of get a feel

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for uh you know who we have in the
audience and what you're trying to do um

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so some of these slides I'll kind of
walk through quicker than others because

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I think you know based upon the audience
of what you what you're wanting to to

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know we'll try to to do that uh I am
from Lamark uh I've been serving in this

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position for 14 years now uh it's a it's
a wonderful uh job it's a wonderful City

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uh and what I like about it is every day
is a little bit different you never know

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who you're going to connect with who's
going to walk through the door what idea

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you're going to hear it it's just really
a lot of fun to talk with entrepreneurs

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about their ideas it excites me because
when you're talking to people who are

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passionate about something it's just a
lot of fun it's it's

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contagious so a little bit about the EDC
before I go to the next slide we are a

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government nonprofit corporation I like
to say that we're first cousins are

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closer to the city of Lamar what I mean
by that is I work for the corporation I

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work for a board of five
my board is appointed by city council

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and we have a city councilman here with
us tonight Mr Ross obviously mayor is

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here as well and so you know that's kind
of how it works uh in a nutshell U I

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work for the board the board is
appointed by councel um

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and our job is to try to create wealth
essentially for the city a little bit of

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history about economic development in
Lamar uh we originally the Lamar

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Industrial Development Corporation we
are Incorporated in 1982 uh but not much

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happened then because there was no
funding mechanism uh it wasn't until a

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few
legislative sessions later that uh it

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was approved for municipalities to go to
the tax to the voters and and get a

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corporation or the the the half cent
sales tax at that time approved and so

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uh May 7th
1990 uh the voters approved it in Lamar

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uh we are one of the first
municipalities to approve the half cent

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sales tax and we've been working on on
that ever since I think year one um we

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it generated about $300 to
$350,000 um the half cent sales tax

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did here's our mission statement um it
was originally approved in 2013 I

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believe it was actually approved again
this morning uh we we were working on

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some Mission Vision goals statement
stuff and uh I'll just read it for you

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here the primary goal of Lamar Economic
Development Corporation is to assist in

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the development of a strong Diversified
economy for the city of Lamar this can

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be accomplished with a multifaceted
approach that consists of efforts that

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help promote business retention business
expansion and business recruitment U and

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so we're firing on some of those
cylinders tonight but what is it Alex I

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understand it's funded we got a half
cent sales tax and that's great but but

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what really you know what is it so I
borrowed this quick definition from the

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Texas Economic Development Council which
we have a slide in in a couple minutes a

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little bit more about who they are but
it's the intentional practice of

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improving a community's economic
well-being and quality of life so that

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it covers a lot of ground you could
spend a few minutes breaking that down

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um but for the Economic Development
Corporation Lamar we're trying to find

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projects that are beneficial and
meaningful to our community and um we're

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really looking at at three things that
are the most important capital

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investment so let's say you take a piece
of property that doesn't have any

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infrastructure or a building and so
you're just getting the avalum tax of

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the property itself you put a new
building on it there's a lift there on

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the avalum side but also true maybe you
have a dilapidated structure that you

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want to improve and again lift the tax
uh role so capital investment job

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creation is Paramount we want to we want
to be able to create jobs we want to tie

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any sales tax dollars that we provide to
jobs um and last but not least is is

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sales tax that's how we're funded and
we'll touch on that here in a second it

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includes a broad range of activities to
retain create and attack attract jobs um

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it is helping to build new
infrastructure and real estate

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opportunities to improve a community
couple of examples uh the EDC and Lamar

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brought Water and Sewer to the west side
of I45 years ago that opened up the west

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side for development all right uh we
didn't necessarily have a a specific

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thing that drove that at that time but
it was very necessary and needed and

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then now you see what all is happening
over there uh we also I like to say that

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we're good at things that are 6 in tall
and shorter we're able to build

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infrastructure is what I mean by that so
one project that we did we built fliming

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extension uh water sewer Paving and
drainage that brought in Mainland

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Kawasaki U again they fire on all three
cylinders that I just mentioned capital

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investment job creation sales tax and
out of that we got a Bonus so a few

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years later we got team manuso Power
Sports located there because the

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infrastructure was there etc those are
two high sales tax drivers for our

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community and so those are kind of
projects that that we do and why U but

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we do much
more some of the core activities and

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this is not a comprehensive list this is
just a few of the things that we do uh

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business expansion and uh business
retention and expansion I've touched on

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that we want businesses that are in
Lamar to stay in Lamar um and if they

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don't stay in Lamar we certainly want to
stay in our area we want some of these

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businesses are Regional you know just
because they're not in Lamar doesn't

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mean they don't impact Lamar in a
positive way uh so we want to try to

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retain the businesses that we have and
it's a a lot easier to retain a business

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than it is to recruit a new
one uh marketing and recruitment don't

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want to steal any of Mandy's Thunder
she's going to have some slides on

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marketing in a minute we do a lot uh to
try to promote Lamar to let people know

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what our assets are and what our
opportunities are uh strategic planning

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not just a strategic plan uh like the
2015 to 2022 plan that the city had and

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we worked on uh but strategic planning
like we need to look at where we need

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infrastructure we need to look at
putting these properties together to

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make them highest best use for our
community so there's a lot of things

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that we sit back and think about what
are some things that we can do

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strategically in order to improve our
community to have uh more and better

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businesses down the road a little bit of
forecasting we look at look at the

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opportunities in the climate as well
Small Business Development this is one

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thing um but there are other things that
we do but our job just like many other

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of the the speakers tonight are try to
connect you to resources whether it's a

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link or whether it's a connection with a
person because those are important

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networking is very important uh so
that's that's some of the things that we

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do uh connect people to jobs and
projects uh in the last year or so we've

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tried to help existing Lamar businesses
find employees that are qualified what

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that what they want to to do and that
that helps the business in Lamar it

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helps that uh that person again just
connecting folks and then last but not

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least education uh we spent a lot of
time educating um about Lamark and who

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we are and what we do and here some
resources and things just like this but

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it's not always in a setting like this
we're always teaching and

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educating so I mentioned tedc a little
bit earlier um this is me uh with board

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00:23:38,039 --> 00:23:45,080
member Tracy steens and longtime
president of the tedc uh Carlton Schwab

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and I put this slide in here to let you
know that that we we practice best

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practices in Lamar we we do a lot of
things well are we perfect not even

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close but we try really hard to do well
and we've won a few Awards a few years

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in a row for that uh we're one of 15 of
about a thousand members that have have

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received this award the last six years
running and so we're we're proud of that

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and that's the importance of this slide
to know when you're you're working with

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us connecting with us we're trying to go
about things uh the right

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way um I was talking to a couple of you
and and this is this slide um will fit

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right in with what you were looking for
because you want to know about the

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growth and what's happening in Lamar and
and this is one of the drivers um you

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know we've had record sales tax for the
last 6 years in a row

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uh one of the drivers is for the last
decade Lamar has just been blowing up I

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mean we are uh the second fastest
growing uh City in the county um we have

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been for a long time and where it all
started was with painted Meadows there

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in the middle so we worked with um the
developer we actually owned the real

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estate at Lamark EDC we sold the real
estate uh to the

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developer uh the city ultimately ended
up setting up a pit do any anybody know

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what a pit
is dorine does um so that's a public

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00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:09,480
improvement district and basically what
that is it's a it's a financing tool to

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00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:14,039
help pay for the water sewer Paving and
drainage to help mitigate the risk if

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you will for a developer so they're
going to get paid back over time you've

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00:25:15,799 --> 00:25:22,640
probably heard mud there's a little
difference in the mid a pit and a mud

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mud can continue to take on debt once
the debt is paid off from the pit it it

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goes away and so that's what we had here
and it's kind of like hitting in

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baseball is contagious so before painted
Meadows came along Lamar was starving

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00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:43,039
for residential development we hadn't
had it we were trying to get it couldn't

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get it but as soon as the city uh worked
with uh developer of painted Meadows

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then we saw Delaney Cove come that was a
lenar development largest home builder

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00:25:50,279 --> 00:25:55,840
at the time in America Salt Grass
Crossing came Sunset Grove and now we

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have trails at Wood Haven lakes that
just kicked off and so when all those

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are done we'll have roughly 2500 3,000
new homes new new stock uh in Lamar and

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that is really uh helping to drive and
so this next side really really sums it

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up we're very proud uh and excited when
this these numbers came out because it

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was the first time we made the list um
so second quarter of the year we were

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named one of the 10 hottest communities
in the Houston area and you see on the

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map there the only one south of
downtown and this is year-over-year I'm

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surprised we hadn't made it before when
I saw the numbers I'm like I think we've

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met that before but we're glad to make
it now uh but

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anyway the result is the Mark is growing
and thriving and and doing really

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well couple projects uh just got a
couple more slides here then we'll walk

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00:26:47,279 --> 00:26:52,159
through some some websites that I think
might be beneficial for some of the

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conversations that I heard us have uh
before the meeting uh we're working on a

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Renaissance District we talked about
strategic planning just a little bit

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this another example of that well we
worked through the Texas coastal

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Watershed program through Texas A&M
University a few years ago we had

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00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:10,679
stakeholder meetings we worked with uh
the community and and different uh

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00:27:09,039 --> 00:27:16,919
public meetings to find out what is the
vision for downtown Lamar and so out of

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that came this plan um and these are
some of the things that we've done this

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is what the building will look like
right now uh if you go and and drive

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through downtown Lamark if you haven't
been in a while there's been a lot of

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improvements uh we'll take a look at
those on the next slide but this will be

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the EDC office U it looks a little bit
different now it's originally built in

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1959 it was uh the flagship bank for GU
guarantee Federal bank and it was very

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well built we're glad to have it and it
kind of stimulated some of the other

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things that you see going on now but our
goal is to make it more walkable bikable

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pedestrian friendly making a greater
economic engine for small businesses in

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Lamar and that's why it's that's why
it's important but here's some other

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things we're
doing top left that's another building

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that we own that we're renovating
concurrently with our building uh it is

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00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:08,039
currently fully occupied we've got uh
Lugar which is an event center and we

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got Innovation Safety Solutions which is
a uh a support business for industry uh

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very glad to have both of those top
right is 401 Laurel uh that's where

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Artic coffee is we do have space on the
incap we got about 2700 sare fet there

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uh we are looking and actually the board
uh voted this morning to to for me to

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get some quotes to to build out the
inside make it more of a just a ready to

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go space it'll still need some some
things but sheet rock lighting flooring

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those kind of thing so that's that's in
the works um I picked that picture

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because our our intersection pavers for
those who haven't seen them they' turned

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00:28:42,799 --> 00:28:49,080
out really nice and it's a compass
that's that's oriented to True North and

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00:28:47,159 --> 00:28:52,480
that was I think the last day or very
close to when they were about to finish

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that turned out good you can see how it
did on the on the bottom left and then

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00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:59,840
the bottom right is just a picture where
you got all fired up the first night the

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00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:04,320
the lights burned and so we went out
there and took a bunch of pictures and

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00:29:01,559 --> 00:29:09,360
all that so anyway it's a kind of a it's
fun to work in your hometown downtown

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00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:12,440
and then and that's that's I'm
passionate about it and I'm excited

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00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:17,880
about it and there's
Mandy I warned her that she was on

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00:29:15,279 --> 00:29:21,640
here so we're always trying to think of
innovative ways that we can help small

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00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:25,080
businesses in Lamar and so for those of
you that I talked to tonight who are

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00:29:23,399 --> 00:29:30,320
ready to open a business once you get
open um this is something that we want

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to try to do for you uh we created it
just this year in about June uh we

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didn't know of anyone else that we'd
ever heard of that had done one I think

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00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:44,440
we've had seven recipients now top right
is Evelyn George with uh Evelyn's

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00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:49,320
alterations longtime Lamar downtown
business a great lady bottom right is

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00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:53,679
Kenny Blakey and his business laser
Marine there at I45 and so those are

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00:29:52,039 --> 00:29:57,640
just three that have taken advantage we
actually approved one this morning uh I

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00:29:55,799 --> 00:30:01,320
say we the board approved one this
morning we're excited about that so

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we're going to continue to push this and
I'll show you how to find it on our

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00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:07,679
website here in a
minute and I would be remiss this really

