Upper Albany Main Street is proud to introduce this past weeks MBI speaker Doug Gemmell from People’s United Bank. Doug’s expert on credit was unable to show due to the stomach bug that’s been going around CT, but nevertheless he did a great job delivering knowledgeable information on the conditions that businesses experience that illustrate an opportunity for processing credit cards that would outweigh the added costs. Thank you very much Doug for clearing the air on this valuable payment alternative!

Upper Albany Main Street was proud to have Keith Tinker of Tinker Insurance as a presenter for todays Micro Business Incubator class. Keith shared his understanding of the insurance industry with the students and explained the history of insurance along with why small businesses need insurance, as well as individuals. He also lead the class into a very intriguing and insightful conversation on the economy and America’s future as a player in the world market. Thank you very much Mr. Tinker!

Today our MBI class was inspired by VLO of New England’s President and CEO Cherie Griffith-Dunn. Cherie has a wealth of knowledge covering community development from being a developer and went into great detail for our class on what skill sets are critical for success in her field. The spread of topics she covered included legal, OSHA, sales, marketing, underwriting, management, leadership, negotiations, and many others, and the class was very impressed with how dynamic of a leader Cherie is and how invested she is in her work. We are glad to have her as a valued Board member here at Upper Albany Main Street, and would like to thank Cherie for her continued involvement in our program and community!

For todays MBI classroom presentation we are very proud to introduce Kim Hawkins, the Director of the Business Resource Center at the Hartford Economic Development Company.  Kim’s presentation came at a perfect time as HEDCo’s ability to lend to a wider range of entrepreneurs complimented our previous presentation from Dean Andrews of Bank of America, who spoke extensively on the differences between commercial lenders and community economic development funds.  Kim expounded on the success stories that HEDCo has funded in the past by micro-entrepreneurs who were extended credit they otherwise could not have acquired without their help, and explained why they were able to help these small businesses. Since HEDCo is independent from strict regulations due to their not being a bank that takes deposits, HEDCo has more freedom to invest as they see fit. This allows them to ‘never say no’ to an idea, and they will help develop the business venture’s plan until the investment becomes secure enough through due diligence to deserve a loan. Kim, thank you very much for your enlightening presentation and all that you have done for enabling Hartford’s economy!