ASU's Lawrence honored at recent Small Business Administration awards luncheon

May 3, 2010 -- (Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center release)

Herb Lawrence, center director for the Arkansas State University Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBDTC) and Timothy Lee, of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Small Business and Technology Development Center, were awarded the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2010 Veteran Small Business Champions of the Year on Tuesday, April 27, at the Twentieth Annual Arkansas Small Business awards luncheon held at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.  The awards luncheon was held in conjunction with a daylong Arkansas Procurement Opportunities Conference that Lawrence also attended. In all, eleven awards were given to small business owners and individuals who support entrepreneurial efforts of Arkansans.

Lawrence, a 20 -year U.S. Army veteran, was recognized for his work promoting entrepreneurship and small business ownership with military veterans and National Guardsmen in Arkansas. Under a one-year grant provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration to the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center network, Lawrence and Lee, along with other staff members of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC), provided extensive services and training to state military veteran small business owners throughout 2009.

Much of their work involved the Arkansas National Guard in pre-deployment and reintegration meetings for military personnel from the state who were small business owners preparing for or returning from active duty overseas tours. The ASBTDC staff attended numerous weekend meetings for these service members, conducted 6 free webinars on small business topics, and met with over 3,000 military personnel, many of whom were small business owners or interested in starting a business. Lee was instrumental in developing a web portal specifically for Arkansas Veterans, ArkansasVeteran.com, to provide online information and assistance for all military personnel.

“Our work in 2009 was mainly concerned with helping those National Guard soldiers who were small business owners in civilian life either prepare their businesses for their deployment or to help them restart their businesses when they returned,” said Lawrence. “We also worked with a number of returning guardsmen who were interested in starting businesses for themselves. We could not have done our job for these veterans without the cooperation of the Arkansas National Guard command and the Transition Assistance Office. We are indebted to Major General William Wofford, Arkansas Adjutant General, his staff and the great folks at the Arkansas National Guard Transition Assistance office. Their concern for the welfare of their soldiers and airmen is outstanding. We are proud to have been able to play a small part in helping our citizen soldiers during these trying times.”

The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center was one of only 5 states to be awarded the SBA Veteran grant in 2009 and has been notified that it has been given a second-year grant to continue its work with military veterans for 2010.

“We have also been fortunate to have a great champion for our work here in Jonesboro. Mr. Ron Miller, a retired military officer and a Vietnam veteran, serves as a member of the U.S. SBA-VA Liaison Committee that advises the SBA on veteran small business matters. Ron has worked long and hard to promote veteran-owned small businesses in the state and has been a great advocate of the ASBTDC work.  We are fortunate to have someone with Ron’s dedication in our corner helping us help our veterans," said Lawrence.

In addition to working with military veterans, the ASU Small Business and Technology Development Center provides free and confidential consulting assistance to all small business owners in a 15-county area of northeast and north-central Arkansas on topics ranging from startup requirements to marketing research, business plans, financial analysis, loan packaging, marketing, and e-commerce. The SBTDC also provides more than 60 low cost training workshops in the territory each year. For more information about the ASU Small Business and Technology Development Center and its services, call (870) 972-3517 or e-mail asusbtdc@astate.edu. Facebook users can find Herb Lawrence at www.facebook.com/herb.lawrence or the ASU Facebook page at www.facebook.com/asu.sbtdc. Twitter users can follow the ASU SBTDC at www.twitter.com/asbtdc_asu.

A partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, ASBTDC serves new, existing and innovation-based small businesses.  Through a statewide network of seven offices, ASBTDC provides free consulting and market research services plus affordable training to the business community. For more information, visit the ASBTDC Web site at asbtdc.ualr.edu.
 
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