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doesn't have anything to do with
anything except for uh I wanted to make

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00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:18,960
sure y'all know about Bayou Fest on
Saturday and um so I apologize for this

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00:30:15,399 --> 00:30:23,519
slide but um so we've got Amanda siss
coming she's uh doing a really great job

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00:30:21,159 --> 00:30:27,799
she's a Texas City native uh I've seen
her twice this year already she puts a

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00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:32,200
high energy show out um she she's a a
Selena tribute artist and she does a lot

405
00:30:30,279 --> 00:30:36,559
of good things there Wayne tupes will be
in the second slot he's a Grammy award

406
00:30:34,279 --> 00:30:40,360
winner he has a z occasion feel if
you've never seen him it's dance music

407
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:45,519
exciting stuff a lot of a lot of people
love Wayne and then we've got Neil McCoy

408
00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:49,240
two-time Entertainer of the Year um he's
really excited to be out there and uh

409
00:30:47,559 --> 00:30:54,640
we're looking forward to it it's all
free and so come out uh enjoy yourselves

410
00:30:52,799 --> 00:30:58,880
please it's a way particularly when
you're thinking about uh opening a

411
00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:05,679
business in Lar Mark uh come come check
us out uh this is a little taste of what

412
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:10,399
Lamar has to offer and uh so we'll do
I'll just leave that real quick while I

413
00:31:07,159 --> 00:31:13,120
get my mouse oh yeah she took care of me
and she put it over

414
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:21,000
here so we'll get the the websites up
I've just got four things to show you

415
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:24,159
real quick and then I'll be done so this
this is going to be old hat to some I

416
00:31:22,559 --> 00:31:28,399
know Dorene is going to know all about
this but this is a tool that I use every

417
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:32,519
day um this this is the gson Central
Appraisal District website um it's a

418
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:39,039
it's a great source for a lot of
different things uh what I use

419
00:31:36,159 --> 00:31:42,240
most is the mapping
capabilities okay the website recently

420
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:49,080
changed but you go here for the
interactive map It'll ask you to say

421
00:31:46,679 --> 00:31:53,559
okay and there's all kind of layers on
here uh the world imagery works pretty

422
00:31:51,279 --> 00:31:59,120
good but what I primarily use it for is
try to figure out who owns a piece of

423
00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:03,080
property or or maybe did it change hands
maybe it did and I can look at the deed

424
00:32:00,639 --> 00:32:08,559
records U but once we get into a certain
level here and I'll go to the central

425
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:12,600
fire station on the west side this is
1765 and

426
00:32:10,159 --> 00:32:16,480
2004 um you'll see a number there on the
map but then you'll see it it's here as

427
00:32:14,279 --> 00:32:21,159
well tells you who the owner
is the the home address if it's

428
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:28,919
different than the actual physical
location but then on uh the cus

429
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:36,799
here it will show you the the physical
address and that's helpful but you can

430
00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:40,519
you can go and use this number the 60143
number go to property

431
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:58,000
search and you can click on that and you
can get some additional information um

432
00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:04,519
the taxing
entities uh what what year a building

433
00:33:00,799 --> 00:33:09,399
was built might be important for you um
this one doesn't show it but it'll show

434
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:13,440
uh the deed records U so you can see the
last three Deeds typically uh we'll do

435
00:33:12,159 --> 00:33:18,200
one more really
quickly so let's look at this one uh

436
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:28,960
60114

437
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:36,960
tells you who owns
it and I pull this one up because it has

438
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:40,120
the last four Deeds on this one so you
can kind of track and it gives you the

439
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:44,840
the volume and page number if you want
to look at the county clerk's website

440
00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:48,000
and that sort of thing uh so that's that
one another one that you may be

441
00:33:46,679 --> 00:33:52,279
interested in again dorine's going to
know all about this but this is loot net

442
00:33:50,279 --> 00:33:56,760
um I've got Lamark queued in here so you
see the the city limits of Lamar uh you

443
00:33:54,840 --> 00:34:01,000
can zoom in and toggle between a bunch
of different things but if you're

444
00:33:58,519 --> 00:34:05,399
looking for a a For Lease space you can
do that or a for sale space but you can

445
00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:11,960
kind of Click around and then you can
click on the actual deal you can get the

446
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:17,000
the uh the property flyer Etc so that's
always

447
00:34:14,159 --> 00:34:21,960
nice and then back to the city website
I'm going to show you a couple of things

448
00:34:18,399 --> 00:34:25,879
that that the EDC uh has U so you go to
departments here on the main page

449
00:34:23,879 --> 00:34:30,599
Economic
Development

450
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:37,280
um we've got several resources like loot
net we have our own uh database this is

451
00:34:34,599 --> 00:34:41,000
new for us this year as well um it's
kind of living and breathing it'll it'll

452
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:45,159
update and change but just like the
other one you can toggle between for

453
00:34:42,639 --> 00:34:50,159
sale and for lease and get the the
information of uh the realtor

454
00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:55,879
information Etc um so both of those are
good for commercial properties loot net

455
00:34:52,560 --> 00:35:00,960
and then now the EDC website and back to
resources uh applications for incentives

456
00:34:59,079 --> 00:35:06,440
this is these are our local
incentives and you see there uh we've

457
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:10,240
got four one the bottom one was just
approved this morning uh by The Economic

458
00:35:08,599 --> 00:35:14,280
Development Corporation so that's why
you see the coming soon um we're going

459
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:19,320
to we're going to write up and it'll be
there probably by the end of next week

460
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:24,920
and that is for sign Improvement funds
and so we had a a joint meeting with

461
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:27,720
Council on the 25th of September and
that was one of the things that that we

462
00:35:26,359 --> 00:35:32,880
talked about out that we thought would
be helpful again for small businesses

463
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:36,280
and so uh I wrote the application uh we
wrote a grant agreement uh it was

464
00:35:34,839 --> 00:35:39,960
approved this morning by the board and
so now we're just going to keep fleshing

465
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:44,200
out and start promoting it once we get
it up here um you'll see right above

466
00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:48,240
that is the texc Lamar chamber
membership grant that we had a slide

467
00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:52,599
about so you can click on that and and
get that application above that is a

468
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:56,480
business Improvement fund Grant um it's
really designed for for major thorough

469
00:35:54,400 --> 00:36:01,880
fares but it could be like Cedar Bayou
Etc ET um and it's really just a

470
00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:05,880
matching Grant uh for materials to in
improve your your curb appeal uh that's

471
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:09,839
something that I wrote probably a decade
ago uh probably need to revisit that at

472
00:36:08,319 --> 00:36:14,040
some point and make sure the pricing
still makes sense but it's there and

473
00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:18,400
it's a it's an opportunity and then the
first one the application for incentives

474
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:23,240
it's a little bit more in depth uh it's
a pretty straightforward but it is a

475
00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:27,680
seven-page application uh it asks for
finance information Etc but look through

476
00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:32,319
them on your own time if you have
questions about them by all means call

477
00:36:30,319 --> 00:36:37,280
me again I've got cards in the back grab
one uh we're here to help and here to

478
00:36:34,359 --> 00:36:41,760
serve just like Kathleen uh we work very
closely together we communicate very

479
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:45,480
well together um and it's because we
want to benefit businesses in Lamar so

480
00:36:44,079 --> 00:36:50,640
uh that's all I have for now I really
appreciate your attention and time and

481
00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:50,640
and thank youall again for being here

482
00:36:52,040 --> 00:37:00,480
[Applause]
tonight

483
00:36:58,599 --> 00:37:05,640
so again looking at those takeaways from
that I get I'll go back to how do we all

484
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:09,560
connect uh you between never speaker I'm
going to do this so y'all just get used

485
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:13,359
to it but but how do you connect the I
can tell you this you heard Alex say in

486
00:37:11,119 --> 00:37:18,319
the very beginning of his presentation
uh talking about how the half cent sales

487
00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:22,760
tax uh was created that it was passed by
the Texas legislature that was an

488
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:26,319
initiative that Chambers of Commerce
across the state started pushing that

489
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:29,640
initi because they knew that we needed
to be be able to fund these

490
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:34,480
organizations those Economic Development
corporations to be able to find to

491
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:39,240
provide those incentives to businesses
and so we helped push that legislation

492
00:37:37,119 --> 00:37:44,440
we advocated on its behalf and then it
came to it came to into existence as

493
00:37:41,599 --> 00:37:48,560
Alex was pointing out uh and so again
the the benefits that you can receive

494
00:37:46,079 --> 00:37:52,119
there and you say wait a minute all of
these things are available to you as a

495
00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:54,200
business owner uh you're not going to
you know we're not going to get down I

496
00:37:53,079 --> 00:37:57,800
told somebody earlier we're we're going
to be at we're going to be at about

497
00:37:55,119 --> 00:38:01,520
30,000 ft tonight okay we're not going
to get down in the weeds but we're going

498
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:06,640
to be here to give you the resources
that are available to you so uh are and

499
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:12,960
make sure I'm looking here right I've
got uh Mandy and Marielle are y'all up

500
00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:16,680
next are y'all ready so this is Alex and
I will both tell you the same thing

501
00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:21,359
these are the two ladies that make both
of us look really good because they're

502
00:38:19,599 --> 00:38:25,400
the ones that put these websites and and
marketing pieces together respectively

503
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:29,119
for our uh for our organization so I'm
going to turn it over to them and let

504
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:29,119
talk about our

505
00:38:30,599 --> 00:38:36,760
website uh my name is Mandy I'm the
public relations specialist for the

506
00:38:34,079 --> 00:38:40,839
Lamar Economic Development Corporation
oh and I'm Mariel mcor I'm with the

507
00:38:38,839 --> 00:38:44,520
director of communications with the the
chamber so awesome all right so we're

508
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:48,680
going to talk to you a little bit about
marketing for your business uh I can

509
00:38:47,319 --> 00:38:53,480
tell you right now I already see a
couple of you in here that do a really

510
00:38:50,319 --> 00:38:57,599
good job at marketing on your Facebook
pages and any other business profile

511
00:38:55,280 --> 00:39:05,400
that you have the the best advice I can
give for starting businesses is that

512
00:39:01,119 --> 00:39:08,960
social media is free most of the time uh
creating a business profile on any of

513
00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:13,560
these is
free uh Facebook's a good one you can

514
00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:17,720
create a business profile a lot of
people are on Facebook especially older

515
00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:24,599
people are on Facebook you could try Tik
Tok I'm not even on on the Tik Tok too

516
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:29,440
much so uh but Instagram and Linkedin
that's a good one um and if you don't

517
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:33,839
have social media I do recommend at
least doing two and that's Facebook and

518
00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:40,079
Instagram because those are my I think
the most important cuz if you're a a

519
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:45,920
boutique or a store Instagram's really
great cuz you can connect it to your

520
00:39:43,079 --> 00:39:51,680
website um same with Facebook everything
can connect to your website and bring

521
00:39:47,720 --> 00:39:56,040
you um more of a following per se cuz
that's the new thing to get new

522
00:39:54,280 --> 00:40:00,160
customers is to get a following on
online

523
00:39:57,240 --> 00:40:06,240
yeah um definitely yeah as as much as as
much as we like it or hate it social

524
00:40:03,119 --> 00:40:12,079
media is a thing now and we got to get
on it so uh just a couple little notes

525
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:15,960
for this one um am I on slide too yeah
so it's cost-effective marketing we I

526
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:21,560
went over that a little bit you can
reach a very broad audience think about

527
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:25,319
how many people are on social media
billions and if you get you know a

528
00:40:23,720 --> 00:40:28,680
really good following that's just more
eyes on your page

529
00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:34,440
those eyes and those people can share
your page to get you more eyes on that

530
00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:38,040
page um Community Building small
businesses can use social media to build

531
00:40:35,839 --> 00:40:42,160
and engage with your community so it
just shows that you have a presence in

532
00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:47,119
the community as well uh you can drive
to your website like what Marielle said

533
00:40:45,319 --> 00:40:53,000
uh you can get feedback and marketing
research small businesses can use

534
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:56,359
surveys and polls and uh comments from
customers to understand what they're

535
00:40:54,880 --> 00:41:02,200
what they're wanting what they want to
see what they like um and uh keeping

