WV Press Videos

Bluefield hosting ‘Meet the Millennials’ event to ‘pass down knowledge’ to next generation

By CHARLIE BOOTHE

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD, W. Va. — The City of Bluefield is using the skills and experience of successful business people to help those who have just started a business or plan to.

As part of National Entrepreneurship Week, which starts today, the city’s Community and Economic Development Department (CED) is participating by hosting an event Thursday.

Jim Spencer, the city’s economic development director, said the Bluefield CREATE Opportunity Initiative along with the CED will be hosting an event on Thursday from 3 p.m to 5 p.m. at the Clover Club, located at 529 Commerce Street in Historic Downtown Bluefield.

The event is called “Meet the Millennials,” he said.

“Local business leaders have volunteered their time to meet with aspiring entrepreneurs in a roundtable format to tell the story about their journey as an entrepreneur and answer questions,” he said. “The biggest thing we are trying to do is have existing, successful entrepreneurs to pass on their knowledge and life experiences. That’s pretty powerful.”

Spencer said the idea of the “Meet the Millennials” title actually came from two Bluefield College students he meets with about economic development, Allie Campbell and Savannah Carabin.

“We were brainstorming some ideas,” he said. “The concept of meeting the millennials came up, and having a program under this title.”

It fit in well with the national celebration, he said, so this will be the first, but not the last.

“This is not a one-time thing,” he said. “It will be ongoing, and feature a panel of successful entrepreneurs from different business sectors. I have been wanting to do this, passing down knowledge from one generation to the next.”

Spencer said he is looking forward to the program Thursday.

“I am excited about this event,” he said. “It was developed to be a time for millennials that want to start a business to network with existing business owners in hopes of obtaining knowledge to help make their dream become a reality.”

This is another addition to the CREATE Opportunity initiative, he added.

“More information will be made available on the www.mybluefield.org web site on Monday (today),” he said.

Nationwide, there will be a variety of opportunities for entrepreneurs to get involved, including a live broadcast of the National Entrepreneurship Week kick-off in New York City, informative webcasts and a Twitter chat.

It is led by Microsoft and supported by more than 100 companies,

The official website, www.entrepreneurshipweek.com, has details on each of the week’s daily events and offers.

In addition, the site features free articles and downloadable resources on topics like business technology, branding and best practices – all designed to help eager entrepreneurs launch a business and to enable established small businesses to grow and thrive, he said.

“National Entrepreneurship Week is a celebration of established business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs that want to make their dream a reality,” Cindy Bates, vice president of small-to-midsized business at Microsoft, said in a press release about the event. “We are eager to embark upon this week, and we’re encouraged by the collective impact we can make with the support of these various community influencers and those who are telling their inspirational stories.”

To learn more about “Meet the Millennials” event Thursday visit www.mybluefield.org on Monday or contact Spencer at (304)327-2401 Ext. 2405 or email him at [email protected].

See more from the Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

And get our latest content in your inbox

Invalid email address