UMES and USDA Rural Development to help local businesses on the lower shore

UMES and United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development are looking to help residents on the Eastern Shore establish and expand small businesses. They are doing this through a series of  listening sessions throughout the counties on the Lower Eastern Shore . The purpose of these free sessions is to get input from residents about problems they encounter while establishing their small business and providing them with tools such as training from professionals to keep their business on a track to success. Organizers of these listening sessions tell us they first introduced these sessions back in May to Somerset County residents, but wanted to make these resources available to even more counties.

Sidney Hankerson, the UMES Socially Disadvantage Grant Coordinator says, “in our minds we feel like the best opportunity for folks to be successful will be for them to establish their own small business and be able to expand upon that and be able to make a very good living with that.”

The first session will be in Accomack County at the Eastern Shore Community College on June 27th at 6PM. The next session will be June 28th in Wicomico County, at James Bennett High School at 6PM. There last event will be in Dorchester County (location TBA), on July 11th at 6PM.

For more information on the listening sessions click here.