536
00:41:00,079 --> 00:41:07,160
your social media up to date that's very
important updating your hours if you've

537
00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:11,520
got a close for a day social media is a
good way to tell them hey on Tuesday

538
00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:16,400
this day we're going to be closed for
renovations or hey we're changing our

539
00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:21,920
hours as of next month you know we're
we're Clos Mondays and Tuesdays instead

540
00:41:18,119 --> 00:41:25,720
of Wednesdays now uh and then uh on that
changing if you change your website and

541
00:41:24,119 --> 00:41:28,680
you don't tell anyone that you change
your website

542
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:33,960
people could still have your website
saved somewhere but you know just have

543
00:41:31,599 --> 00:41:38,880
be can still change it on the your link
and stuff but just promote hey we've

544
00:41:36,319 --> 00:41:43,280
changed this check it out now like our
new site and Google too right you talked

545
00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:47,359
about Google and then if you um sign up
with Google that way you can get like

546
00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:51,800
your Google Business Suite um and then
you'll you'll show up when you someone I

547
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:56,760
going to pick on you again Mandy Mandy's
closet if I Google Mandy's closet and

548
00:41:54,079 --> 00:42:01,560
you have a Google Business it'll pop up
with your map your logo photos of your

549
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:06,280
business your location of your business
phone number hours everything on Google

550
00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:10,800
so Google's really important because
that's people Google everything so I

551
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:14,880
know really important and I try to put a
list together of all the business and

552
00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:17,920
businesses in Lamar it's it's hard
sometimes because a lot of these

553
00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:23,240
businesses don't update their Google and
so their phone numbers aren't up to date

554
00:42:20,359 --> 00:42:27,920
you go to their Facebook nobody has
posted since 2019 and you're like well

555
00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:32,400
they still in business so you don't know
so keeping all that up to date is very

556
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:37,240
very important the next
one so a couple social media tips and

557
00:42:35,079 --> 00:42:39,880
tricks this is mainly social media is
what we're going to be talking about

558
00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:47,440
with marketing since it is kind
of a a big thing with what we do as well

559
00:42:44,119 --> 00:42:51,760
uh just real quick grammar grammar is a
very very important thing on social

560
00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:56,440
media I see a
couple um posts sometimes that are

561
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:59,640
misspelled there's no punctuation
there's no

562
00:42:57,359 --> 00:43:04,240
capitalization and are you taking those
people seriously like you're like I

563
00:43:01,599 --> 00:43:08,800
can't even read that so uh a good tool
to use is grammarly I don't know if

564
00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:13,200
anybody has grammarly but there is a
free version of it and you can it's so

565
00:43:11,599 --> 00:43:16,599
easy to copy and paste what you're
putting in there and paste it in

566
00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:21,839
grammarly it'll come up with hey you
missed a punctuation here maybe change

567
00:43:19,240 --> 00:43:28,160
this to this here's a suggestion just
copy and paste that to your post L bam

568
00:43:24,760 --> 00:43:34,119
yeah um you want to go over consistency
yeah so consistency is you know maintain

569
00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:40,680
a posting schedule um Regular and
predictable content keeps your audience

570
00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:45,200
engaged so basically I mean don't post a
few times and then go completely dead on

571
00:43:43,079 --> 00:43:50,000
social media because then people will
think your business is no no more uh it

572
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:56,680
doesn't have to be every day if you do
once a week twice a week um keep it just

573
00:43:53,400 --> 00:44:01,359
keep it up um and then I know
I I'm going to talk about that in a

574
00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:05,720
little bit but um just be consistent
because typically if you just you stop

575
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:10,040
people will think your business is
stopped yeah and then you can I mean

576
00:44:08,079 --> 00:44:14,119
more eyes think about it the more
repetitive you are on posting the more

577
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:17,839
eyes are going to see your post they're
going to be like oh Andy's closet I'm

578
00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:22,920
just going to keep picking on you yeah
you're a great example on how well you

579
00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:28,160
do your social media um if anybody needs
a good example go go to Mandy's closet

580
00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:34,200
on on Facebook uh she posts regularly
she posts her inventory fun little

581
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:37,160
videos I mean and I always see it so
it's like and once you click on it and

582
00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:42,000
once you see it and get those
Impressions on your say Facebook page

583
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:46,200
it'll see that you spend more time
Facebook is so funky I'm not going to

584
00:44:43,559 --> 00:44:51,359
lie it it shows that you're spending
more time on this post it'll keep

585
00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:54,680
posting that it'll keep coming up on
your timeline so just think about that

586
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:59,599
with your
business and then and um let's see and

587
00:44:57,119 --> 00:45:04,400
that's going over to visuals
um

588
00:45:01,119 --> 00:45:10,160
photos uh video is King if you've seen
any of the shineon videos you look at

589
00:45:06,839 --> 00:45:15,880
those uh they we do that for the Lamar
Facebook page um and those do really

590
00:45:12,680 --> 00:45:21,240
well I mean just grabbing even if it's
just

591
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:24,319
like a a slide that says visuals you
know like you're still going to see it

592
00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:30,359
because it's colorful it's not just
words yes and and then also on social

593
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:36,119
media it's a new thing it's reals and
videos like your algorithms nowadays

594
00:45:33,839 --> 00:45:42,000
that's basically where your post shows
up on anyone's Instagram or Facebook uh

595
00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:50,040
right now it's based on reals and a real
will go higher than a a photo photo post

596
00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:55,400
um they are a little harder to do but
they are probably worth doing especially

597
00:45:52,960 --> 00:46:00,400
for small businesses cuz it'll put you
further up and it it can be a real of

598
00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:05,839
photos I've seen people do still photos
and then they just kind of slide like a

599
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:09,520
photo slider but it it's important yep
and we'll go over we'll go over some

600
00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:14,520
things too on how to create those as
well uh just easy tools you can use that

601
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:20,640
are free and then again just telling
stories connecting with your audience on

602
00:46:16,240 --> 00:46:25,160
a personal and emotional level uh post
reviews if you get a good review post it

603
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:27,680
I mean be like look this person had a
great experience

604
00:46:26,359 --> 00:46:32,280
and they found the dress they were
looking for for prom here here's a

605
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:36,559
picture of them I mean it's just showing
showing people they may know in the

606
00:46:34,240 --> 00:46:40,559
community yeah testimonials are a great
thing if you ever get one um there's

607
00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:45,640
this a new thing I know it's called
broadcast channel um on Instagram we

608
00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:50,160
create a broadcast channel you can
literally connect to your people just

609
00:46:47,839 --> 00:46:53,599
one on not they can't respond but you
can literally be very personal in there

610
00:46:52,240 --> 00:46:58,559
and just be like hey we got a new item
in store hey we running a new promotion

611
00:46:57,240 --> 00:47:02,200
you know but it goes direct and the
people can follow that and they can stay

612
00:47:00,559 --> 00:47:08,480
up to date
constantly much

613
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:12,880
you one okay a couple more uh engaging
with your audience you want to respond

614
00:47:10,079 --> 00:47:16,760
to comments and messages promptly uh
Foster a sense of community by

615
00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:20,720
interacting with followers so if they
comment and

616
00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:25,839
say when when do you open on Sunday you
know if you don't respawn back they're

617
00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:30,920
not going to know that you're open from
10 to two on Sunday you know so just

618
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:36,400
responding back liking somebody's
comment it shows that you care um you

619
00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:41,960
want promotions and contests yeah so
promotions and contests um basically

620
00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:46,800
promotions but that's what you can um
run giveaways contests any promotional

621
00:47:44,319 --> 00:47:52,119
campaigns that you have going on um and
this doing that encourages engagement um

622
00:47:50,119 --> 00:47:57,680
it kind of goes along with our call to
action kind of cuz you can do them both

623
00:47:54,160 --> 00:48:05,000
together um if you make a post and you
say like our post give us a follow tag a

624
00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:09,520
friend it'll gain more people to you and
then also if you're running that

625
00:48:07,240 --> 00:48:12,960
promotion you know everyone can see it
all your friends yeah giveaways uh you

626
00:48:11,760 --> 00:48:19,680
know
uh um Wednesday is Military Appreciation

627
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:24,000
so military people get 10% off that kind
of thing um and that goes yeah like you

628
00:48:21,839 --> 00:48:27,680
said into call to action which is if
anybody know what a call to action is

629
00:48:25,720 --> 00:48:33,000
it's asking the person that's reading
your post to do something uh like follow

630
00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:37,040
or share this this post you'll get more
engagement on it which will boost your

631
00:48:34,760 --> 00:48:41,160
post which will get more eyes on it uh
tell them to visit your website and

632
00:48:39,319 --> 00:48:46,640
leave a link so always give them
something to do um yeah cuz those two go

633
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:53,319
really hand in hand I know people always
say um we're giving this away like

634
00:48:50,720 --> 00:48:56,680
follow and then we'll we'll they do a
little drawing and that person gets

635
00:48:54,799 --> 00:49:01,160
picked and then you tell them to share
about it and you know it gets more

636
00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:06,359
people to your page exactly and like I
said the more people like your page and

637
00:49:04,599 --> 00:49:13,119
uh like that post it's going to go to
the top of other people's timelines so

638
00:49:09,160 --> 00:49:17,839
they will see it more uh quality over
quantity focus on creating a high

639
00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:23,680
quality content rather than turning out
post value and relevance matter so don't

640
00:49:20,319 --> 00:49:26,920
just post hey guys and then that's it
you know and then post it again in an

641
00:49:25,160 --> 00:49:31,680
hour you know or post the same thing 2
hours from then post good things on a

642
00:49:29,599 --> 00:49:34,000
consistent basis not a lot not you don't
want to overpower people are going to

643
00:49:33,040 --> 00:49:38,480
get sick of it and they're going to
unfollow you so anything you want to add

644
00:49:36,119 --> 00:49:43,240
to that one Prett self-explain for me I
I post once a day on our social medias

645
00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:47,880
um sometimes a few more if I have
something important I need to get out

646
00:49:44,839 --> 00:49:53,200
but typically I try to say at least once
a day something people are hearing from

647
00:49:50,680 --> 00:49:56,960
us once a day at least so you know I can
give an example I used to work at San

648
00:49:54,760 --> 00:50:02,680
Antonio Zoo and I worked on their uh in
their marketing department and we had a

649
00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:07,599
social media person and they posted at
least I think their quota was supposed

650
00:50:05,079 --> 00:50:11,599
to be quot like per our vice president
was five or six times a day to post

651
00:50:10,119 --> 00:50:17,760
that's different it's a big company it's
a big it's a big organization but we saw

652
00:50:15,040 --> 00:50:22,160
that you only got like one or two likes
per post you know if you post really

653
00:50:20,079 --> 00:50:26,920
good things this what we started doing
is we posted really funny videos or

654
00:50:24,359 --> 00:50:33,680
really funny picture or something to get
people talking and that post got 50 100

655
00:50:31,720 --> 00:50:38,680
and then we went up to a million views
on on videos and it just boosted and

656
00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:43,960
boosted so as soon as we changed what we
were posting rather than promotions all

657
00:50:40,680 --> 00:50:49,400
the time uh you know $8 local day over
and over and over again three times in

658
00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:54,440
one day we didn't get any followers and
then all of a sudden it it skyrocketed

659
00:50:51,520 --> 00:50:59,480
when we started posting better stuff
MH

660
00:50:57,359 --> 00:51:05,440
yes all right you want to go over some
canva stuff so canva this is a program

661
00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:10,040
that anyone can use um you can either
use it for free or you can pay for the

662
00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:16,280
premium which is highly recommended
because you get a lot of Cool Tools in

663
00:51:12,599 --> 00:51:21,000
it um I believe it's $120 a year which
to be honest it's way worth it and it's

664
00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:26,559
pretty cheap compared to a lot of other
programs out there um it's very user

665
00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:30,559
friendly um
I use it on a daily basis I know she

666
00:51:28,599 --> 00:51:35,280
uses it on a daily basis I made this
slideshow with canva yes like it's

667
00:51:33,799 --> 00:51:40,520
they're templates I mean they have
templates like all I had to do is change

