Ladies and Gents:

Here is an email I sent out this morning requesting assistance from the Virginia SBDC Network. If any of you have any thoughts or recommendations to pass along, that would be great.

Fellow SBDC-kteers:

International Paper recently announced the closing of its manufacturing facilities (paper and wood) which are located in southern Isle of Wight county, just across the Blackwater River from the city of Franklin. The decommissioning process has started and the first tranch of l… Continue

Attached you will find a proposed article I am submitting to my local newspaper for publication. It is based on a presentation given by Marc Willson (Casey's brother) at a recent SBDC Directors Conference. Appreciate your thoughts and recommendations.

For Small Business Owners, “What Happens After New Years?”

For many small retailers, the weeks between “Black Friday” and “Christmas Eve” are probably going to be the most critical they have faced in quite some time. For some, it either may be th… Continue

Casey,

VMT for the kind invitation to join the site. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

I may want to replicate this (in a fashion) to help the small business communities in Franklin, Isle of Wight County and Southampton County. Seems that a major employer has decided to close its plant and put 1,100 people on unemployment. While this certainly is tragic, the knock on effect for the area's small businesses will be homeric in proportion. Already fighting a rear-guard action tellin… Continue

Hey Folks! I wrote this in February for my friends and family who wanted to know what I thought about the deepening economic recession at the time. These thoughts still hold up and, combined with the ways Americans are changing their spending and saving habits, explain the difficulties many of our small businesses are experiencing. Many small businesses sell "postponable" or "expendable" goods or services and need to re-examine their business models from a relevance perspective, in my opinion.… Continue