668
00:51:37,559 --> 00:51:45,280
the words and also The Branding
consistency on here canva is a really

669
00:51:43,240 --> 00:51:50,319
great tool because you can save your
brand basically you can save your logos

670
00:51:47,359 --> 00:51:56,520
your colors your fonts your Siz of fonts
your types of fonts all on there and it

671
00:51:53,720 --> 00:52:00,040
knows you can use those tools and you
won't look like your business is all

672
00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:06,280
over the place and you have like a one
consistent brand it it looks clean to

673
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:11,640
the you like to the other eye I don't
yeah yeah and then I don't know canvas

674
00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:14,920
super easy and I know I've I've
recommended it to a few people that have

675
00:52:13,240 --> 00:52:19,839
just started out and they've tried it
out and they absolutely loved it and he

676
00:52:16,520 --> 00:52:25,400
used like the free version of it and he
used a template but I mean he had really

677
00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:30,160
fun with it cuz a lot of people they say
that they're not good at making ads but

678
00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:33,680
canva will help you make those ads yeah
and they they look good definitely and

679
00:52:32,160 --> 00:52:41,680
I've known of several people that have
created their logos on canva I mean they

680
00:52:37,119 --> 00:52:45,640
have you put in Bookshop and it comes up
with logos for you and all you do is

681
00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:49,799
change you can change the colors you can
change the font and you've got a logo

682
00:52:47,880 --> 00:52:54,119
it's got a cute little dog on it with a
book in its hands you know like it's

683
00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:58,000
it's super easy it's it's probably the
thing that I recommend the most for

684
00:52:55,640 --> 00:53:02,799
people to use if they're trying to
create their own brand

685
00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:06,559
create social media post I mean you can
create it has a thing in there for

686
00:53:04,720 --> 00:53:11,640
Facebook post it has a thing for
Facebook reals it has uh a template

687
00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:16,040
templates for videos so you can put your
videos in there and it'll put it in for

688
00:53:14,160 --> 00:53:20,640
you and it'll just create this video
kind of like what Tik Tok does um which

689
00:53:18,960 --> 00:53:25,760
I know canva way better than I know Tik
Tok cuz I'm old now but and canva you

690
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:30,920
can use it also in con function with a
lot of other programs I know uh there's

691
00:53:29,240 --> 00:53:35,319
a whole bunch of things of say connect
to canva and you can connect to canva

692
00:53:33,359 --> 00:53:39,160
and you can drag your stuff over to
another program if you're using any sort

693
00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:46,960
of email list sort of thing a lot of
them use it um the QR codes and they use

694
00:53:43,200 --> 00:53:50,280
uh canva uses QR codes and um there's a
whole bunch of different little apps

695
00:53:48,240 --> 00:53:55,240
within canva that you can use another
thing too is really cool if y'all have

696
00:53:53,079 --> 00:54:00,280
hand handheld leaflets that y'all need
to give out you can create your flyer on

697
00:53:58,079 --> 00:54:04,559
canva and order them straight through
canva and they're really high quality I

698
00:54:01,799 --> 00:54:09,480
know I've done it before um but it's all
really good yeah it is we're we're not

699
00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:14,799
we're not we're not getting paid by
canvas or anything but it honestly it's

700
00:54:12,520 --> 00:54:18,799
a helpful tool for all of us and I think
a really helpful tool for any of y'all

701
00:54:16,440 --> 00:54:23,359
to use there's free options for it it's
highly recommended and it'll make your

702
00:54:20,280 --> 00:54:31,799
brand look really good yeah it's very
user friendly it's for the non techsavvy

703
00:54:27,720 --> 00:54:36,640
person who I may seem like I'm techsavvy
but I'm a little bit Tex savy but I mean

704
00:54:35,119 --> 00:54:42,040
this it makes you look like you know
what you're doing and that's what people

705
00:54:39,000 --> 00:54:44,400
want to see on on your social media yes
um and then I think we're doing

706
00:54:43,160 --> 00:54:46,720
questions at the end oh we'll doing
questions at the end yeah we'll come

707
00:54:45,440 --> 00:54:51,599
back to that we had a question slide but
we'll come back to that without

708
00:54:48,240 --> 00:54:53,839
have right thank you L appreciate you
very

709
00:54:54,079 --> 00:55:01,160
much take advantage of that information
they're giving you they're giving you a

710
00:54:58,440 --> 00:55:06,079
great a great tool there and uh and I do
know that uh Marielle does for for our

711
00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:10,000
office I know Mandy does as well uh
she's on Cana all the time and and

712
00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:15,160
constantly creating stuff and I can just
about throw anything at her and she's

713
00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:19,040
she's creating it so uh using that so uh
everybody doing okay do we need to take

714
00:55:16,839 --> 00:55:23,599
a a quick five minute break or we we
going to keep rolling everybody good all

715
00:55:21,799 --> 00:55:29,400
right just wanted to make that offer
next is uh I I'm excited about this next

716
00:55:26,319 --> 00:55:33,720
presenter as well Amy Reid uh is with
the uh is the director of the Galveston

717
00:55:31,039 --> 00:55:40,359
County Small Business Development Center
uh Amy actually is in our office here

718
00:55:36,720 --> 00:55:44,599
every Tuesday uh every every every
Tuesday uh one time a week she's here

719
00:55:42,720 --> 00:55:50,400
she sets up in the front she sets her
appointments uh this is where the rubber

720
00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:55,079
meets the road is is the way I can put
it uh the resources that she's going to

721
00:55:52,680 --> 00:56:00,079
talk to you about what she has available
is phenomenal and and it's it's it helps

722
00:55:58,359 --> 00:56:05,480
going through her and the next program
we're going to hear in just a second

723
00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:10,280
about SBA it helps us help you and so uh
I'm excited for you to hear from Amy and

724
00:56:07,039 --> 00:56:10,280
hear what she's got to talk about so

725
00:56:12,319 --> 00:56:19,680
Amy evening everyone um thank you to the
Texas City Lamar Chamber of Commerce and

726
00:56:17,599 --> 00:56:23,400
to the city of Lamar for including me in
this today I'm sorry guess I need to get

727
00:56:21,920 --> 00:56:28,960
closer to the microphone I'm used to
standing in front of a podium okay um so

728
00:56:27,280 --> 00:56:32,039
as I said I'm the director of the Small
Business Development Center how many of

729
00:56:30,160 --> 00:56:36,559
you have heard of the
sbdc oh that's quite a few great so all

730
00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:41,319
of you know that all of the services
that we offer are at no cost right so

731
00:56:39,480 --> 00:56:45,240
whether you are a startup or you're
trying to grow your business you can

732
00:56:43,240 --> 00:56:51,160
work with us once you can work with us a
hundred times and there never cost you a

733
00:56:47,200 --> 00:56:55,599
penny so how many of you are
startups how many of you haven't quite

734
00:56:53,440 --> 00:56:59,480
started yet
how many of you have been in business

735
00:56:57,119 --> 00:57:03,799
for more than two years generally
anything less than two years is

736
00:57:00,640 --> 00:57:09,119
considered a startup so more than two
years okay so some of the things that

737
00:57:07,039 --> 00:57:13,799
come in when you want to work with us is
strategic planning how do I get from

738
00:57:11,319 --> 00:57:17,440
point A to point B and this goes for
whether you're a startup or if you're an

739
00:57:15,359 --> 00:57:21,440
existing business sometimes you have to
start small you start out of your house

740
00:57:19,480 --> 00:57:24,319
and then you scale up how do you get
there we can sit down with you and help

741
00:57:23,039 --> 00:57:28,160
you through that process so that you
have a plan for your business access to

742
00:57:27,079 --> 00:57:32,520
Capital you're going to hear from the
SBA here in a little while that's one of

743
00:57:30,680 --> 00:57:37,799
the ways that we help connect you with
funding for your business another is

744
00:57:34,760 --> 00:57:41,039
being in the community so I regularly am
networking through the Chambers of

745
00:57:39,119 --> 00:57:46,240
Commerce and other ways to talk to
lenders to find out what kind of person

746
00:57:44,880 --> 00:57:49,559
they want to work with what kind of
loans are they giving where are we on

747
00:57:47,880 --> 00:57:53,799
our interest rates those types of things
so when you come to me you say okayy I'm

748
00:57:52,079 --> 00:57:57,680
ready to scale up my business but I need
money to do that I can step you through

749
00:57:55,760 --> 00:58:02,119
that process better because I have those
connections and I can inform you before

750
00:58:00,760 --> 00:58:06,760
you start sales and marketing you just
heard from our Dynamic Doo back there

751
00:58:04,359 --> 00:58:10,520
about sales and marketing we also help
with that one of the big things that I'm

752
00:58:08,240 --> 00:58:14,839
helping people with right now is AI how
can you use AI to help you with your

753
00:58:12,640 --> 00:58:18,119
marketing how many of you when you do
your social media I hope everybody in

754
00:58:16,520 --> 00:58:20,599
the room is doing social media for your
business how many of you don't know what

755
00:58:19,480 --> 00:58:24,079
to
post how many of you look at it and

756
00:58:22,680 --> 00:58:27,319
you're like I know I need to post on
Facebook today but I don't know what I

757
00:58:25,680 --> 00:58:31,319
should post
anybody if you're like most people

758
00:58:29,640 --> 00:58:35,640
knowing what to post on social media is
one of the hardest things how many of

759
00:58:33,079 --> 00:58:41,119
you know that you can use AI to help you
with content for your social media did

760
00:58:38,079 --> 00:58:47,480
you know that you can go to chat GPT and
you can put a question in like give me

761
00:58:45,400 --> 00:58:53,720
five social media posts that I can use
on Facebook that talk about my Plumbing

762
00:58:50,960 --> 00:58:59,079
business make them
content-based

763
00:58:55,680 --> 00:59:05,640
and make them fun and within about 30
seconds chat GPT will print out or or

764
00:59:02,440 --> 00:59:09,000
not print out but it will put out that
content that you can use and then you

765
00:59:07,079 --> 00:59:13,920
can add on to your question and say this
is great can you also give me some

766
00:59:11,200 --> 00:59:18,319
hashtags I can use and then within a
couple seconds it spits those out and

767
00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:23,400
then you can say oh and by the way which
emojis would be best for these posts and

768
00:59:20,760 --> 00:59:29,240
it'll spit that out and you can use that
for all different types of content posts

769
00:59:25,720 --> 00:59:33,799
so if you are trying to do engagement
like maybe you're wanting to um talk

770
00:59:31,799 --> 00:59:37,079
about DIY in a plumbing business what
are some things that you should do in

771
00:59:35,039 --> 00:59:41,000
the summertime for your plumbing what
are some things that you can do to

772
00:59:38,640 --> 00:59:47,039
winterize um your plumbing those types
of things and these are things that chat

773
00:59:44,119 --> 00:59:52,640
GPT if you give it just a little bit of
the information can give you a lot of

774
00:59:49,599 --> 00:59:56,319
content and then you can simply humanize
it a little bit um it's never perfect

775
00:59:54,680 --> 01:00:00,160
perfect so you have to take that into
consideration but you can take that

776
00:59:57,839 --> 01:00:04,680
content and then you can put that into
your social media and did you know that

777
01:00:02,280 --> 01:00:10,119
you can schedule your social media post
did you know that you can use meta and

778
01:00:07,880 --> 01:00:15,520
you can sit down this is what I tell my
clients I tell them give social media

779
01:00:13,039 --> 01:00:20,160
two to four hours a week sit down on a
Sunday or a Monday or whatever your your

780
01:00:18,000 --> 01:00:25,440
slow day is where you have a little more
time than other days schedule all of

781
01:00:22,520 --> 01:00:29,760
your posts in meta and instead of when
you do the post instead of posting right

782
01:00:27,400 --> 01:00:34,440
then schedule it but you need to know
who your target audience is when are

783
01:00:32,200 --> 01:00:40,400
they on meta when are they on Facebook
and Instagram um what do they like to

784
01:00:37,319 --> 01:00:46,160
see uh not everybody if you know if you
post at midnight most people aren't on

785
01:00:43,640 --> 01:00:50,079
Facebook at that time most people um
depending on who your client base or who

786
01:00:47,640 --> 01:00:55,240
your Target demographic is of course but
maybe there's someone um in that that AG

787
01:00:53,559 --> 01:00:58,400
age range
that when they first get to work they

788
01:00:56,920 --> 01:01:03,559
look at it or first thing in the morning
they look at it so what I tell people is

789
01:01:00,680 --> 01:01:09,839
try a few different scheduling times and
um try each one for a month like post

790
01:01:06,319 --> 01:01:13,720
every Monday Wednesday and Saturday at a
specific time see how that works look at

791
01:01:11,799 --> 01:01:17,720
your insights and if you're not getting
a lot of Engagement but you know you

792
01:01:15,319 --> 01:01:22,760
have really good content and images with
that content then maybe you should try a

793
01:01:20,680 --> 01:01:27,039
different time a day or a different day
of the week that type of thing so a lot

794
01:01:24,880 --> 01:01:30,640
of marketing is trial and error and you
can't say oh I've tried it but you've

795
01:01:28,680 --> 01:01:35,599
only tried it for like three days you
have to try it for about three months to

796
01:01:33,400 --> 01:01:40,079
really get some good insights in
addition to that if you do schedule out

797
01:01:37,440 --> 01:01:44,720
your posts the algorithms that are out
there um they also want you to have

798
01:01:41,839 --> 01:01:49,520
organic post so if you are at a chamber
event take a selfie and post it and say

799
01:01:47,000 --> 01:01:54,520
love being out in our community hashtag
Texas City Lamar Chamber of Commerce

800
01:01:51,799 --> 01:01:59,760
hashtag Community First those types of
of things um because those organic posts

801
01:01:57,440 --> 01:02:03,240
will also boost your your algorithm and
your Reach For Those social medias so

802
01:02:01,960 --> 01:02:07,760
those are the types of things that we
can help with in regards to social media

803
01:02:05,880 --> 01:02:11,279
and then we also help with access to
Capital so if you are at the stage of

804
01:02:09,640 --> 01:02:15,880
your business where it's time to apply
for a loan we can help you you through

805
01:02:13,880 --> 01:02:19,599
that process so it it can be very
overwhelming to small business owners

806
01:02:17,760 --> 01:02:22,640
when they go to a bank and the bank
gives them a lot of paperwork or a

807
01:02:20,960 --> 01:02:26,640
checklist and they don't understand
everything maybe they're they're the

808
01:02:24,119 --> 01:02:31,520
best Chef that's out there but they
don't understand all the business side

809
01:02:28,880 --> 01:02:35,200
yet um so let us help you through that
process and we also know which lenders

810
01:02:33,599 --> 01:02:40,160
in the area like which types of
Industries what they're looking for as

811
01:02:37,319 --> 01:02:44,319
far as credit scores collateral um debt
ratios that type of thing because not

812
01:02:42,200 --> 01:02:48,839
all lenders are the same so you want to
make sure that when you put yourself

813
01:02:46,200 --> 01:02:52,680
forward into that situation that you're
with you're not only putting your best

814
01:02:50,920 --> 01:02:57,920
foot forward but you're with the lender
that is going to be maybe the best fit

815
01:02:55,359 --> 01:03:02,920
for you at that particular time in
addition to this one of the things that

816
01:03:00,160 --> 01:03:07,240
um we have is market research so if you
have tried to research the competition

817
01:03:04,880 --> 01:03:11,000
for your business or maybe you want to
know what the industry looks like for

818
01:03:08,599 --> 01:03:15,400
your business it's really hard to get a
good report on that um on the internet

819
01:03:13,480 --> 01:03:18,079
without paying a lot of money or without
doing a lot of digging a lot of

820
01:03:16,760 --> 01:03:22,400
different sites and that sort of thing
so we have access to a lot of different

821
01:03:20,279 --> 01:03:28,279
databases where we can give you these
reports and again it costs nothing to

822
01:03:25,400 --> 01:03:35,480
you all of this is provided to you at no
cost so accounting assistance is another

823
01:03:31,480 --> 01:03:39,240
thing that we offer as far as if you um
are using QuickBooks or maybe you're

824
01:03:36,960 --> 01:03:44,119
using Wave apps which is a great app
that's out there for small business

825
01:03:40,960 --> 01:03:48,400
owners who um are on a budget wave apps
is is free unless you have payroll or a

826
01:03:46,359 --> 01:03:53,119
few other add-ons so you can keep your
books like any other business and have

827
01:03:51,039 --> 01:03:57,079
financial reporting which is something
we definitely recommend for your

828
01:03:55,079 --> 01:04:02,400
business and we can help you um set up
your chart of accounts we can help you

829
01:03:59,160 --> 01:04:08,440
to reconcile how to send invoices um how
to look like a big company on a small

830
01:04:04,640 --> 01:04:12,160
budget and then when it comes to um take
if you've created a product and you try

831
01:04:10,319 --> 01:04:16,760
to take that to Market we can help you
through through that process sometimes

832
01:04:13,799 --> 01:04:22,079
SBI are um some of the government
programs are involved in that one thing

833
01:04:20,359 --> 01:04:26,119
that's really important is a Financial
Health checkup so for those of you who

834
01:04:24,559 --> 01:04:29,279
have been in business for a few years
when's the last time you had someone

835
01:04:27,720 --> 01:04:32,760
look at your books I'm not talking about
you gave your books to your accountant

836
01:04:30,680 --> 01:04:36,880
for them to prepare your taxes when is
the last time that you had someone

837
01:04:34,160 --> 01:04:42,200
actually look at your books and look at
your profit margin how much profit are

838
01:04:39,480 --> 01:04:45,960
you making are you making a profit could
you be making more profit what's your

839
01:04:43,720 --> 01:04:49,720
overhead look like where's the money
that you're leaving on the table um if

840
01:04:48,359 --> 01:04:54,920
you're running a restaurant it could be
your waste um it could be that alcohol

841
01:04:52,480 --> 01:04:58,200
is um walking out the door and you you
don't realize it because you're so busy

842
01:04:56,760 --> 01:05:04,880
running the business that you're not
looking within the business um it could

843
01:05:00,799 --> 01:05:08,720
be that you're paying too much for um a
supplier and maybe you haven't shopped

844
01:05:07,119 --> 01:05:12,760
suppliers in 5 years and they keep
raising their rates and you had no idea

845
01:05:10,960 --> 01:05:16,839
that there were other suppliers that you
could look at by the way if you are in

846
01:05:15,319 --> 01:05:20,839
any kind of industry where you use
suppliers you should always have three

847
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:24,960
suppliers that you regularly get quotes
from at least annually if not

848
01:05:23,160 --> 01:05:30,480
semiannually
just keeps um everything in line and

849
01:05:27,680 --> 01:05:35,440
helps things to um helps you to make
sure that you're staying on top of those

850
01:05:32,559 --> 01:05:41,279
costs International Trade exporting and
importing is a really um important thing

851
01:05:38,400 --> 01:05:46,079
to our economy especially the exporting
you know um I bet a lot of y'all didn't

852
01:05:43,319 --> 01:05:50,440
know that farmers export our excess
vegetables um like our corn and even our

853
01:05:49,079 --> 01:05:55,760
cotton and those sort of things are
exported to other countries and that

854
01:05:51,960 --> 01:05:59,160
brings a lot of income into our country
in addition to that you can have

855
01:05:57,400 --> 01:06:04,000
products that that you export and if you
import that's fine too um exporting is

856
01:06:02,279 --> 01:06:08,279
just a way for us to bring a lot of
Revenue into our

857
01:06:05,680 --> 01:06:12,359
country and lastly Apex accelerator is
something I want to touch on so for any

858
01:06:10,359 --> 01:06:16,400
of you who have ever considered doing
business with the government Apex

859
01:06:14,079 --> 01:06:21,039
accelerator is a great option for you to
work with so they're just like us as far

860
01:06:18,640 --> 01:06:27,039
as they don't charge anything a lot of
what they do is is a lot like what we do

861
01:06:24,200 --> 01:06:31,079
only they take you through that process
um of of working with the government so

862
01:06:29,240 --> 01:06:35,240
there's certain certifications you may
want or need um to have a leg up in

863
01:06:33,440 --> 01:06:39,279
Government Contracting you need to have
um registration in Sam and not a lot of

864
01:06:38,000 --> 01:06:43,440
people know how to do that you need to
know what your next code is and cage

865
01:06:41,039 --> 01:06:47,640
code is and I'm probably saying things
that are totally foreign to you because

866
01:06:46,039 --> 01:06:50,720
you haven't been through this process
but just know that if you get to the

867
01:06:49,520 --> 01:06:54,039
point that you have something you want
to sell to the government and when I say

868
01:06:52,200 --> 01:07:00,319
the government I'm talking about
Municipal State um uh Federal so it it

869
01:06:58,359 --> 01:07:04,960
could also be school districts a lot of
those also are looking for people from

870
01:07:02,960 --> 01:07:12,559
the Sam or they have to do business with
those who are um minority veteran uh um

871
01:07:09,680 --> 01:07:17,000
service disabled veteran those women
owned those types of businesses they

872
01:07:14,880 --> 01:07:22,359
they're required to get quotes from
vendors who have that certification so

873
01:07:19,880 --> 01:07:27,200
Apex accelerator um is located in
Houston and they are a great group to

874
01:07:24,559 --> 01:07:32,039
work with um just so you know we have 13
centers um anywhere from College Station

875
01:07:29,680 --> 01:07:40,039
all the way down here to Boliver and
then over to as far as um Lake Jackson

876
01:07:35,880 --> 01:07:46,640
Fort Bend and then out to
um almost almost to the Louisiana border

877
01:07:43,440 --> 01:07:50,359
so um not only that the sbdc is
Nationwide so if you start a business

878
01:07:48,319 --> 01:07:54,039
here and you moved to Utah why would you
want to do that but if you did um if you

879
01:07:52,599 --> 01:07:58,039
move to somewhere else in the the
country you can just pick up with

880
01:07:55,240 --> 01:08:03,760
another sbdc and like I said we all
offer our services at no cost we do have

881
01:08:00,839 --> 01:08:08,119
a lot of online webinars and a lot of
in-person classes that we offer some of

882
01:08:05,760 --> 01:08:13,319
those inperson classes do have a a small
nominal fee um but we offer all of our

883
01:08:11,119 --> 01:08:17,319
on demand um through our website is at
no charge to you and you can learn

884
01:08:14,799 --> 01:08:23,239
anything from marketing tips to
bookkeeping um Human Resources um how to

885
01:08:20,600 --> 01:08:27,000
do business with the government um how
to export

886
01:08:24,880 --> 01:08:32,159
commercialization just about anything is
available on our on

887
01:08:28,759 --> 01:08:37,239
demand and in our mission um like I said
our mission is to help grow the economy

888
01:08:34,679 --> 01:08:42,159
through small business so one small
business at a time if you hire someone

889
01:08:39,839 --> 01:08:47,920
and that's one job then you're helping
to grow the economy um if you get a loan

890
01:08:46,159 --> 01:08:53,199
you're helping to put money into the
economy so that's what we are here to do

891
01:08:50,880 --> 01:08:56,520
um how do we do this at no cost um we
are federal funded um through the

892
01:08:55,120 --> 01:09:02,040
support of the small business
administration also known as the SBA

893
01:08:58,640 --> 01:09:07,400
we're also a resource partner of the SBA
um and then also my particular Center is

894
01:09:05,040 --> 01:09:14,799
supported through um State funds from
the University of Houston most sdc's are

895
01:09:11,000 --> 01:09:20,279
connected to um a higher ed and that
moves us into just five quick things

896
01:09:16,880 --> 01:09:25,759
about business plans so a business plan
how many of you have a business

897
01:09:22,120 --> 01:09:29,279
plan so every one who is in business or
about to start a business should have a

898
01:09:27,400 --> 01:09:33,759
business plan because anytime you put
something in writing you're more likely

899
01:09:30,839 --> 01:09:37,640
to succeed and this is It's a map it's a
map for your business right it it talks

900
01:09:36,040 --> 01:09:41,040
about your goals it talks about where
you are now it talks about where you

901
01:09:39,120 --> 01:09:45,199
want to be where where you want to go
who are the people that are going to go

902
01:09:42,520 --> 01:09:50,239
with you so business plan is extremely
important so if you're get if you're

903
01:09:48,000 --> 01:09:53,719
having a business plan um because it's
time to apply for a loan you have to

904
01:09:52,080 --> 01:09:59,120
have a business plan when you apply for
for a business loan so one of the the

905
01:09:56,600 --> 01:10:03,600
most important parts there um is the
executive summary so the executive

906
01:10:00,800 --> 01:10:09,880
summary is the hook this is what makes
that lender want to to dig in to your

907
01:10:07,719 --> 01:10:13,040
business plan to read more does anyone
know how many seconds you have to make

908
01:10:11,640 --> 01:10:18,360
an impression on
someone three you have three seconds to

909
01:10:16,199 --> 01:10:23,920
make an impression think about the
executive summary as that 3 seconds to

910
01:10:20,679 --> 01:10:28,760
hook that lender or an investor to read
more of your business plan also really

911
01:10:26,800 --> 01:10:32,280
important in the business plan is your
market research so what I was talking

912
01:10:30,400 --> 01:10:35,719
about early those competitive reports
those industry reports you have to show

913
01:10:34,080 --> 01:10:40,560
why is this a good time for me to start
this business why am I at good risk and

914
01:10:38,480 --> 01:10:45,440
then who's your Target demographic so if
I um first time I meet with someone and

915
01:10:43,760 --> 01:10:49,560
we start talking about their business
one of the things I always ask is you

916
01:10:47,360 --> 01:10:55,199
know who's your Target customer and does
anybody know what people generally say

917
01:10:53,199 --> 01:11:00,960
um is their Target
customer they usually say everybody but

918
01:10:58,400 --> 01:11:05,560
that's not really it you'll sell to
everybody you're you're you'll do

919
01:11:03,000 --> 01:11:09,520
business with everybody but your target
you have to dig a Little Deeper what do

920
01:11:07,600 --> 01:11:15,560
they look like what's that Persona are
they a male or they female are they 20

921
01:11:12,440 --> 01:11:21,040
30 40 50 do they rent or do they own are
they educated what do they like to do um

922
01:11:18,760 --> 01:11:24,640
where do they work where do they live do
um there's all these things are they

923
01:11:22,679 --> 01:11:29,280
married do they have kids right so the
more you know about your target when

924
01:11:27,360 --> 01:11:33,440
we're talking about marketing and
marketing budgets and that sort of thing

925
01:11:30,719 --> 01:11:37,800
your marketing budget is only so big so
the more you know about your target the

926
01:11:35,199 --> 01:11:42,800
farther that marketing budget will reach
so instead of throwing out a net to just

927
01:11:40,239 --> 01:11:48,159
anybody to buy from you you actually end
up creating a sales funnel so it's

928
01:11:45,800 --> 01:11:52,360
really important to be able to dig into
that Persona and that is part of your

929
01:11:50,000 --> 01:11:56,560
business plan as well and then your
management profile is extremely

930
01:11:54,080 --> 01:12:00,199
important so why you why are you a good
risk or why is your CEO a good risk or

931
01:11:58,760 --> 01:12:05,560
why is your wife who's going to be doing
the bookkeeping a good risk this is

932
01:12:02,280 --> 01:12:10,239
where the one time that it's really good
to talk yourself up so you would um you

933
01:12:08,679 --> 01:12:15,840
would basically just take some things
off your resume and apply it to this

934
01:12:12,600 --> 01:12:20,040
business so like say you were in sales
forever right retail or something and

935
01:12:18,840 --> 01:12:24,520
number one thing when you're in retail
sales we all know the number one trait

936
01:12:22,719 --> 01:12:29,040
and skill that you need for that is
customer service right so how would that

937
01:12:26,840 --> 01:12:35,719
customer service that you had years
developing and that you perfected

938
01:12:31,639 --> 01:12:39,080
pertain to say a food truck right we all
have eaten a food truck so we know how

939
01:12:37,320 --> 01:12:41,880
important customer service is right you
know even if it's going to take a minute

940
01:12:40,320 --> 01:12:46,880
for my food to come out give me a big
smile you know make me feel good about

941
01:12:43,760 --> 01:12:50,440
it and that is important so those are
some really important things that go

942
01:12:48,400 --> 01:12:54,199
into a business plan you have to have a
marketing plan you have to have a

943
01:12:52,480 --> 01:12:59,400
marketing budget
without those it's just not as effective

944
01:12:57,080 --> 01:13:03,239
and just some common mistakes um with a
business plan is basically not having

945
01:13:01,199 --> 01:13:06,679
one if you don't have a written goal for
your business the chance of your

946
01:13:04,639 --> 01:13:10,920
business being successful goes down
dramatically so just have a plan even if

947
01:13:09,040 --> 01:13:15,639
it's a onepage business plan called a
lean plan or if you're a visual person

948
01:13:13,560 --> 01:13:20,840
there's something called business model
canvas so just to recap that you can do

949
01:13:18,600 --> 01:13:26,719
a lean plan that's one page you can do
business model canvas that is um

950
01:13:24,040 --> 01:13:30,280
basically two pages in it it visually
has step by steps that are written out

951
01:13:28,960 --> 01:13:33,440
you can find all this on Google if you
want to look it up or you can become a

952
01:13:31,760 --> 01:13:37,520
client of sbdc and I can help you
through that or you can do a full-blown

953
01:13:35,480 --> 01:13:44,320
business plan that's no more than 10
pages so have have that plan it's it's

954
01:13:41,800 --> 01:13:49,000
uh it's definitely a good tool for your
business and then being unrealistic so

955
01:13:46,960 --> 01:13:53,120
one thing that's my job is to always
tell the truth so even if it's not

956
01:13:51,360 --> 01:13:57,120
something you want to hear I try to find
a way way to say it I don't want to

957
01:13:54,920 --> 01:14:05,199
crush anyone's dreams but if you come to
me and and you tell me um this grand

958
01:14:02,040 --> 01:14:08,159
grand plan and I just I just can't see
it I'm going to tell you I just can't

959
01:14:06,600 --> 01:14:13,600
see it and I'm going to tell you why I
can't see it and then maybe you can turn

960
01:14:10,440 --> 01:14:17,560
me around or I'm going to say okay let's
let's see where we can work with this

961
01:14:15,040 --> 01:14:23,840
and let's see how this turns out but I'm
not going to tell you to invest a bunch

962
01:14:20,320 --> 01:14:28,159
of money um into something that I I'm
worried that you're going to lose your

963
01:14:25,080 --> 01:14:32,040
money that sort of thing so um being
unrealistic in your business plan can

964
01:14:29,800 --> 01:14:36,520
actually hurt you so I will always tell
you that um poor executive summary if

965
01:14:34,560 --> 01:14:40,280
you don't have that hook if you don't if
you don't get them to read more that's a

966
01:14:38,639 --> 01:14:43,199
definitely a mistake having it too long
you don't want to go past 10 pages

967
01:14:41,800 --> 01:14:46,639
remember that three seconds that we
talked about earlier nobody wants to

968
01:14:45,040 --> 01:14:51,159
read more than 10 pages the lenders you
need to get to the meet you need to get

969
01:14:48,120 --> 01:14:56,239
your point across um and and say what
needs to be said and then not talking

970
01:14:54,159 --> 01:14:59,920
about your team and your role how you
are going to be a part of exra remember

971
01:14:57,480 --> 01:15:04,679
we have to alleviate that risk in a
business plan and then um not including

972
01:15:02,360 --> 01:15:09,840
that marketing research so for those of
you um who want a copy of this

973
01:15:06,320 --> 01:15:14,400
presentation you can scan this QR code
and then also if you'd like to become a

974
01:15:11,880 --> 01:15:21,440
client of the galeston county sbdc we
have a QR code for that we also have a

975
01:15:17,040 --> 01:15:26,120
QR codes for our region um for our
workshops and those types of things

976
01:15:23,320 --> 01:15:31,480
things um and just as a reminder I
office at the marmo in Galveston on

977
01:15:28,760 --> 01:15:37,360
Mondays the Texas City Lamar chamber on
Tuesdays and in League City um the rest

978
01:15:34,679 --> 01:15:40,960
of the week we are by appointment only
so if you would um like to meet with me

979
01:15:39,480 --> 01:15:46,800
you just have to become a client and
then schedule a time thank you so

980
01:15:44,600 --> 01:15:50,080
much uh I've had the opportunity to work
with s spdc i told yall about my medical

981
01:15:48,560 --> 01:15:55,520
equipment business that I started years
ago one of the first conversations I had

982
01:15:52,480 --> 01:16:00,120
was with at BDC counselor and and and it
it saved me a lot of time a lot of

983
01:15:57,760 --> 01:16:05,000
headache a lot of money it saved me a
lot of waste of money what I love about

984
01:16:02,560 --> 01:16:09,800
Amy is she said it she's going to be
truthful with you sometimes you may not

985
01:16:07,199 --> 01:16:13,760
really like what she says when she says
it but after you go home and you think

986
01:16:11,880 --> 01:16:20,560
about it you're going to be wow I'm
really glad she told me that so uh great

987
01:16:16,800 --> 01:16:23,880
resource take advantage of of of Amy and
now we're going to uh before we get to

988
01:16:22,360 --> 01:16:28,480
the Q&A we got a another really good
presentation and and someone that knows

989
01:16:26,199 --> 01:16:32,880
a lot about business uh it's Mark
Winchester who is the Deputy uh District

990
01:16:30,679 --> 01:16:39,880
director for the Houston district office
of the US small business administration

991
01:16:35,400 --> 01:16:39,880
everybody knows it as SBA mark thank

992
01:16:40,630 --> 01:16:45,800
[Applause]
you thank

993
01:16:52,080 --> 01:16:55,080
you

994
01:16:55,130 --> 01:17:04,719
[Music]
you know before I get started here just

995
01:17:00,560 --> 01:17:12,360
want to um well I want to thank uh Mr
Tim cul thank you for inviting SBA and

996
01:17:08,280 --> 01:17:16,719
also um Alex Mr Alex Getty thank you so
much Alex and uh I also have to thank

997
01:17:14,800 --> 01:17:23,719
Amy Reid where are you
Amy back there with the uh the phone so

998
01:17:20,800 --> 01:17:28,120
Amy thank you so much for invi in me my
name is Mark Winchester I'm the deputy

999
01:17:25,760 --> 01:17:31,960
director of the United States small
business

1000
01:17:29,320 --> 01:17:39,280
administration and uh just a little bit
about me I have uh 20 years of federal

1001
01:17:35,679 --> 01:17:45,480
service 20 years of Economic Development
um I am a Gulf War veteran I really

1002
01:17:42,679 --> 01:17:50,280
appreciated uh the flag up here and then
also uh this frame with the flag of the

1003
01:17:47,960 --> 01:17:55,960
United States so do we have any other
veterans uh besides myself uh um thank

1004
01:17:54,120 --> 01:18:02,159
you so much really appreciate your
service and uh uh I'd be remissed if I

1005
01:17:58,800 --> 01:18:09,040
didn't also recognize the mayor uh Bell
thank you for being here uh tonight um

1006
01:18:05,800 --> 01:18:13,080
so I'm here to talk about SBA and uh uh
next slide

1007
01:18:10,679 --> 01:18:18,040
please yeah if you could control yeah
that that that would be great and you

1008
01:18:15,320 --> 01:18:22,520
know what you know before I get started
before I get started I just want to uh

1009
01:18:20,239 --> 01:18:27,159
share one thing well actually maybe two
things but

1010
01:18:23,679 --> 01:18:32,280
um I wanted to comment on uh Mandy and
Marielle Mandy and Marielle talked about

1011
01:18:30,040 --> 01:18:40,159
social media I want you to write this
down there's um and and they're so right

1012
01:18:36,000 --> 01:18:47,040
there is a gentleman his name is uh Shan
Warner so what it was was uh there was

1013
01:18:43,280 --> 01:18:54,360
this uh this writer he wrote his first
book ever and it was in Arlington did

1014
01:18:50,199 --> 01:19:00,280
anybody else hear that story besides me
okay so anyways this fictional writer

1015
01:18:57,400 --> 01:19:06,280
wrote a book he was in a book story he
he had all these books behind him and

1016
01:19:03,159 --> 01:19:11,320
there was no one there was no one there
at the book signing and so there there's

1017
01:19:08,880 --> 01:19:18,719
gentleman his con there was a gentleman
content creator his name was red and uh

1018
01:19:15,400 --> 01:19:25,040
he felt so bad for Mr Shawn Warner that
he put the story of Shawn Warner on Tik

1019
01:19:21,719 --> 01:19:31,800
Tok and overnight he became an Amazon
writer sensation and over 17 million

1020
01:19:29,040 --> 01:19:35,679
people have viewed his story so this
gentleman was in a store there was

1021
01:19:33,520 --> 01:19:41,600
clothing behind him he had a stack of
books no one was in line and uh this red

1022
01:19:39,159 --> 01:19:49,719
felt so much compassion for this
gentleman that he posted a video it went

1023
01:19:45,199 --> 01:19:55,920
viral on Tik Tok 7 17 million views and
uh became an Amazon Rider sensation so I

1024
01:19:52,920 --> 01:20:01,719
really just appreciated what Mandy and
Marielle talked about social media and

1025
01:19:59,239 --> 01:20:07,400
what the impact it is so now I'll I'll
go to SBA but I just had to tell that

1026
01:20:03,960 --> 01:20:15,159
story because it can make a difference
uh for your business so SBA SBA is a

1027
01:20:11,520 --> 01:20:20,400
federal agency and it was created in
1953 sba's mission is to make the

1028
01:20:17,920 --> 01:20:25,560
American dream of business o ownership a
reality and they do that by helping

1029
01:20:22,840 --> 01:20:30,960
small businesses start grow expand and
recover next slide

1030
01:20:28,400 --> 01:20:36,639
please so want to let you know there are
68 district offices across the country

1031
01:20:33,719 --> 01:20:41,880
there are six district offices in Texas
you have the Houston district office and

1032
01:20:38,960 --> 01:20:49,719
we cover 32 counties next slide
please you know uh to to utilize SBA

1033
01:20:46,440 --> 01:20:55,320
Services you need to be a small business
99% of all businesses are small and

1034
01:20:53,239 --> 01:21:00,679
there's really two measurements to
determine whether a small business is

1035
01:20:57,600 --> 01:21:05,040
small either you have 1500 employees or
47 million in sales and as long as

1036
01:21:03,400 --> 01:21:12,239
you're below that number you're
considered small now I I I liked I liked

1037
01:21:08,840 --> 01:21:17,120
Amy uh she she took several polls there
she talked about business plans let me

1038
01:21:14,760 --> 01:21:24,040
ask you how many of you know your NES
code raise your hand if you know your

1039
01:21:19,800 --> 01:21:29,199
nakes code we have one in individual so
uh you need to get with Amy to get to

1040
01:21:26,719 --> 01:21:34,440
know your next code for your businesses
number one to make sure you're small and

1041
01:21:31,600 --> 01:21:38,280
number two you need to utilize that next
code to Benchmark who can tell me what

1042
01:21:36,560 --> 01:21:42,880
Benchmark
means

1043
01:21:40,080 --> 01:21:47,360
anyone so Benchmark is comparing
yourself to the rest of the industry how

1044
01:21:45,400 --> 01:21:52,080
can you measure how you're Pro
progressing if you don't know where you

1045
01:21:49,880 --> 01:21:57,120
are or where you need to go so you need
to know your ni code so you can know

1046
01:21:54,400 --> 01:22:03,239
where you stand compared to similar
businesses in your industry naics it's a

1047
01:22:00,600 --> 01:22:08,280
six-digit code and Amy can assist with
that next slide

1048
01:22:04,760 --> 01:22:14,080
please so now you know everything about
SBA there are four components counseling

1049
01:22:11,280 --> 01:22:20,080
Capital Contracting and Crisis crisis
and I'm going to briefly cover each next

1050
01:22:16,239 --> 01:22:24,480
slide please so Amy did an outstanding
job the bottom line here is you you

1051
01:22:22,719 --> 01:22:28,600
don't have to go It Alone there were
several of you that raised your hand

1052
01:22:26,560 --> 01:22:33,199
that you're a starting business you're a
nent business you're thinking about

1053
01:22:30,760 --> 01:22:39,719
starting a business you don't have to go
It Alone there are over 1,400 Partners

1054
01:22:37,120 --> 01:22:44,639
Nationwide right here in Houston there
are over 200

1055
01:22:41,560 --> 01:22:49,239
advisors 200 advisors that can work with
you on your business either mentoring

1056
01:22:46,920 --> 01:22:53,719
your business or provide business
counseling and if you want to know where

1057
01:22:51,120 --> 01:22:58,679
those 200 advisers are are just visit
sba.gov

1058
01:22:55,159 --> 01:23:04,560
looc assistance next slide
please score I just want to Bri briefly

1059
01:23:01,719 --> 01:23:09,239
talk about score how many of you there
there was like three or four of you that

1060
01:23:06,199 --> 01:23:13,760
are business owners those of you who are
business owners how many have a mentor

1061
01:23:11,440 --> 01:23:18,000
raise your hand if you have a mentor oh
that's

1062
01:23:14,560 --> 01:23:22,560
outstanding that is outstanding so what
it is is whether you're startup business

1063
01:23:20,360 --> 01:23:27,159
or an existing business you need to have
have a mentor in the first place to look

1064
01:23:24,719 --> 01:23:32,000
I would say is your family and friends
those in the in your industry but you if

1065
01:23:30,080 --> 01:23:37,880
you don't have a family or friend or
those in the industry that can mentor

1066
01:23:34,280 --> 01:23:42,520
you the score is a great place uh great
resource for mentors they here in

1067
01:23:40,280 --> 01:23:48,440
Houston they have a uh I need to be
precise here they have 160 mentors uh

1068
01:23:45,880 --> 01:23:55,080
they have 130 advisers they have
expertise in 63 Industries and as Amy

1069
01:23:52,440 --> 01:24:00,840
shared it's at no cost and it's
confidential and it's like having an

1070
01:23:57,639 --> 01:24:06,040
exop ficial board exofficio is just a
fancy term is it's they're they're

1071
01:24:03,440 --> 01:24:11,480
volunteers and they and they can advise
you it's like having your own board you

1072
01:24:08,520 --> 01:24:17,880
need to have a mentor I thought uh Amy
did an outstanding job on sbdc just

1073
01:24:15,159 --> 01:24:23,400
outstanding everything she talked about
from strategic planning to business

1074
01:24:20,120 --> 01:24:28,400
planning to financial ratios I'd like to
who I'd like to ask how many of you had

1075
01:24:25,679 --> 01:24:33,080
a financial tuneup raise your hand if
you've had you you get your card tuned

1076
01:24:30,400 --> 01:24:40,600
up have you ever had a financial tuneup
raise your hand there's one one you need

1077
01:24:36,679 --> 01:24:45,760
to get connected with Amy and do a
financial tune tuneup you uh Amy will

1078
01:24:43,920 --> 01:24:51,119
look at your financial statements your
income uh sheet your balance sheet your

1079
01:24:48,880 --> 01:24:56,520
cash flow sheet she will look at your
next code she will look at your

1080
01:24:52,920 --> 01:25:03,040
financial ratios you need a financial
tuneup um another thing that I like

1081
01:24:59,040 --> 01:25:08,320
about the spdc is the vast array of
information you can get from the spdc on

1082
01:25:06,040 --> 01:25:15,560
Market Research they have a clearing
house sptc.net sptc.net you can get

1083
01:25:12,920 --> 01:25:21,440
customized uh business plans you can get
demographic information you can get just

1084
01:25:18,880 --> 01:25:24,280
a SWAT analysis who can tell me what SW
SWAT stands for

1085
01:25:24,920 --> 01:25:33,159
anyone yeah the gentleman with a a
jacket and tie like myself your first

1086
01:25:29,920 --> 01:25:37,440
name Caesar strengths weaknesses
opportunities and threats yes you need

1087
01:25:35,320 --> 01:25:44,080
to know your strengths weaknesses
opportunities and threat and uh Amy and

1088
01:25:40,560 --> 01:25:50,480
the spdc N you can get customized market
research including SWAT analysis uh

1089
01:25:47,679 --> 01:25:56,000
women business centers ladies there are
there are 137 women business centers

1090
01:25:53,520 --> 01:26:01,000
across the country and Houston has two
the wbea Women's Business Center and the

1091
01:25:58,560 --> 01:26:07,520
Greater Houston Women's Chamber Women's
Business Center and obviously ladies for

1092
01:26:04,080 --> 01:26:13,199
the WBC they primarily Council ladies
and uh the wbea 750 women-owned

1093
01:26:11,080 --> 01:26:18,239
businesses who do business with
corporations the uh women the Greater

1094
01:26:15,719 --> 01:26:23,159
Houston Women's Chamber they have an an
event monthly called Golden seeds if you

1095
01:26:20,880 --> 01:26:27,480
want Equity investment into your
business the Greater Houston Women's

1096
01:26:25,000 --> 01:26:33,199
Chamber Women's Business Center that you
it's ladies investing in women own

1097
01:26:30,400 --> 01:26:36,280
businesses so ladies investing in ladies
and that's with the Women's Business

1098
01:26:34,639 --> 01:26:41,960
Center next slide
please thank you Marielle so much the

1099
01:26:39,199 --> 01:26:48,719
impact right here in Houston Amy Reid
and the sbdc score and Women's Business

1100
01:26:44,440 --> 01:26:53,080
Center 29,000 assisted there's no reason
no reason that one of you should not be

1101
01:26:51,119 --> 01:26:58,440
leveraging the S SP PDC and the
resources and that lady right back there

1102
01:26:55,800 --> 01:27:03,920
Amy Reid next slide
please and if you can't tell I get a

1103
01:27:00,719 --> 01:27:09,360
little excited about this cap capital
capital um I there's a saying that score

1104
01:27:07,040 --> 01:27:14,840
shares we are with you for the life of
your business well with SBA we are with

1105
01:27:12,760 --> 01:27:20,560
you regarding capital for the life of
your business uh I was just at a I was

1106
01:27:17,199 --> 01:27:28,960
sharing with Amy I was at a micr loan
fair and so these were micr lenders who

1107
01:27:24,520 --> 01:27:34,239
offer um Tim uh they offer from $100 to
$500 ,000

1108
01:27:31,639 --> 01:27:40,199
$10,000
$115,000 um all the way up to $50,000 I

1109
01:27:37,679 --> 01:27:46,840
bet you didn't know that the buay you
micr fund offers micro loans at 0%

1110
01:27:44,040 --> 01:27:52,639
interest did you know that zero who who
in the world offers a 0% interest rate

1111
01:27:49,880 --> 01:27:58,320
the Bayou micr fund has $50,000
to lend in micr lending for small

1112
01:27:54,719 --> 01:28:02,400
businesses at a 0% interest rate so my
point is no matter where you are whether

1113
01:28:01,480 --> 01:28:09,000
you're a
microenterprise whether you're uh like

1114
01:28:04,840 --> 01:28:13,800
Mandy uh with the uh clothing store or
no matter where you are there's capital

1115
01:28:11,280 --> 01:28:17,800
for you from $100 we go all the way up
to

1116
01:28:14,800 --> 01:28:23,960
13,750 th000 Alex was talking about
properties on Loop net and identifying

1117
01:28:21,080 --> 01:28:32,440
uh uh acquir ing property well we have
Capital to assist Alex clients to either

1118
01:28:27,840 --> 01:28:38,199
retain or uh grow or yeah so we can help
you next slide

1119
01:28:34,639 --> 01:28:44,040
please um I I like I I want you to write
this down sba's Main program is the 7A

1120
01:28:41,440 --> 01:28:48,320
program I got put this bottle down or
I'm going

1121
01:28:46,080 --> 01:28:56,000
to spill
it SBA sba's main program is the 7A

1122
01:28:52,760 --> 01:29:01,360
program and the 7A program I call it the
Swiss Army knce because you can use it

1123
01:28:58,440 --> 01:29:06,360
to start lease hold improvements working
capital purchase and renovate your

1124
01:29:03,600 --> 01:29:13,239
facility uh Alex was talking about
renovation uh sheetrock lighting we we

1125
01:29:10,199 --> 01:29:19,040
have funds for that inventory land and
building and even exporting did you know

1126
01:29:16,480 --> 01:29:24,119
did you know that 96% of the purchase
power is outside of the United States do

1127
01:29:21,600 --> 01:29:28,880
you know that you have opportunity not
only here but abroad and we can help you

1128
01:29:26,880 --> 01:29:36,600
with that next slide
please the right here uh FY

1129
01:29:32,320 --> 01:29:43,800
2022 uh we had I think it was around
there it is 1.1 billion and and this

1130
01:29:39,440 --> 01:29:49,480
year $1.2 billion $1.2 billion and a lot
of that is due to folks like Amy Reid

1131
01:29:46,800 --> 01:29:54,920
who work with you that work with you a
business plan do you have I call it the

1132
01:29:51,520 --> 01:29:59,880
go or noo is your business viable is it
going to be sustainable and if it is how

1133
01:29:57,840 --> 01:30:03,679
can you grow that business and if you're
going to grow it you're going to need

1134
01:30:01,280 --> 01:30:09,159
capital and am is the person to see next
slide

1135
01:30:06,000 --> 01:30:16,320
please Federal Contracting the federal
government spends 700 not

1136
01:30:12,199 --> 01:30:22,119
million I got to get this right $700
billion of federal government um federal

1137
01:30:19,560 --> 01:30:27,159
agencies are required by law to provide
contract opportunities for small

1138
01:30:24,440 --> 01:30:32,880
business if you want to learn more about
Contracting go to sba.gov

1139
01:30:29,840 --> 01:30:40,400
uh Contracting next slide
please so SBA we have programs including

1140
01:30:36,320 --> 01:30:45,040
8A hubzone women owned and uh veteran
the veterans in the room we have a

1141
01:30:42,679 --> 01:30:49,840
certification just for veteran owned
small businesses uh to to do business

1142
01:30:48,199 --> 01:30:55,800
with the federal government and I want
you to write these down there uh I call

1143
01:30:52,000 --> 01:31:00,639
it the 8020 rule the uh it's the 20%
that are really taking the notes here

1144
01:30:57,679 --> 01:31:04,400
and those of you who are the 20 that uh
that are initiative they're showing

1145
01:31:02,480 --> 01:31:10,320
initiative and taking notes you're going
to write down their their are soul

1146
01:31:07,000 --> 01:31:16,360
source and set asides Soul source and
set asides Soul source is

1147
01:31:12,960 --> 01:31:22,920
non-competitive contracts SBA has
non-competitive contracts right here in

1148
01:31:18,719 --> 01:31:27,440
Houston uh Tim 66 million dollars in
Soul Source contracts it' be Tim let's

1149
01:31:25,400 --> 01:31:35,159
say you're a business owner you're an
adaa firm and let's say I don't know uh

1150
01:31:30,719 --> 01:31:42,440
USDA USDA Tim will call SBA and say um
Mark we know that Tim is an ADA firm and

1151
01:31:38,360 --> 01:31:47,239
we know that Tim uh has uh Logistics he
provides Logistics we need help with

1152
01:31:44,639 --> 01:31:52,920
Logistics we want to do business with
Tim and it's nobody else it's sole

1153
01:31:50,000 --> 01:31:56,960
source and then I contact Tim Tim USDA
just contacted us you're an adaa firm

1154
01:31:55,159 --> 01:32:01,760
they'd like to do business with you do
you think you have the resources to do

1155
01:31:58,719 --> 01:32:06,639
this project if so you'll get awarded
that Soul Source contracts and that's

1156
01:32:03,600 --> 01:32:11,840
what SBA has Soul Source contracts we
also have stide contracts ladies

1157
01:32:09,560 --> 01:32:16,679
women-owned businesses I like to get
this straight over $200 million in

1158
01:32:15,000 --> 01:32:21,280
contracts to women owned small
businesses and there are opportunities

1159
01:32:18,679 --> 01:32:23,679
for soul source and set aside contracts
okay

1160
01:32:23,719 --> 01:32:32,159
slide and Amy already talked about it
the sbdc is the host for the Apex

1161
01:32:29,960 --> 01:32:38,800
accelerator I call it the three Rs
research register respond research

1162
01:32:35,600 --> 01:32:45,000
register and respond and the Apex can
help you whether it's federal state

1163
01:32:41,080 --> 01:32:50,440
local or corporate um uh Contracting the
Apex can help you next slide please yeah

1164
01:32:48,719 --> 01:32:56,600
these are the numbers right here you
well I can see get from up here but 200

1165
01:32:53,560 --> 01:33:01,080
million for women own uh you for those
of you that are in business you may be

1166
01:32:58,840 --> 01:33:07,199
sitting in a hub zone right now and
there are opportunities for set aside

1167
01:33:03,119 --> 01:33:12,600
contracts as a hub Zone firm uh sdb
small disadvantaged business nearly 400

1168
01:33:09,679 --> 01:33:17,560
million and for the veterans uh veteran
and vet and service disabled veteran 200

1169
01:33:14,960 --> 01:33:23,600
million in contracts next slide
please thank you so we're on the final C

1170
01:33:20,639 --> 01:33:29,119
here we I we've talked about uh Capital
uh Contracting uh counseling and the

1171
01:33:26,719 --> 01:33:35,080
fourth one is Crisis and Amy did a good
job the bottom line here Tim every time

1172
01:33:32,199 --> 01:33:42,840
I speak I share this is an important
statistic 40% 40% of all businesses that

1173
01:33:39,199 --> 01:33:49,239
close after a disaster never reopen you
do not want to be one of the four out of

1174
01:33:45,800 --> 01:33:53,600
10 that do not reopen and so you need we
talked about a business plan you need to

1175
01:33:51,119 --> 01:33:57,760
have a coup plan and Amy can help you
with that continuity of operations plan

1176
01:33:55,840 --> 01:34:05,119
and if you want more information you can
go to sba.gov SL prepare next slide

1177
01:34:02,080 --> 01:34:10,960
please but if you don't prepare if you
don't prepare if you don't have a coupe

1178
01:34:07,880 --> 01:34:16,719
Coupe plan we do have disaster loans we
have a personal property Tim just went

1179
01:34:13,280 --> 01:34:22,480
up to 100,000 previously we had a a
disaster loan for personal property for

1180
01:34:19,000 --> 01:34:29,360
40,000 it's now up to 100,000 uh if you
own your own home if you own your own

1181
01:34:25,600 --> 01:34:33,600
home um SBA has a disas these aren't
grants I need to clarify these are not

1182
01:34:31,679 --> 01:34:40,760
grants these are loans we have up to a
half a million now it used to be 200,000

1183
01:34:37,080 --> 01:34:46,239
Alex but it's now 500,000 for homeowners
for the residents in a disaster loan and

1184
01:34:43,960 --> 01:34:53,600
business owners we do have up to $2
million in in loan assistance either

1185
01:34:50,199 --> 01:35:00,719
property damage or working capital next
slide please you know uh U Amy I was

1186
01:34:57,960 --> 01:35:08,199
reviewing this reviewing my slides um
before coming up here um Texas City

1187
01:35:03,760 --> 01:35:14,960
Lamar Chamber of Commerce you you could
be in National Small Business Week every

1188
01:35:10,920 --> 01:35:20,080
year since 1963 SBA has celebrated small
business success mayor Bell talked about

1189
01:35:17,719 --> 01:35:25,840
the importance and significance of small
business and we celebrate that every

1190
01:35:22,480 --> 01:35:31,639
year first week in May and um we would
like for Texas City Lamar nominate some

1191
01:35:29,199 --> 01:35:36,639
businesses for national uh Small
Business Week in May and so we're right

1192
01:35:34,440 --> 01:35:41,440
now Alex and Tim we're accepting
nominations for small business person of

1193
01:35:39,159 --> 01:35:46,320
the year small business exporter
minority owned business veteran owned

1194
01:35:43,840 --> 01:35:52,000
business women owned business rule small
business Innovation and uh Alex and Tim

1195
01:35:50,280 --> 01:35:59,040
we also have small small business
Community partner of the year or small

1196
01:35:54,560 --> 01:36:05,840
business um Marielle and uh Mandy we
also have small Business Media advocate

1197
01:36:01,840 --> 01:36:11,520
of the year as well and um uh Texas City
Lamar chamber we every week we're giving

1198
01:36:08,840 --> 01:36:17,159
a presentation on how you can nominate
your business to celebrate the national

1199
01:36:14,520 --> 01:36:22,639
celebration for small businesses next
slide please this is our contact

1200
01:36:20,400 --> 01:36:29,560
information every resource that we
talked talked about uh it's right there

1201
01:36:25,360 --> 01:36:35,400
one more slide uh uh like like Amy we've
gone to these QRC codes and you can uh

1202
01:36:33,560 --> 01:36:42,320
just use your smartphone and get the
information and uh this concludes my uh

1203
01:36:38,400 --> 01:36:42,320
slides and presentation thank you very

1204
01:36:43,620 --> 01:36:51,080
[Applause]
much well thank you Mark that was uh

1205
01:36:49,719 --> 01:36:55,159
that was exciting I thought I had a lot
of energy and typically I'm told that

1206
01:36:52,880 --> 01:36:59,520
I'm the one Mark just Trump me that's
that's impressive so uh uh well we are

1207
01:36:58,000 --> 01:37:03,440
kind of in that Q&A point and we're
actually right on time uh uh clockwise

1208
01:37:01,840 --> 01:37:07,639
looking at the clock so we're doing well
there uh I just want to start off and

1209
01:37:05,600 --> 01:37:12,360
say this I mentioned earlier uh when I
started my conversation the fact that I

1210
01:37:10,679 --> 01:37:17,600
uh was in business myself I was much
like each and every one of you in this

1211
01:37:13,719 --> 01:37:22,440
room what I can tell you is
is I took advantage at that point in

1212
01:37:20,520 --> 01:37:26,760
time at some point in time with my small
business I took advantage of a lot of

1213
01:37:24,560 --> 01:37:33,280
the programs that have been talked about
tonight the 7A program that Mark

1214
01:37:29,679 --> 01:37:37,840
mentioned earlier visiting with my sbdc
advisor uh I was one of the first 7A

1215
01:37:36,000 --> 01:37:43,159
programs that ever took place in Houston
County uh back where I used to live took

1216
01:37:40,440 --> 01:37:48,159
advantage of that it was a great
resource for me to be able to have

1217
01:37:45,440 --> 01:37:53,280
access to those funds at a low interest
rate uh to be able to sit down again

1218
01:37:50,679 --> 01:37:59,159
with my PDC advisor and go over that
business plan um it sounds harsh

1219
01:37:57,119 --> 01:38:03,920
sometimes when we say that but you we
want you to understand the importance of

1220
01:38:01,960 --> 01:38:07,920
having that information that's what's
going to make you successful and then

1221
01:38:06,159 --> 01:38:12,080
you're just able to move up the chain
you you you're able to sit down with

1222
01:38:10,159 --> 01:38:15,599
with Alex and you're able to sit down
with his group and visit about you know

1223
01:38:14,000 --> 01:38:18,599
the potential of growing your business
within Lamar then you're able to come

1224
01:38:17,360 --> 01:38:22,920
and visit with the chamber and
participate with us and let us help you

1225
01:38:20,639 --> 01:38:28,360
make those connections to the people
that you need we've just again we've

1226
01:38:25,440 --> 01:38:33,239
been at that 30,000 ft view right now
there's a lot of detail of getting into

1227
01:38:30,599 --> 01:38:37,800
the weeds that we want to help you do I
just want to say again before we get the

1228
01:38:35,080 --> 01:38:41,760
Q&A thank you again mayor Bell for this
initiative and your desire to have this

1229
01:38:39,719 --> 01:38:45,840
and put this together and making sure
that we all as a group came together and

1230
01:38:43,920 --> 01:38:48,560
formed this uh we hope that it's been
beneficial to

1231
01:38:50,119 --> 01:38:53,119
you